The primary symptoms of fibromyalgia include widespread musculoskeletal pain,severe fatigue,and disturbed sleep.
Fibromyalgia means pain in the muscles,ligaments,and tendons – the soft fibrous tissues in the body.
Most patients with fibromyalgia say that they have ache all over.Their muscles may feel like they were pulled or have been working too much.
Sometimes fibromyalgia symptoms include muscle twitches and burning sensations.
More women than men are afflicted with fibromyalgia,and it shows up in people of all ages.
Common symptoms of fibromyalgia:
Pain – The pain has no boundaries.People describe the pain as deep muscular aching,throbbing,shooting and stabbing.Intense burning may also be present.
Quite often,the pain and stiffness are worse in the morning.
Fatigue – This symptom can be mild in some patients and yet incapaciating in others.
The fatigue has been described as ´´brain fatigue´´,in which patients feel totally drained of energy.
Sleep disorder – Most patients have an associated sleep disorder called the alpha-EEG anomaly.
Irritable bowel syndrome – Constipation,diarrhea,frequent abdominal pain,abdominal gas and nausea represent symptoms frequently found in roughly 40-70% of the patients.
Acid reflux or gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) also occurs with the same high frequency.
Chronic headaches – Recurrent migraine or tension-type headaches are seen in about 70% of the patients with fibromyalgia.
Temporomandibular joint dysfunction syndrome – This syndrome sometimes refered to as TMJ or TMD,causes tremendous jaw-related face and head pain in one-quarter of the patients.
Other common symptoms – Premenstrual syndrome and painful periods,chest pain, morning stiffness,cognitive or memory impairment,numbness and tingling sensations,muscle twitching,irritable bladder,the feelig of swollen extremities,skin sensitivities,dry eyes and mouth,dizziness and impaired coordination can occur.
Fibromyalgia patients are often sensitive to odors,loud noises,bright lights,and sometimes even the medications they are prescribed.
Agggravating factors – Changes in weather,cold or drafty environments,infections,allergies,hormonal fluctuations (premenstrual and menopausal states),stress,depression,anxiety and over-exertion may all contribute to fibromyalgia symptom flare-ups.