The Journal of the American Osteopathic Association
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Fibromyalgia is a common chronic syndrome defined by core symptoms of widespread pain, fatigue, and sleep disturbance. Other common symptoms include cognitive difficulty, headache, paresthesia, and morning stiffness. Fibromyalgia is increasingly understood as 1 of several disorders that are referred to as central sensitivity syndromes; these disorders share underlying causes and clinical features. ⋯ Newly proposed criteria, however, rely on patients' reports of widespread pain and other somatic symptoms to establish the diagnosis of fibromyalgia. The management of fibromyalgia requires a multidimensional approach including patient education, cognitive behavioral therapy, exercise, and pharmacologic therapy. The present review provides an update on these various aspects of treating a patient with fibromyalgia.