There are many associated symptoms with both fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue.
Most patients will have several associated symptoms and in severe cases all
of them. In addition to muscle aches and fatigue the other symptoms are:
- Muscle and joint pains and stiffness
- Sleep disorder manifested as unrefreshing sleep, insomnia, early waking or restlessness
- Headaches that many be dull constant aches, tension or migraine
- Mental difficulties with reduced memory, concentration, focus or even a feeling of reduced IQ
- Emotional difficulties with poor stress tolerance, depression, anxiety or full blown anxiety attacks
- Blurred vision or double vision when the eyes are tired
- Dizzyness and lightheadedness (associated with low blood pressure in chronic fatigue)
- Respiratory problems such as sinus congestion, allergies and asthma
- Chest pains and palpitations with no cardiac problems
- Digestive problems such as heartburn, bloating, indigestion, gas, food allergies, irritable bowel, diarrhea or constipation
- Sensitivities to chemicals, odours, light, sound, colours or electromagnetic fields
- Bladder weakness with urinary frequency, urgency or incontinence with no laboratory evidence of urine infection
- Immune system disorder with frequent infections. In chronic fatigue syndrome there may be sore throats and tender lymph nodes in the neck.
- Gynecological dysfunctions with pre-menstrual syndrome, painful or irregular periods.
- Neurological dysfunctions with parasthesias (tingling or numbness) in different locations
- Cold intolerances and cold extremities
You may also have other symptoms if you have a concurrent diagnosis such as inflamed joints of rheumatoid arthritis. You can still use this manual to help you if you have other medical conditions in addition to fibromyalgia or chronic fatigue.
How can a single diagnosis cause such widespread disruption in so many of the body's systems? Before we go on to discuss the reason behind all of these variable and puzzling symptoms let's discuss the common causes of the condition. I have asked every FM/CFS patient I have seen what they feel was the precipitating cause of their condition. The commonest causes are: motor vehicle accident or other physical injury, severe prolonged stress, an emotionally traumatic event, pregnancy, surgery, severe respiratory or gastrointestinal infection, and recurrent respiratory infections. Other contributing factors that patients are not usually aware of are: nutritional deficiencies, exposure to toxins such as damp, moldy basements or cigarette smoking, sleep deprivation from shift work or young babies and mild endocrine (hormone) insufficiencies not picked up in the usual lab tests. These causes are extremely varied. Obviously not everyone who has a car accident gets FM/CFS. In fact, 2 people could be in the same vehicle experiencing the same force of a rear-end collision and one will recover quickly while the other goes on to develop fibromyalgia.
Doctors are used to understanding diseases with a specific cause such as the
lack of insulin causing diabetes or bacteria causing infections. Such straight-forward
cause and effect diseases are logical and medical science has excelled at treating
many of them. With FM/CFS there is no specific cause and this is what puzzles
the medical professionals; in spite of many years of medical training they are
unable to cure the condition with any specific prescription medications or treatments.