Signs and Symptoms of Fibromyalgia

Fibromyalgia is a chronic condition that causes widespread pain around the body. The pain stems from a problem in the way the nervous system processes pain signals.

Fibromyalgia also causes symptoms like tiredness, depression, and mental fog.

Doctors may not immediately consider fibromyalgia when evaluating these types of symptoms, because pain is also common with many other conditions. That’s one reason why it takes an average of five years for people with this disorder to get diagnosed.

Knowing the type and location of your pain, and what other symptoms you have, can help your doctor arrive at a diagnosis. The faster you get diagnosed, the sooner you can get started on a treatment to relieve your symptoms.

Read on to learn some of the most common fibromyalgia symptoms, and a few unusual ones you might not expect.

Most severe symptoms

The pain from fibromyalgia can be intense and constant. It can be severe enough to keep you home from work and other activities.

In a National Health Interview Survey, 87 percent of participants reported having pain on most days or every day of their lives.

Fibromyalgia can also cause intense emotional symptoms. Over 43 percent of people in the National Health Interview Survey had anxiety and depression that were severe enough to need medication.

Of all the fibromyalgia symptoms, fatigue can have one of the biggest impacts on your life. Constant fatigue affects more than 90 percent of people with the condition.

Fibromyalgia fatigue isn’t ordinary tiredness. It’s a bone-weary exhaustion that drains your body of energy and turns every activity into a chore.

Between 40 and 70 percent of people with fibromyalgia also have uncomfortable symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome, such as:

diarrhea and/or constipation
belly pain
bloating
gas
nausea

And up to 70 percent have regular tension or migraine headaches, which are often severe. Headaches may stem from painful head, neck, or shoulder muscles.

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