What is Fibromyalgia?

The 18 tender points of Fibromyalgia.

Most people will tell you Fibromyalgia is just pain all over.  Fibromyalgia is classified as a syndrome.  Like Restless Leg Syndrome, it's very real and very debilitating.  Oh yeah, we get RLS, too.  Fibro is soooo close to being proven it's an auto-immune disease.  I can't wait for that day, cause I know it already is.  The doctors just have to catch up.  I always say Fibro's ahead of it's time.  It really is a disease of the future.  They don't know so much about it as they do other conditions.  Okay, so here's what it is.  Fibro (yes, this has been proven) is a condition of the brain.  So, when people say it's all in our heads, they're right!  The pain center of our brain is very confused.  It say's we're in trouble.  So, the brain will send a message to all our our nerves: WARNING, WE'RE IN BIG TROUBLE.  Over-active nerves = pain.  We feel pain just like you do.  Except our dumb brain thinks we're in pain all the time.  All the time.  Over-active nerves, all the time.  Did ya get that?  Yeah, it hurts.  So this isn't a condition of the muscles.  It's a brain and nerve condition that just happens to really hurt our muscles and joints.  It has been classified as that, by a wonderful doctor who researches Fibromyalgia, and yes, he has it himself.  Okay, so did you also know Fibromyalgia can actually be proven, too?  Yes, great news, especially for all the nay-sayers out there.  Yes, it can be proven and has. It will show up in an MRI, in a hair sample, and also in a skin analysis.  This is very expensive, though.  That's why these tests are not performed to diagnose Fibromyalgia.  We do what's called a "tender point" test.  Yeah, you guessed it; they poke us, we say ouch.  There are many Fibromyalgia symptoms and you'll most definitely fail the tender point test if you have it.  It's enough to diagnose.  To get to this point, you'll most likely already have done every test under the sun.  Determining it's not something else, (Fibromyalgia can mimic many diseases) having the symptoms, and hurting like there's no tomorrow are the criteria for a proper Fibromyalgia diagnosis.  It's real and it CAN be proven.  The above picture is the "18 tender points of Fibromyalgia."  These are the points your doctor will cram his fat finger into.  Only 11 tender points are needed to diagnose Fibromyalgia.  You do not need to fail all 18.  Some days you'll have all 18 though, believe me!

Here is a list of other symptoms that accompany Fibro:

*I copied and pasted these from Wikipedia: Fibromyalgia*

The defining symptoms of fibromyalgia are chronic widespread pain, fatigue, and heightened pain in response to tactile pressure (allodynia).  Other symptoms may include tingling of the skin, prolonged muscle spasms, weakness in the limbs, nerve pain, muscle twitching, palpitations, functional bowel disturbances, and chronic sleep disturbances.

Many patients experience cognitive dysfunction (known as "fibrofog"), which may be characterized by impaired concentration, problems with short and long-term memory loss, short-term memory consolidation, impaired speed of performance, inability to multi-task, cognitive overload, and diminished attention span. Fibromyalgia is often associated with anxiety and depressive symptoms.

Other symptoms often attributed to fibromyalgia that may possibly be due to a comorbid disorder include myofascial pain syndrome, also referred to as chronic myofascial pain, diffuse non-dermatomal parethesias, functional bowel disturbances and irritable bowel syndrome, genitourinary symptoms and interstitial systitis, dermatological disorders, headaches, myoclonic twitches, and symptomatic hypoglycemia.   Although fibromyalgia is classified based on the presence of chronic widespread pain, pain may also be localized in areas such as the shoulders, neck, low back, hips, or other areas. Many sufferers also experience varying degrees of myofascial pain and have high rates of comorbidtemporomandibular joint disorder. 20–30% of patients with rheumatoid arthritis and systemic lupus erythematosus may also have fibromyalgia.