Overview
Fibromyalgia is a long-term condition causing widespread pain throughout the body, along with fatigue, poor sleep and difficulty with memory and concentration. It is thought to involve the way the nervous system processes pain signals. There is no single cure, but symptoms can often be improved with a combination of approaches and self-management.
Symptoms
- Widespread, persistent pain or aching across many areas of the body
- Fatigue and waking unrefreshed even after sleep
- Problems with memory and concentration, sometimes called 'fibro fog'
- Increased sensitivity to pain, touch, light or temperature
- Headaches, low mood, anxiety, or irritable bowel symptoms
Causes & risk factors
- Not fully understood; thought to involve altered pain processing in the nervous system
- Often triggered by physical or emotional stress, illness or injury
- Family history may increase risk
- More common in people with certain other long-term conditions
Treatment & self-care
Care is usually a combination of gentle graded exercise, good sleep habits, stress management, psychological support and pacing of daily activities, tailored to the individual. A clinician confirms the diagnosis by ruling out other conditions and helps build a personalised, long-term management plan rather than relying on any single treatment.
See a doctor urgently if
- You have widespread pain and fatigue lasting weeks that is affecting daily life
- New, severe or rapidly worsening symptoms appear, or pain is focused in one area
- You experience swollen or hot joints, fever or unexplained weight loss, which suggest another cause
- Low mood, anxiety or thoughts of self-harm develop — seek help promptly