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Several conditions share some key symptoms with fibromyalgia, particularly extreme fatigue, chronic pain, irritable bowel syndrome, and sleep disturbances. Since fibromyalgia can masquerade as other illnesses, like rheumatoid arthritis, lupus and hypothyroidism, health professionals have developed some guidelines for diagnosis.
Although every patient is a bit different, there are a few very common characteristics of the disease that usually need to be present in order to receive a fibromyalgia diagnosis, including:
7. Symmetrical Pain
Fibromyalgia typically brings pain on both sides of the body, as well as both the upper and lower parts. The pain does not have to be constant in any section of extremity, but it must occur over different areas of the body in order to be classified as fibromyalgia pain.
When people talk about fibromyalgia pain, they may use the terms tender points and trigger points, but what is the difference between the two?
