Determining a Diagnosis
Getting an accurate diagnosis of either illness can be challenging and frustrating. And rarely will you be diagnosed with both at the same time or by the same doctor. Although fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome / myalgic encephalopathy each has its own set of diagnostic criteria, the diagnosis you receive is sometimes determined more by which doctor you go to than by the specific criteria for each. A rheumatologist may be more apt to diagnose fibromyalgia while an infectious disease specialist is more likely to diagnose ME/CFS. Because general practitioners and family practice physicians have to learn about and treat an overwhelming number of different conditions, it may be a matter of which illness your doctor is more familiar with.
To learn more about the specific diagnostic criteria for each, see:
Source: Lapp, Charles. “Chronic Fatigue Syndrome vs. Fibromyalgia.” Fibromyalgia AWARE September–December 2002: 72-73.
