Fibromyalgia - Conditions with Similar Symptoms

Highlights	Conditions with Similar Symptoms	Medications
Introduction	Prognosis	Resources
Causes	Treatment	References
Risk Factors	Lifestyle Changes
Diagnosis	Behavioral Therapy

Conditions with Similar Symptoms

Between 10 - 30% of all doctors' office visits are due to symptoms that resemble those of fibromyalgia, including fatigue, malaise, and widespread muscle pain. Since no laboratory test can confirm a diagnosis of fibromyalgia, doctors will usually firsttest for similar conditions. It should be noted that a diagnosis of many of these below disorders may not always rule out fibromyalgia, since it can accompany other common and similar conditions.

Diseases with Similar Symptoms to Fibromyalgia
Disease	Specific Subtypes
Osteoarthritis
Infectious Arthritis	Lyme disease, septic arthritis, bacterial endocarditis, mycobacterial and fungal arthritis, viral arthritis
Postinfectious or Reactive Arthritis	Reiter's syndrome (a disorder characterized by arthritis and inflammation in the eye and urinary tract), rheumatic fever, inflammatory bowel disease
Crystal Induced Arthritis	Gout and pseudogout
Rheumatic Autoimmune Diseases	Rheumatoid arthritis, systemic vasculitis, systemic lupus erythematosus, scleroderma, juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (also called Still's Disease), Behcet's disease
Other Diseases	Chronic fatigue syndrome, hepatitis C, familial Mediterranean fever, cancers, AIDS, leukemia, bunions, Whipple's disease, dermatomyositis, Henoch-Schonlein purpura, Kawasaki's disease, erythema nodosum, erythema multiforme, pyoderma gangrenosum, pustular psoriasis

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Conditions That Do Not Rule Out Fibromyalgia

Chronic fatigue syndrome, myofascial pain syndrome, depression, primary headaches, and, certain stress-related disorders commonly occur with fibromyalgia and have overlapping symptoms. In fact, some experts believe these disorders so often interact that they may all be part of one general condition.

Other conditions may also occur that are similar to fibromyalgia but do not rule out a diagnosis of fibromyalgia. They include:

Irritable bowel syndrome
Temporomandibular joint disorders (TMJ)
Juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA) -- usually diagnosis is clear cut, but the conditions may coexist. JRA should be considered in children with fibromyalgia if their condition worsens.
Osteoarthritis -- a common form of arthritis than can coexist with fibromyalgia. The two conditions may be confused, particularly in elderly people. Osteoarthritis, however, causes joint pain, not widespread or generalized pain.

Osteoarthritis is a chronic disease of the joint cartilage and bone. It is often thought to result from "wear and tear" on a joint, although there are other causes such as congenital defects, trauma, and metabolic disorders. Joints appear larger, are stiff and painful, and usually feel worse the more they are used throughout the day.

Chemicals and environmental toxins -- exposure to various chemicals and environmental toxins such as solvents, pesticides, or heavy metals (cadmium, mercury, or lead) can cause fatigue, chronic pain, and other symptoms of fibromyalgia.