Information here is just basic information. If you have fibromyalgia, you already know all of this most likely. It is just merely presented for men who might be trying to determine if they have fibromyalgia.

Pain: The pain of fibromyalgia can be wide and varying. One person may experience a deep muscular aching or burning, while another may complain of throbbing, shooting or stabbing pain, either mild and intermittent or deep and constant. Quite often the pain and stiffness are at their worst in the morning and in the muscles used most commonly, like the neck and shoulders. (Feeling like you have been run over several times by a Mack Truck is not uncommon.) Unlike the pain commonly associated with arthritis, the pain can move. It can have motion, it can travel, from one body part to another, affecting the back one day or hour and the feet the next. It is important to note that in order to be considered pain associated with Fibromyalgia, it must occur both above and below the waist, on both sides of the body, and cause tenderness in the tender points.

Fatigue: Again, this symptom varies widely from person to person.  Some experience mild fatigue (often associated simply with the poor sleep that accompanies fibro. ) and others are so exhausted they have trouble getting through the day, as if they had the flu. This exhaustion may make some people feel as if their limbs are too heavy to move. Similarly, they may have trouble concentrating as of they are sleep-deprived, even if they have had plenty of sleep.

Sleep disorders: Research has suggested that fibro sufferers usually have an accompanying sleep disorder called the alpha-EEG anomaly (the same anomaly associated with chronic fatigue syndrome). Fibro patients typically fell asleep without much trouble, but their deep sleep was regularly interrupted by rapid brain activity. Patients appeared to spend much the night in "half sleep," as if they were somehow fully asleep and yet wide awake at the same time. This causes fibro patients to wake up unrefreshed in spite of having slept the whole night through. Fibromyalgia patients may also have other sleep disorders, such as teeth grinding (bruxism), sudden nighttime jerking of the arms and legs (myoclonus), periodic leg movement (PLMS), and restless leg syndrome (RLS), which is characterized by a "creepy crawly" sensation in the legs and an irresistible urge to move them when at rest or when lying down.
 
Gastrointestinal Problems: Irritable bowel syndrome, nausea, abdominal pain, cramping, bloating, constipation and/or diarrhea are common complaints associated with Fibromyalgia.

Chronic headaches: Roughly half of fibro patients also report migraine or tension headaches. The relationship to having fibro and chronic headaches is really not understood, but it is very common for fibro patients to have chronic headaches, and even migraine headaches on a regular basis.

Temporomandibular Joint Dysfunction Syndrome (TMJ): TMJ produces mild to severe face and head pain in one quarter of fibro patients - in most fibro patients, however, the discomfort is thought to be related to the muscles and ligaments surrounding the joint and not necessarily the joint itself, as with true TMJ
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Increased Headaches, Facial, Shoulder Pain: Roughly half of Fibromyalgia patients also experience head, facial and/or shoulder pain (myofascial pain syndrome or MPS), often as a result of very stiff or sore neck and/or shoulder muscles. MPS produces "trigger points" in the neck, shoulders and jaw that can be very painful and radiate pain to related areas of the body.

Chemical Sensitivity & Sensory Sensitivity: Chemical & sensory sensitivities are frequent among PWF.  Fragrances, odors, and sounds can cause reactions. They may also have reactions that mimic allergies, like itching, rash, nasal congestion or runny nose or sinus pain. (but do not produce measurable immune responses that allergies do) to a variety of substances that won't bother most people. Sometimes something as gentle as the breeze blowing on your legs, arms, or face even, can stimulate pain.

Cognitive Disorders: Fibro often feel like they are living in a “fog”, forgetting words, can’t remember names, and many times doing more than one thing at a time simply is more than many PWF can accomplish.

Paresthesia: This term refers to the numbness, tingling, prickly feeling or burning that occurs in some Fibromyalgia patients.
 

There are many more symptoms of fibro.... at this point a basic outline of the symptoms are available. It is not our purpose here to “diagnose”, but rather support.  If you are researching the disease trying to determine whether or not you may have fibro, please check our links page for more sites with far more information.