Fibromyalgia = pain
That's the simple explination...

Every person who has fibro will have a different experience in terms of symptoms, pain levels, etc....

There is a lot of confusion even in the medical community about fibromyalgia. Some doctors use the terms fibromyalgia as a 'wastebasket' diagnosis that they hand out to any female who complains of pain/discomfort/fatigue and stress. Other doctors follow the guidelines and check for the 18 tender points (specific areas of the body that will hurt when pressed). And yet more doctors believe that fibromyalgia can never occur on it own and believe that it is always secondary to another illness/disease.

The causes of fibro are also debated a lot within the medical community. Some think it is caused by stress, other think it 'just happens', and as I said above some believe that it is always secondary to something else.

Treatments also vary. Some fibro folks are able to manage their symptoms with proper nutrition, exercise, and sleep. Others use various medications like SSRI antidepressants, muscle relaxers, and anti-inflamatories to help the pain, and some folks need narcotic pain relievers.

In my opinion, this is the best website to explain fibro - http://www.sover.net/~devstar/

Here is a more brief explination that includes a chart to show where the tender points are and a chart that shows other symptoms -
http://www.nfra.net/Diagnost.htm

And finally, here is a google cached page of a post of mine from OBT that contains a ton of fibro info -
http://72.14.209.104/search?q=cache:...s&ct=clnk&cd=1


Hope that helps ZS and Welcome to the fibromylagia forum