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Fibromyalgia Health Center

Fibromyalgia
Get the basics.
Is It Fibro?
Check your symptoms.
Tender Points
Do you have them?

Fibromyalgia Overview

Fibromyalgia syndrome affects the muscles and soft tissue. Fibromyalgia symptoms include chronic pain in the muscles, fatigue, sleep problems, and painful tender points or trigger points at certain parts of the body. Fibromyalgia pain and other symptoms can be relieved through medications, lifestyle changes, stress management, and other fibromyalgia treatment.

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More On Fibromyalgia
  • Clinical Trials: Find cutting-edge studies exploring new treatments.
  • Academic Research: These are the current technical articles your doctor is reading.
  • Clinical Guidelines: Expert panels set these standards for diagnosis and treatment.

Early Symptoms of Fibromyalgia

What Are the Symptoms?

Symptoms of fibromyalgia include:

  • Chronic muscle pain, muscle spasms or tightness, and leg cramps
  • 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
  • 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
  • Painful menstrual periods
  • Dizziness
webMD Video

click to expand/contract  Women and Sleep

One study found that almost half the women in America suffer from some type of sleep disorder, usually insomnia.

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click to expand/contract  Do You Need a Physical Therapist?

click to expand/contract  Stress and Chronic Pain

click to expand/contract  Guided Imagery: Greet a Great Day

click to expand/contract  Laughter Heals

What fibromyalgia symptom affects you the most?


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