Fibromyalgia on CNN.com

http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/conditions/07/14/hm.fibromyalgia/index.html

(excerpts)

Lieberman believed it is related to a disordered sleep pattern and poor exercise. "It appears to be more of a neuro-chemical process," he said. "In other words, there really is no inflammation in patients with fibromyalgia."

Getting a proper diagnosis can sometimes be just as frustrating as finding out what's behind the disease.

"Fibromyalgia is to some extent a diagnosis of exclusion," Lieberman said. "There are lot of things it can be confused with such as thyroid disorders, metabolic disorders and certain rheumatologic inflammatory conditions."

"Sometimes fibromyalgia is used as a wastebasket term if a patient has pain and they don't know what it is from," he said. "It is frequently misdiagnosed. In fact, it is overdiagnosed and it is underdiagnosed."

The doctor is quick to point out that even with proper medication and adequate exercise, fibromyalgia has no cure.

Although Lieberman said some of his patients report the symptoms tapering off in their mid-50s and -60s, others are faced with years of managing the condition.

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One of the problems faced by fibro patients is that they have routinely been sent to rheumatologists, who know everything about inflammatory conditions like arthritis, and try to treat fibro the same way.  Except that fibro is non-inflammatory, so NSAIDs won't do anything except give you an ulcer.

CFS, like fibro, is both under-and over-diagnosed.  There are doctors who think every case of "fatigue" is CFS, and others who diagnose every case of CFS as depression.  It's critical to get your diagnosis confirmed by an expert, so that you're not taking the wrong pills that won't help you (and may make you worse).