Fibromyalgia- Quick Facts

    Symptoms                                                                                   . The symptoms of fibromyalgia include but are not             limited to:                                                                                   . Chronic muscle pain                                                               . 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 staying in one position for           too long.                                                                                     . Difficulty remembering, concentrating, and                         performing simple tasks ( "fibro fog" )                                 . Abdominal pain, bloating, nausea, and constipation           alternating with diarrhea ( irritable bowel syndrome)       . Jaw and facial tenderness                                                     . Sensitivity to one or more of the following: odours,           noise, bright lights, medications, and cold                         . Feeling anxious or depressed                                               . Numbness or tingling in the face, arms,                               legs of feet                                                                                 . Increase in urinary urgency or frequency                           . Reduced tolerance for exercise and muscle malaise         . A feeling of swelling ( without actual swelling ) in               the hands and feet                                                                   . Balance problems                                                                     . Tremors in hands and other parts of the body                   . Having severe pain in 3 to 6 different areas of the             body or milder pain in 7 or more different areas.                 Symptoms which have persisted more than 3 months,       having no other reason for these symptoms

    New Diagnostic Criteria for Fibromyalgia

    Tender-point exams are no longer the only way to              diagnose fibromyalgia- the American College of                  Rheumatology has provisionally accepted alternative        criteria for diagnosing the condition and gauging the        severity of symptoms.

    The diagnostic criteria doctors have been using were        established in the 1990. Once other possible causes          of  symptoms were eliminated, diagnosis was based          purely on pain. It had to be on both sides of the body,

    both above and below the waist, along with axial                skeleton ( head, throat, chest, spine ), also in at least

   11 of 18 specific spots on the body which are called           tender points. Symptoms have to have been present         for at least 3 months.