| It's hard to predict what the symptoms of a | | | | _____ 7. Abdominal pain, diarrhea, constipation, |
| given case of fibromyalgia (FM) will be, because | | | | nausea, and bloating. |
| they can manifest themselves in very different | | | | _____ 8. Inability to exercise, even moderately. |
| ways in different people. In this article you will find | | | | _____ 9. Severe headaches which recur two or |
| a list of the most common symptoms. By using | | | | more times per week. Can be migraines or |
| this checklist and placing a mark next to the | | | | tensionheadaches. |
| different symptoms which describe the way you | | | | _____ 10. Chest pains other than cardiac pain. |
| feel, you'll give yourself a starting place to use | | | | _____ 11. Irregular heartbeat. |
| when discussing the possibility that this is what | | | | _____ 12. Nasal congestion. |
| you have with your doctor. | | | | _____ 13. Shortness of breath. |
| _____ 1. Pain in the soft, fibrous tissues of the | | | | _____ 14. Pain in the ligaments and muscles of |
| body - the muscles, tendons, and ligaments. FM | | | | the jaw. |
| paincan be described as aching deep within | | | | _____ 15. Painful periods. |
| muscles, shooting, throbbing, intense burning, | | | | _____ 16. Acid reflux. |
| orstabbing. | | | | _____ 17. Blurred vision. |
| _____ 2. Pain and stiffness are worse in the | | | | _____ 18. Profuse sweating |
| morning. | | | | _____ 19. Dizziness |
| _____ 3. Physically-draining fatigue. Patients often | | | | _____ 20. Muscle weakness and balance issues. |
| feel as if heavy weights are tied to | | | | As you can see, there can be a lot of clues |
| theirextremities. May find it difficult to get through | | | | pointing to FM, but they are symptoms that |
| a day's activities. | | | | many people just live with every day instead of |
| _____ 4. Difficulty concentrating. Inability to | | | | having them checked out. If you found yourself |
| focus on specific tasks. | | | | honestly checking several of the symptoms listed |
| _____ 5. Unable to retain new information to the | | | | above, take your list to your doctor and find out |
| point where it interferes with the ability to | | | | if she thinks you should have more thorough |
| dealwith mental tasks, such as on the job. | | | | testing done. Although there is no cure for |
| _____ 6. Insomnia. Difficulty falling asleep and | | | | fibromyalgia, there are a lot of things you will be |
| staying asleep. Frequent periods of waking | | | | able to do to lessen its effects on your body and |
| through-out the night and indications of wakeful | | | | your lifestyle. |
| brain activity. Waking without feeling refreshed. | | | | |