Fibromyalgia

Fibromyalgia is a chronic condition that causes pain and fatigue throughout the body and can also disrupt sleep. The exact cause is unknown, but it's linked to a heightened sensitivity to pain. While fibromyalgia isn't life-threatening, it can impact your comfort, mobility, and quality of life. It's often associated with higher rates of rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, chronic back pain, and lupus.

Fibromyalgia is a complex condition that can leave you with many questions, and Penn Medicine is here to help. Our rheumatologists and pain specialists offer the latest diagnostic tools to help uncover any factors that contributed to your diagnosis, along with advanced treatments to help relieve fibromyalgia's everyday and long-term effects. While there's no way to prevent fibromyalgia, your care team can help you manage your symptoms to help improve your physical and mental health.

Each person's fibromyalgia symptoms will vary, but the most common include:

• Pain in various areas of the body at the same time, including legs, arms, chest, abdomen, head, and back
• Fatigue that can feel overwhelming and disrupt your ability to work or concentrate
• Tenderness in the areas affected by pain
• Numbness or tingling sensations
• Depressed mood
• Constipation and bloating of the stomach
• Sensitivity to light, noise, smells, and temperature

The pain from fibromyalgia ranges from mild to severe and can feel like a deep ache or a stabbing or burning pain. It may feel like it's coming from the joints, although the joints aren't usually affected. Rarer symptoms may include irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), memory problems, hyperthyroidism (underactive thyroid), Lyme's disease, and migraine headaches.

Many people have trouble falling asleep or staying asleep, and they feel tired when they wake up. Penn Medicine specialists provide expert, compassionate treatment to help treat the unique impact of your fibromyalgia.

Researchers have not been able to identify the exact cause of fibromyalgia, but there's evidence to suggest that it occurs due to a problem with how the central nervous system processes pain signals from nerves. The disease often runs in families but can also occur in people with no genetic history. Fibromyalgia is more common in people assigned female at birth.

Possible triggers include:

• Physical or emotional trauma
• Abnormal pain response
• Sleep disturbances
• Infection, such as a virus

Your care team will work to determine what factors trigger your fibromyalgia symptoms to provide you with treatments that bring you relief.

There are currently no specific tests to identify fibromyalgia. Your diagnosis will be based mainly on the findings from a physical exam. Your doctor may also recommend blood, urine, and imaging tests to rule out other conditions with similar symptoms.

A diagnosis is often made after you've experienced three months of pain, accompanied by ongoing sleep problems, persistent fatigue, or issues with memory or cognition. Our doctors will help identify all your associated symptoms and conditions using advanced assessment techniques to give you the most accurate diagnosis.