Fibromyalgia without Fatigue!

… Continued …

Physical examination

In the past, a tender point exam that checks several specific points throughout the body was used to find how many painful points when pressed firmly. Today, this procedure is not required.

However, it’s still important for your doctor to understand what symptoms you have and how they are affecting your daily routines. In general, fibromyalgia is more likely to blame if you have had widespread pain without known underlying medical condition for more than 3 months.

Blood tests

As noted earlier, the symptoms of fibromyalgia can mimic those of several other conditions. And therefore some tests are usually required to get accurate diagnosis.

Though blood test is not specific lab test for diagnosing fibromyalgia, it is often used to help rule out some underlying conditions that could be causing the symptoms. There are a number of blood tests that you may need to take, depending on your symptoms – some are as follows; rheumatoid factor tests, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, thyroid function blood tests, or sometimes a complete blood count.

What else?

A clearly, accurate diagnosis is essential to help guide your treatment. Since the disease is not easy to diagnose, sometimes additional tests such urine test, X-rays, or other scans are recommended.

You may also need further tests if you experience symptoms that suggest another medical condition alongside with fibromyalgia – irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), anxiety, and depression for examples!

Most patients are diagnosed with the disease in middle age, but the symptoms may appear earlier. Even sometimes it could be diagnosed during childhood.