Do you suffer from general aches and pains? Difficulty sleeping? Sore spots on your body for no apparent reason? If you do, you’re not alone. You may have a disease called fibromyalgia. Fibromyalgia is a disease that 5 million people in the United States suffer from.

If you’re wondering if this disease may explain how you’ve been feeling, read this fibromyalgia symptom checklist to see if fibromyalgia may be the problem.

Have you had generalized pain throughout your body for at least three months?

Do you have at least 11 "tender points" on your body?

Are you having problems with depression?

Do you have restless leg syndrome?

Do you have chronic fatigue syndrome?

If you answered, "Yes" to these questions, you may need to have an exam by your personal physician to diagnose you as having fibromyalgia. Keep in mind that fibromyalgia is hard to diagnose. Many people spend years going from doctor to doctor being diagnosed with illnesses such as depression, arthritis, or even multiple sclerosis.

To make diagnosis even more difficult, fibromyalgia differs from person to person and it isn’t an illness that can be clearly seen on an x-ray or with a laboratory test.

Physicians usually base their diagnosis on how long your pain has persisted and having at least 11 "tender points" on your body out of a possible 18. The most common tender spots are elbow, knee joints, neck, shoulders, lower back and hips.

Your physician will also need to rule out other illnesses before deciding your symptoms indicate fibromyalgia. Because the symptoms of fibromyalgia mimic the symptoms of other diseases, tests will have to be run to make sure you are being diagnosed correctly.

Some diseases that share the symptoms of fibromyalgia are:

• Lupus
• Carpal tunnel syndrome
• Cushing’s syndrome
• Depression
• Hyperparathyroidism
• Hypothyroidism
• Multiple sclerosis
• Myasthenia gravis
• Myositis
• Osteoarthritis
• Restless legs syndrome
• Rheumatoid arthritis
• Sleep apnea
• Sjorgren’s syndrom

Unfortunately, no one knows what causes this disease and there is no cure for it. Once your physician determines that you are indeed suffering from fibromyalgia, treatment can begin. Because there is no cure for this disease, treatment usually consists of managing the symptoms and improving the quality of sleep.

Jason Ladock

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