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Symptoms of Fibromyalgia

What Are the Symptoms of Fibromyalgia?

Symptoms of fibromyalgia include:

  • Chronic muscle pain, muscle spasms or tightness
  • Moderate or severe fatigue and decreased energy
  • Insomnia or waking up feeling just as tired as when you went to sleep
  • Stiffness upon waking or after staying in one position for too long
  • Difficulty remembering, concentrating, and performing simple mental tasks ("fibro fog")
  • Abdominal pain, bloating, nausea, and constipation alternating with diarrhea (irritable bowel syndrome)
  • Tension or migraine headaches
  • Jaw and facial tenderness
  • Sensitivity to one or more of the following: odors, noise, bright lights, medications, certain foods, and cold
  • Feeling anxious or depressed
  • Numbness or tingling in the face, arms, hands, legs, or feet
  • Increase in urinary urgency or frequency (irritable bladder)
  • Reduced tolerance for exercise and muscle pain after exercise
  • A feeling of swelling (without actual swelling) in the hands and feet

Fibromyalgia symptoms may intensify depending on the time of day -- morning, late afternoon, and evening tend to be the worst times. Symptoms may also get worse with fatigue, tension, inactivity, changes in the weather, cold or drafty conditions, overexertion, hormonal fluctuations (such as just before your period or during menopause), stress, depression, or other emotional factors.

Recommended Related to Fibromyalgia

Fibromyalgia Diagnosis and Misdiagnosis

Because of a multifaceted treatment approach that involves medications and lifestyle strategies, the prognosis for people with fibromyalgia is better than ever before. But first, a doctor needs to make an accurate diagnosis of fibromyalgia. Are you wondering how that's done? Unfortunately, fibromyalgia is regularly misunderstood. Despite all the latest information about fibromyalgia with its severe muscle pain, unrelenting fatigue and sleep problems, and feelings of anxiety and depression, doctors...

Read the Fibromyalgia Diagnosis and Misdiagnosis article > >

If the condition is not diagnosed and treated early, symptoms can go on indefinitely, or they may disappear for months and then recur.

Call Your Doctor About Fibromyalgia If:

You have chronic muscle pain and overwhelming fatigue.

WebMD Medical Reference

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Reviewed by David Zelman, MD on March 26, 2012
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