Fibromyalgia.

For fibromyalgia to be diagnosed, certain criteria usually have to be met.

The most widely used criteria for diagnosis are:

you either have severe pain in 3 to 6 different areas of your body, or you have milder pain in 7 or more different areas

your symptoms have stayed at a similar level for at least 3 months

no other reason for your symptoms has been found

The extent of the pain used to be assessed by applying gentle pressure to certain "tender points", where any pain is likely to be at its worst. But this is less common nowadays.

Diagnosing other conditions

It's also possible to have other conditions alongside your fibromyalgia, such as:

depression

anxiety

irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)

Your doctor may want to rule out other conditions that may have similar symptoms. Blood tests may include:

Complete blood count

Erythrocyte sedimentation rate

Cyclic citrullinated peptide test

Rheumatoid factor

Thyroid function tests

Anti-nuclear antibody

Celiac serology

Vitamin D

In general, treatments for fibromyalgia include both medication and self-care strategies. The emphasis is on minimizing symptoms and improving general health. No one treatment works for all symptoms, but trying a variety of treatment strategies can have a cumulative effect.

Medications

Medications can help reduce the pain of fibromyalgia and improve sleep. Common choices include:

Pain relievers. Over-the-counter pain relievers such as acetaminophen (Tylenol, others), ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin IB, others) or naproxen sodium (Aleve, others) may be helpful. Opioid medications are not recommended, because they can lead to significant side effects and dependence and will worsen the pain over time.

Antidepressants. Duloxetine (Cymbalta) and milnacipran (Savella) may help ease the pain and fatigue associated with fibromyalgia. Your doctor may prescribe amitriptyline or the muscle relaxant cyclobenzaprine to help promote sleep.

Anti-seizure drugs. Medications designed to treat epilepsy are often useful in reducing certain types of pain. Gabapentin (Neurontin) is sometimes helpful in reducing fibromyalgia symptoms, while pregabalin (Lyrica) was the first drug approved by the Food and Drug Administration to treat fibromyalgia.