Fibromyalgia

What Is Fibromyalgia?

Fibromyalgia is a disorder that causes muscle pain and fatigue (feeling tired). People with fibromyalgia have "tender points" on the body. Tender points are specific places on the neck, shoulders, back, hips, arms, and legs. These points hurt when pressure is put on them.

People with fibromyalgia may also have other symptoms, such as:

• Trouble sleeping

National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS)
National Institutes of Health
1 AMS Circle
Bethesda, MD 20892–3675
Phone: 301–495–4484 or
877–22–NIAMS (226–4267) (free of charge)
TTY: 301–565–2966
Fax: 301–718–6366
E-mail: NIAMSInfo@mail.nih.gov
http://www.niams.nih.gov/

NIAMS provides information about various forms of arthritis and rheumatic disease and bone, muscle, joint, and skin diseases. It distributes patient and professional education materials and refers people to other sources of information. Additional information and updates can also be found on the NIAMS Web site.

What Is Arthritis?

Although Grandma's rheumatism could be any ache or pain, it generally was arthritis.

There are over 100 forms of arthritis and other rheumatic diseases. These diseases may cause pain, stiffness, and swelling in joints and other supporting structures of the body such as muscles, tendons, ligaments, and bones. Some forms can also affect other parts of the body, including various internal organs.

Fibromyalgia is a painful disorder, which not a lot is known about. The pain can occur in any muscle group, or all of them, but typically pain is located in the following areas:

• Neck and shoulders
• Lower spine
• Buttocks

People with fibromyalgia have problems sleeping. Some scientists believe that the sleep disorder causes the fibromyalgia and not vice versa. Brain waves taken while you are sleeping have an odd pattern, that has been termed alpha NREM sleep, as it resembles both sleep and wake cycles. These same odd brains waves are seen in a wide, variety of disease/disorders, including the following:

Fibromyalgia is a common condition characterized by long-term, body-wide pain and tender points in joints, muscles, tendons, and other soft tissues. Fibromyalgia has also been linked to fatigue, morning stiffness, sleep problems, headaches, numbness in hands and feet, depression, and anxiety.

Fibromyalgia can develop on its own or along with other musculoskeletal conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis or lupus.

Medical science has only recently caught up with the reality of Fibromyalgia.

FMS (fibromyalgia syndrome) is a widespread musculoskeletal pain and fatigue disorder for which the cause is still unknown. Fibromyalgia means pain in the muscles, ligaments, and tendons, which are the soft fibrous tissues in the body.

According to the Mayo Clinic, fibromyalgia is a chronic condition characterized by:

• fatigue
• widespread pain in your muscles, ligaments and tendons, and
• multiple tender points — places on your body where slight pressure causes pain.

Environmental illness can strike anyone, anytime. Examples are Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue and Immune Dysfunction Syndrome (CFIDS), and Chemical Sensitivity (CS).

These are common, poorly understood, and chronic multi-system illnesses that are newly recognized by the medical community and mainly affect women, although men and children can also be affected.