It is a musculoskeletal disorder that effects the muscles, ligaments and tendons throughout the body causing severe pain. The most complained about symptoms are pain and stiffness, fatigue, sleep disorders, headache, irritable bowel syndrome, Raynaud's, cognitive impairment, and dizziness. The pain may be felt as a constant ache or it may be a sharp shooting or stabbing pain which does not stop. The fatigue does not go away with sleep.
Patients complain of feeling physically drained and slow.
Sleep disorders are very common among FM patients. They either have difficulty falling asleep or have intermittent sleep which is associated with defects in the stage 4 or deep delta-wave sleep. The disorder is best diagnosed by a rheumatologist. These doctors are trained to find the various tender points in the body. These are areas of the body where ligaments attach muscles to bones.