Common Signs & Symptoms Of Fibromyalgia

Symptoms associated with Fibromyalgia do not consist of one particular defined listing of physical ailments. Symptoms are generally different from individual to individual with lots of people suffering from on going symptoms that other individuals may never experience. When learning about Fibromyalgia symptoms it is important to take into account that how one patient experiences or explains a given symptom is often very different to another patients experience.


Fibromyalgia symptoms are commonly broken into primary symptoms that do tend to be present by most of the patients and a much larger set of secondary symptoms that are much less prevalent. While there are primary and secondary symptoms connected with Fibromyalgia, individual patients will still very likely detail these symptoms in terms that are unique too them.

The primary Fibromyalgia symptoms include pervasive, persistent pain that can have a tendency to move all around the body. This pain is often identified as a deep aching within the muscle body areas that can radiate around in the surrounding body areas. The discomfort is often severe at times but it generally comes and goes without any obvious cause.


A large number of affected individuals describe Fibromyalgia pain as stabbing, burning, tingling or cramping. Pain that's extreme in one spot on one day may be gone the very next or it might have traveled to additional areas in the body. Individuals regularly report that pain shows up with no obvious cause. Fibromyalgia pain is often concentrated within muscular system and connective tissues.


The effected locations typically do not exhibit any inflammation. This lack of inflammation or swelling distinguishes Fibromyalgia from some other ailments such as Arthritis. Fibromyalgia can regularly work to amplify the pain linked to other health conditions since the syndrome can affect the mechanism of pain transmission through the central nervous system.

Fibromyalgia symptoms also typically include things like long term sleep issues including insomnia and a lack of deeper restorative sleep. Insomnia is commonly present and a large portion of patients will suffer insomnia even though they experience extreme fatigue.

Fibromyalgia sleep issues also encompass a on going shortage of the deeper REM sleep cycle that is critical to bodily function. This continuous inability for Fibromyalgia patients to achieve the restorative deep sleep that's needed for good health is a critical element that can lead to additional symptoms.

Fibromyalgia also is characterized by chronic exhaustion that is related to the sleep problems even though it may frequently continue even when the individual has gotten a good sleep in the night. A large number of Fibromyalgia patients are also diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and most doctors and researchers think that the two conditions may actually be the exact same root problem presenting itself with varying primary symptoms.


Both conditions exhibit chronic sleep problems, thought impairment and crushing fatigue that very often makes handling day to day life nearly impossible.

Additional primary symptoms of Fibromyalgia include depression, increased anxiety, cognitive impairment, headaches and tender points. These symptoms regularly come and go with no obvious cause, but they may work with each other inside an ongoing causal loop. Severe pain can lead to sleep issues that subsequently give rise to fatigue that can induce depression, anxiety and cognitive problems. These negative feedback loops can rage on for extended time periods, quite often with the patient unaware of the causal nature of their different symptoms.

Secondary symptoms of Fibromyalgia can involve a large number of health conditions including a diverse range of bowel problems, bladder related issues, jaw pain, morning stiffness and pain, dizziness or vertigo, cold feelings in the extremities, elevated stress, restless leg syndrome, extreme PMS symptoms and various other pain related conditions.

Fibromyalgia is more widespread in females with up to 90% of patients in some surveys being female. Fibromyalgia is typically diagnosed based upon observed symptoms and through a process of elimination relative to other medical conditions with similar symptoms. It is extremely difficult to diagnose and this routinely leads to a high level of misdiagnosis.


Fibromyalgia shares symptoms with so many other health problems that it is frequently called The Great Pretender. Treating Fibromyalgia is complex with effective treatment efforts typically individual in nature, but a symptoms targeted treatment effort is regularly employed.