I have had it for many years. My own mother has it, too. There may be overlap between the conditions and certainly confusion about them in the minds of both patients and doctors. The term myofascial pain syndrome is generally reserved for more localized chronic muscular pains where a single trigger point can be found.
Pain often spreads from that point to distant areas.
The term fibromyalgia is reserved for more widespread muscular pains with multiple trigger points. Trigger points are small tender areas in muscle, which may be found from the neck to the hips and knees. Pressure over the points is painful, but the pain in fibromyalgia usually does not spread distantly, as it typically does in myofascial pain syndromes. Fibromyalgia is almost always associated with poor and nonrefreshing sleep, often with frequent awakening during the night. Other conditions that are often linked with it are chronic fatigue, irritable bowel syndrome, headaches, sensations of swelling, and depression.