Fibromyalgia is a disorder with an unknown cause, characterized by chronic muscle pain, fatigue, and tenderness. It is hard to establish its diagnosis because there are no specific laboratories or X-ray images that can confirm fibromyalgia. This disorder is diagnosed according to its clinical symptoms and by excluding all other possible diseases that may share the same symptoms.
Diseases that share the same symptoms with fibromyalgia can be confirmed or excluded with specific laboratory tests or X-ray imaging and include: rheumatic diseases (systemic lupus erithematosus (SLE), rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, polymyalgia rheumatica; degenerative diseases (osteoarthritis, osteoporosis) etc.
Fibromyalgia is often followed by fatigue, headaches, irritable bowel syndrome, irritable bladder, cognitive and memory problems (often called “fibro fog”), TMJ-syndrome, pelvic pain, restless leg syndrome, sensitivity to noise and temperature, and anxiety and depression. All these conditions also have unknown causes and their severity varies over time, just like the symptoms of fibromyalgia. Stress and anxiety worsen the symptoms and that’s why anxiolitics and antidepressants (in addition to painkillers) are used for treatment.
You can consult an orthopedist for surgical removal of chronic bursitis on the right foot. Arthritis may “not show up in the blood tests” if you are actually experiencing arthralgia (pain in the joints like in fibromyalgia) that is not caused by inflammatio. the symptoms of rheumatic diseases are due to inflammation that can be confirmed with blood tests (increased sedimentation and elevated C-reactive protein). Structural damage of the joints and bones can also be confirmed with X-ray imaging to diagnose possible rheumatic conditions.
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