Fibromyalgia symptoms can often be very confusing as they overlap with symptoms of many neuron or musculoskeletal diseases.
Fibromyalgia is often diagnosed by 18 tender points in the body. Tender points are specific points in the body when pressed, cause intense pain. If there is no pain, then you don’t have fibromyalgia. These tender points are a total of 18 (pairs of 9). Besides these, there are no stringent medical tests/examinations that can be used for the diagnosis of fibromyalgia.
The only option left in such a scenario is the identification of fibromyalgia through various symptoms—physical, psychological, and emotional. These often manifest in patients and are proven to be effective indicators of fibromyalgia. To start off with, let’s divide the symptoms based on gender.
Fibromyalgia Symptom Checklist For Men
The most common fibromyalgia symptoms in men are chronic pain, low sensitivity to pain, pain in the lower back, and any other disabilities formed due to the commonly listed symptoms of fibromyalgia below:
Pain in the common 18 tender points
Pain in the neck, back of shoulder, space between the shoulder blades and neck
Twitching of the muscles at night
Disturbed sleep cycles
Excess fatigue
Pain in certain muscles
Some medical experts state that hormonal levels and states may play a role in the manifestation and change in the condition of fibromyalgia, although science says that hormonal levels may not directly be linked to fibromyalgia in any way.
Fibromyalgia Symptom Checklist For Women
Fibromyalgia occurs more in women than in men due to biological reasons, the main one being testosterone found in men that protect them from fibromyalgia. Fibromyalgia occurs more in women due to fluctuations in hormone levels and menstruation cycles. The fibromyalgia symptom checklist for women is longer than that for men for this very reason. The most common signs of fibromyalgia in women are:
Various allergies
Excessive mucus discharge through the nose
Panting
Pain in the ear or itchiness
Noises in ears like ringing or resonating sounds
Thick secretions from the urethra
Irregular sleep cycles
Constant tiredness
Muscle twitches during the night
Grinding of the teeth
Problems with menstrual cycles
Libido loss
Feeling of nausea or bloating
Cramps in the abdomen
Pain in the pelvic region
Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)
Frequent urination
Heightened sensitivity/irritability to odors, lighting, noises, humidity, changes in blood pressure, and body temperature
Difficulty driving at night
Sensory overload
Sudden bouts of panicking
Depression
Unexpected changes in mood, sudden irritability, or intense anxiety
Changes in heartbeat
Chest pains which feel similar to that of a heart attack
Weakness in the muscles or other body parts
Pain in the joints or numbness
Headaches, epilepsies, and seizures or mini-episode like seizures
Sleeping for prolonged periods of time
Insomnia
Blurry vision, pain in the eye, and inability to judge distances correctly
Issues with gait and balance
Constant constipation
Distorted visual perception or affected visual acuity
Pain in the collarbone, upper neck, shoulder backs, elbows, knees, and upper buttock regions.
Other common symptoms of fibromyalgia in women manifest in mostly emotional or psychological forms. Some of the most common emotion or psychological symptoms of fibromyalgia in women are:
Thoughts revolving around suicide or severe depression
Temper tantrums
Crying constantly
Numbed emotions or feeling empty on the inside
Drastic or gradual changing of personality
Overeating
Endometriosis
Inability to enjoy relaxing or other calming activities which the person previously enjoyed
Unpredictable changes in mood or behavior
Eccentric behaviour
Inability to recognize faces or follow directions
Losing track of time and place
Getting lost easily or too often
Fibromyalgia is like a puzzle in an ocean with diagnosis or symptoms crisscrossing various indications. Sometimes fibromyalgia can be caused due to genetics or because it runs in the family.
Various cognitive problems are a good indicator of fibromyalgia. Some of them are the inability to make accurate judgments, slurring of speech, speaking the wrong words at the wrong time, difficulty speaking or expressing thoughts verbally, and lack of focus or concentration. Short attention span, problems with working memory, and long-term memory forgetting old habits or routines, hard of hearing or inability to read clearly or follow instructions, memory loss or problems, and fluctuations in brain wave patterns during sleep, are the others.
Other times, fibromyalgia manifests from stress, post-traumatic stress disorders, panic attacks, illnesses that are infectious or passed on from person-to-person, or plain and simple, due to various environmental elements or exposure to harmful radicals and other diseases.
Another common indicator of fibromyalgia is when patients complain of pain that comes and goes from their body. The diagnosis of fibromyalgia is a bit chequered, and as such, doctors need to exercise extra care when diagnosing patients or victims of this condition. If you are experiencing any of these symptoms for a long time, it is the time that you visit a doctor immediately.
