Fibromyalgia Definition

Fibromyalgia encompasses many ailments and symptoms, but what is the fibromyalgia definition?

According to The First Year: Fibromyalgia: An Essential Guide for the Newly Diagnosed by Claudia Craig Marek the condition of fibromyalgia, formerly know as “fibrositis”, had been in medical literature since the early 1800s. She notes that Dr. Frederick Wolfe formed a group of physicians and scientists in the early 1990s to develop a criteria in order to begin studying the condition. The defined symptoms were then called fibromyalgia syndrome, describing the pain in muscles and fibers.

What are the symptoms?

There are many, many symptoms of fibromyalgia, and these symptoms can vary from affected person to person. Some of the main symptoms experienced by a majority of people living with fibromyalgia are:

• chronic muscle pain, muscle spasms
• stiffness upon waking or staying in one position too long
• difficulty remembering or concentrating, known as ‘fibro fog’
• abdominal pain including IBS, bloating, nausea
• frequent headaches
• jaw/facial tenderness
• sensory sensitivities
• anxiety or depression
• numbness or tingling in the extremities such as the feet, hands
• increase in urinary frequency
• reduced tolerance for exercise and increased muscle pain after exercise
• feeling of swelling in hands and feet without actual swelling
• chronic pain and tenderness
• fatigue and sleep disturbance

In other words, we hurt all over, can’t sleep,are tired all the time, irritable, have frequent headaches, and spend most days with some type of stomach issue.

There is no ‘cure’ for fibromyalgia, but there are various ways to alleviate the symptoms, and make the pain much more manageable. I prefer to do all natural ways with Motrin for the really bad days, but here are all forms of treatments for fibromyalgia.

Read more about treatments and other resources.