Fibromyalgia is a syndrome, which is characterized by at least twelve tender points (points where even slight pressure causes pain or abnormal tenderness) in the musculo-skeletal system (muscles, ligaments, tendons, and bones). These tender points tend to be in certain areas of the body, such as the back of the head, the neck and shoulder muscles, between the shoulder blades, near the breast bone, the outside of the elbows, various points on the hips, inside the knees, and even the soles of the feet. Symptomatically, if you have fibromyalgia, you feel pain in your body, nearly all the time, and usually have a lot of fatigue. Your sleep is not refreshing, and you may have other syndromes which are associated with it, such as depression, headaches, irritable bowel syndrome, restless leg syndrome, auto-immune diseases (lupus, rheumatoid arthritis), osteoarthritis, endometriosis and chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS or CFIDS). The core symptom of CFS is severe fatigue, which is worsened by activity and so there is substantial overlap with the experience of those who have fibromyalgia.
