Your doctor may want to rule out other conditions that may have similar symptoms. Blood tests may include:. Your doctor may also perform a careful physical exam of your muscles and joints, as well as a neurological exam to look for other causes of your symptoms. If there's a chance that you may be suffering from sleep apnea, your doctor may recommend a sleep study. People who have fibromyalgia also often wake up tired, even after they've slept continuously for more than eight hours.
Brief periods of physical or mental exertion may leave them exhausted. They may also have problems with short-term memory and the ability to concentrate.
If you have these problems, your doctor may ask you to rank how severely they affect your day-to-day activities. Fibromyalgia often coexists with other health problems, so your doctor may also ask if you experience:. In some cases, fibromyalgia symptoms begin shortly after a person has experienced a mentally or physically traumatic event, such as a car accident. People who have post-traumatic stress disorder appear to be more likely to develop fibromyalgia, so your doctor may ask if you've experienced any traumatic events recently.
Because genetic factors appear to be involved in fibromyalgia, your doctor may also want to know if any other members of your immediate family have experienced similar symptoms.
All of this information taken together will give your doctor a much better idea of what may be causing your symptoms.
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Our Housecall e-newsletter will keep you up-to-date on the latest health information. Mayo Clinic does not endorse companies or products. Thinking through the answers to these questions before the visit can help the doctor hone in on a diagnosis:. Writing symptoms and questions down in advance of the visit can be a good way to ensure that nothing is forgotten.
The non-specific nature of many fibromyalgia symptoms, such as fatigue, can lead to an incorrect diagnosis. The diagnosis may be confused with other conditions, including, but not limited to:. While symptoms for these conditions may overlap, treatments generally do not. Getting a correct diagnosis is the first step in learning what treatments and lifestyle changes may make life easier with fibromyalgia.
Fortunately, many fibromyalgia patients see improvement in their symptoms after the diagnosis of fibromyalgia has been established and their "demon has been named," which can be a relief in and of itself. Fibromyalgia or Not? Rheumatologist for Arthritis Treatment.
You are here Types Fibromyalgia. How to Get a Fibromyalgia Diagnosis share pin it Newsletters. Peer Reviewed. Who Can Diagnose Fibromyalgia A family practice physician, internist, or rheumatologist can diagnose fibromyalgia. Scientists have managed to detect fibromyalgia in blood samples and differentiate it from other similar conditions.
Hackshaw and his colleagues published their study in the Journal of Biological Chemistry. For their research, Prof. Hackshaw and colleagues recruited 50 people with a formal diagnosis of fibromyalgia, 29 people with rheumatoid arthritis , 19 with osteoarthritis, and 23 with lupus.
These conditions often co-occur with fibromyalgia. The analysis found patterns that distinguished the blood samples of people with fibromyalgia from those who had related disorders. This brings us much closer to a blood test than we have ever been. In fact, Prof. Hackshaw aims to have the test ready for use within 5 years.
Luis Rodriguez-Saona, a professor of food science and technology at Ohio State and a co-author on the study, says that the researchers want to examine groups of — people with each condition to see whether they can replicate the findings in a larger population sample.
There is no specific blood test to diagnose fibromyalgia. Your physician may take blood to screen for other diseases and rule other diseases, such as hypothyroidism underactive thyroid gland , polymyalgia rheumatica , rheumatoid arthritis , or lupus. They should be elevated in diseases like rheumatoid arthritis but not in fibromyalgia.
One study found that CRP levels were reported higher in those people who had been diagnosed with fibromyalgia, but high BMIs and other chronic diseases might explain that association.
If your CRP tests come back with low or medium levels and ESR tests show low inflammation, that might eliminate other diseases and point your doctor in the direction of diagnosing fibromyalgia. Emerging research using vibrational spectroscopy an advanced blood test may help identify specific protein biomarkers in the blood that differentiates fibro from other disorders.
While arthritis that has caused joint damage can be seen on an X-ray, fibromyalgia does not show up on X-rays. In research studies, functional brain imaging tests in people with fibromyalgia have noted abnormal pain processing in specific areas of the brain. Magnetic resonance spectroscopy a noninvasive test that measures biochemical changes in the brain found higher concentrations of the neurotransmitter glutamate in specific pain-related areas in fibromyalgia patients.
Your physician should be able to diagnose fibromyalgia using the methods outlined above. Once your doctor has assessed whether you meet the criteria for fibromyalgia diagnosis and has ruled out other conditions, they may suggest prescription medication and lifestyle modifications to treat and manage fibromyalgia.
Your doctor may recommend certain antidepressant medication, which can not only treat depression, but also address pain and fatigue linked with fibromyalgia. Another category of commonly prescribed medication for fibro is anti-seizure drugs that can also help with the nerve-related pain from fibromyalgia. These include gabapentin Neurontin and pregabalin Lyrica. Lifestyle changes are a core part of fibro treatment. Therapies like cognitive behavioral therapy CBT and talk therapy may be recommended, as well as acupuncture, massage therapy, and chiropractic help to reduce pain and symptoms.
Getting regular exercise — even in very small increments at first — is important. Once your rheumatologist or pain specialist has come up with a treatment plan, you can continue to see them or work with your primary care doctor to manage symptoms and adjust prescriptions and lifestyle habits as needed.
We know this process can be exhausting and exasperating. We are here for you to help make things easier. Become part of the CreakyJoints community you can sign up in the upper right corner of our site and follow us on Facebook and Twitter for ongoing support and education.
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