Fibromyalgia Myths: FM is Not
Just Pain. FM patients often display a variety of other symptoms such as severe
fatigue, sleep and cognitive problems, allergies, chest pain, dry eyes and
mouth, orthostatic intolerance (trouble standing), anxiety and depression.
Simply a Women's Disorder. Early testing suggested that FM was largely a female
disease. More sophisticated studies suggest that approximately forty percent of
FM patients are men.
Primarily A Muscle Disease. The locus of pain in the muscles has lead FM to be
wrongly characterized as a muscle disease. Studies, however, have found few
indications of inflammation or injury in the muscles of FM patients. Most
researchers now believe the pain and other problems found in FM are primarily
caused by a central nervous system dysfunction.
A Psychological Disorder. The early emphasis put on diagnosing FM patients using
tender points singled out a subset of primarily female patients with high rates
of depression. Later studies indicate mood disorders neither contribute to the
risk of getting FM nor play a role in its severity.
A Minor Disease. Disability is an unfortunate but common outcome of FM. One
study found that 25% of FM patients had received disability payments at one
time.
Only Initiated by Pain or Injury. FM can also be triggered by an infection or by
other kinds of stresses.
Untreatable. Physicians use a wide variety of drugs, alternative treatments and
coping strategies to ameliorate the pain and other symptoms of FM.
The Phoenix Rising website is compiled by a layman. It is not a substitute for a physician and is
for informational uses only. Please discuss any information in these pages with
your physician.