Fibromyalgia Symptoms

Fibromyalgia tender points in upper back

Getting a good fibromyalgia symptoms list can vary depending on which doctor you talk to.

The 1970s and early 1980s saw a rise of patients complaining about pain in their muscles and joints. For many years the medical community showed very little sympathy and told them nothing was wrong and they were making it up.

Eventually doctor’s offices were flooded with patients with this pain pattern so the medical establishment made up a diagnosis for it.

They gave the condition the name fibromyalgia which means "fibro" = muscle fibers and "myalgia" = muscle pain. Basically this is a fancy way to say muscle pain.

It was and is still used as a catch-all or "garbage pail" diagnosis. When a patient has pain and a doctor can’t figure out why, they just use the label fibromyalgia to put a name on it and make the patient happy.

As the years go by, fibromyalgia doctors have added more and more symptoms to the diagnosis. These days the fibromyalgia symptoms list includes everything listed below.

Fibromyalgia Symptoms List

These conditions can intensify with diet, weather conditions, activity level, and time of day

These conditions can intensify with diet, weather conditions, activity level, and time of day:

A series of 11-18 trigger points of radiating pain when pressed on (all points must either be in the upper body or all points must be in the lower body)
Severe fatigue and exhaustion
Chronic diffuse muscle, joint, and skin pain
Shifting pain points from day to day
Stiffness after staying still too long

Brain fog aka "fibro fog"
Increased sensitivity to everything including odors, light, noises, foods, and temperatures
Temporomandibular joint disorders aka TMJ and face pain
Feeling like your body has internal pressure without it actually being swollen
Chronic digestive problems, including alternating diarrhea and constipation
Insomnia and waking up extremely tired
Shifting numbness in feet, hands, face, and body
Exercise causes severe pain or soreness afterwards
Bladder urgency
Depression and mood swings

Video: Dr. Lupo Talks About Fibromyalgia

Diagnosis Of Fibromyalgia Symptoms

Fibromyalgia doctors still argue about the cause of the disease or if it is even a real disease. Originally fibromyalgia was diagnosed with just 11 or more fibromyalgia trigger points.

Two common mistakes in diagnosing fibromyalgia are that it is not 11 points throughout the body, but actually 11 points either in the upper body or 11 points in the lower body. Another common mistake concerns the trigger points. A person cannot just have points that are tender for them. The pain actually has to radiate to another part of the body when the tender point is pressed

Because fibromyalgia is so nebulous it cannot be diagnosed on just one set of symptoms. To make a proper diagnosis, the doctor must have multiple symptoms from the symptom list above.

Over the years patients were told there was no way to reverse their fibromyalgia even though the medical establishment still was unsure what caused it. The best these patients could hope for was to find support groups and use medication to tone down the symptoms. More and more patients are searching for a fibromyalgia natural treatment.

Reversing Fibromyalgia

These days the research is leaning more towards systemic inflammation as the real cause of fibromyalgia

These days the research is leaning more towards systemic inflammation as the real cause of fibromyalgia. This chronic condition also inflames the brain, peripheral nervous system, gut, and musculoskeletal system.

Most functional medicine doctors don’t hang their hat solely on a fibromyalgia symptoms list. Instead they order very detailed blood work and history, and review the patient’s diet/lifestyle very carefully to determine if that is the root cause of their misery.

If inflammatory factors are discovered then the doctor will (or should) put the person on a strict plant-based anti-inflammatory diet and most likely give them powerful nutraceuticals (herbal supplements) to help cool down the systemic inflammation. Many people have made wonderful changes to their blood work and their chronic symptoms with drug-free disease management through diet control

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