Fifteen Most Important Fibromyalgia Signs and Symptoms you just cannot ignore
Many people are unaware of how devastating fibromyalgia can be for the patient. Below are 15 Fibromyalgia signs and symptoms.
1. Extreme Fatigue: Feeling exhausted upon waking after a long night’s sleep is common for people with fibromyalgia. People with Fibromyalgia signs often describe fatigue as being draining or like carrying dead weight. The fatigue can be so severe that a person has difficulty performing even the most basic daily tasks.
2. Musculoskeletal Pain: The widespread pain experienced by fibromyalgia sufferers is its hallmark fibromyalgia symptom. For pain to be considered to be widespread and considered fibromyalgia pain, it must occur on either both sides of a person’s body or include pain both above and below the waist. This pain may also be centralized in specific trigger points on a person’s body that spread the pain to different regions when pressure is applied.
Difficulty Concentrating: Lack of focus, inability to pay attention and memory lapses are all cognitive symptoms of fibromyalgia. Those with fibromyalgia often refer to this set of symptoms as “fibro fog.”
4. Sleep Disorders: Trouble falling or staying asleep is another Fibromyalgia sign. Many sufferers experience frequent night wakings and other disruptions that lead to further feelings of exhaustion during the day.
5. Irritable Bowel Syndrome: Although no one knows why the majority of people with fibromyalgia also have this disorder. Diarrhea, constipation, pain and bloating, and nausea are symptoms that are experienced by people with both of these disorders.
Irregular Heartbeat/Heart Palpitations: Cardiac symptoms can be especially upsetting to fibromyalgia patients, yet testing tends to reveal no underlying cause. Heart palpitations do tend to respond to deep breathing and other relaxation techniques.
7. Headaches: Chronic migraines affect more than half of those diagnosed with Fibromyalgia signs. The majority of these headaches are classified as causing severe pain, and they occur three or more times a week. Many people experience multiple headaches during a single day.
TMJ or Jaw Pain: Temporomandibular joint dysfunction (TMJ) disorder affects about one-fourth of those with fibromyalgia. Facial pain that originates in the jaw may also spread to a person’s head or neck. Usually, the pain is associated more with the ligaments and muscles within a person’s jaw area rather than the joints.
9. Bladder Disorders: Irritable bladder, frequent urinary infections, and incontinence are also found in those with Fibromyalgia signs. Burning with urination and abdominal pain may feel more severe to people with this disorder.
10. Vision Disturbances: Dry or burning eyes, blurred vision, and difficulty focusing are a few ways that Fibromyalgia signs can disrupt a person’s vision. These symptoms may occur along with headaches or dizziness. However, they can also occur alone.
Increased Sensitivities: With fibromyalgia, it can often feel as though a person’s senses are in overdrive. Bright lights and strong odors may increase other symptoms such as headaches. A person may also discover that they are more sensitive to medications, and they may have a greater chance of developing side effects.
12. Balance Problems: The widespread pain and fatigue caused by this disorder can also lead to some people having trouble with their balance. For this reason, it is important for anyone with this disorder to guard against falls. Dizziness may occur along with balance issues.
Numbness and Tingling: Random tingles in a person’s extremities with no known cause could just be another symptom of Fibromyalgia signs. Carpal tunnel syndrome is also commonly found in people with this disorder.
14. Trouble Exercising: In a healthy person, exercise releases pain-relieving endorphins, however, a person with Fibromyalgia signs will experience increased pain after even moderate workouts. Breaking exercise sessions into several, shorter workouts can help to alleviate pain sensitivities.
Premenstrual Syndrome: Women with fibromyalgia may experience more severe symptoms of PMS. Painful cramping, heavy periods, and mood changes are a few fibromyalgia symptoms experienced by female fibromyalgia patients. Share if you can please.
Fibromyalgia: Signs and Symptoms
What are the signs and symptoms of fibromyalgia?
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Pain and stiffness all over the body.
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Fatigue and tiredness.
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Depression and anxiety.
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Sleep problems.
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Problems with thinking, memory, and concentration.
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Headaches, including migraines.
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Widespread muscle pain and tenderness are the most common symptoms.
What is fibromyalgia?
Fibromyalgia is a chronic condition that causes widespread pain around the body. The pain stems from a problem in the way the nervous system processes pain signals. It also causes symptoms like tiredness, depression, and mental fog.
Doctors may not immediately consider fibromyalgia when evaluating these types of symptoms, because pain is also common with many other conditions. That’s one reason why it takes an average of 5 years for people with this disorder to get diagnosed.
Knowing the type and location of your pain, and what other symptoms you have, can help your doctor arrive at a diagnosis. The faster you get diagnosed, the sooner you can get started on a treatment to relieve your symptoms.
Main signs and symptoms
The main symptom of fibromyalgia is pain and tenderness in muscles and joints throughout your body. The pain can shift from place to place, but to meet the diagnosis criteria, you’ll need to have experienced pain for at least three months. The pain must be in a specific number of body parts and be above a specific severity score. And, you must not have another condition (like arthritis) that could explain the pain.
Fibromyalgia also causes a number of other symptoms, such as:
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fatigue
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lack of energy
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trouble sleeping
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depression or anxiety
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memory problems and trouble concentrating (sometimes called “the fibromyalgia fog”)
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headaches
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muscle twitches or cramps
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numbness or tingling in the hands and feet
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itching, burning, and other skin problems
Most severe symptoms
The pain from fibromyalgia can be intense and constant. It can be severe enough to keep you home from work and other activities.
In a National Health Interview Survey, 87 percent of participants reported having pain on most days or every day of their lives.
Fibromyalgia can also cause intense emotional symptoms. Over 43 percent of people in the National Health Interview Survey had anxiety and depression that were severe enough to need medication.
Of all the fibromyalgia symptoms, fatigue can have one of the biggest impacts on your life. Constant fatigue affects more than 90 percent of people with the condition.
Fibromyalgia fatigue isn’t ordinary tiredness. It’s a bone-weary exhaustion that drains your body of energy and turns every activity into a chore.
Between 40 and 70 percent of people with fibromyalgia also have uncomfortable symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome, such as:
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diarrhea and/or constipation
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belly pain
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bloating
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gas
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nausea
And up to 70 percent have regular tension or migraine headaches, which are often severe. Headaches may stem from painful head, neck, or shoulder muscles.
More unusual symptoms
Here are a few other symptoms that you might not expect, but that can occur with fibromyalgia:
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excess sweating
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easy bruising
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swelling
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sensitivity to noise, light, or temperature
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jaw pain
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chest pain
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bladder pain
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an urgent need to urinate
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food allergy symptoms like a stuffed nose, wheezing, diarrhea, or vomiting
How is fibromyalgia pain different from other types of pain?
Fibromyalgia pain is located in muscles and other soft tissues like joints. It’s unique in that it affects various sites all over the body. The pain is intensified because of the way the brain processes it.
Fibromyalgia pain can be in the:
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neck
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middle and lower back
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arms
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legs
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shoulders
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hips
Everyone feels fibromyalgia pain differently. Some people feel it all over their body. Others feel it only in certain muscles, like in their back or legs.
The quality of the pain can also differ from person to person. It’s been described as:
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throbbing
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aching
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burning
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shooting
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stabbing
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soreness
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stiffness
The intensity of the pain can vary based on the time of day and your activity. In some people it’s worse in the morning, or after they exercise. Stress, a lack of sleep, and the weather can also affect the type and intensity of fibromyalgia pain.
