The Symptoms of Fibromyalgia

We know what it means to have Fibromyalgia. Throughout the years, our team at The Fibro Clinic have talked and exchanged emails with over 12,000 patients, read countless articles, watched more DVDs than we could count, and attended numerous local, national, and international conferences.

When it comes to symptoms, the first thing patients say to us is normally along the lines of, “The pain is so bad, I’m so stiff I can hardly move and I can’t sleep well at all. My life is misery.” When we meet face to face, the look of despair is almost always there, despite trying to be brave facing a condition that many still pretend doesn’t exist.

Other symptoms mentioned are commonly anxiety, depression, post-exertional fatigue/malaise, problems with temperature control or cold intolerance, sensitivity to many stimuli including bright lights and noise, irritable bowel (often this presents itself as constipation or diarrhoea and bladder/urinary frequency problems), headaches, brain fog (many patients find this one of the most distressing symptoms), hypermobility (often causes weakness in muscles or joints leading to frequent injuries), alcohol and medicine intolerance, dizziness, restless leg syndrome, and occasionally Neurally Mediated Hypotension. Oftentimes they also have a family member with Fibromyalgia.

We have spoken to many patients who also suffer with ME/CFS and fatigue is their main problem, very often followed by pain, stiffness and sleep problems. No one really understands fatigue as a symptom on its own, however much is now known about the pain, stiffness and sleep problems of FM and CFS/me.

Although it’s not a symptom, but more a result of these symptoms – most patients mention an overall feeling of despair. Many struggle in their personal relationships and regret having to miss out on time or activities with family. Often they’ve had to put careers on hold or have stopped working completely – leading to a breakdown in hopes, dreams and aspirations.

Here at The Fibro Clinic, we urge you to remember that you are not alone. Fortunately there are ways to better your overall condition and total health. Our hope is that those who stumble across this page may find solace in the fact that there are indeed people out there just waiting to help you – and we hope to hear from you soon.