Fibromyalgia is a long-lasting or chronic disorder that causes muscle pain and fatigue (feeling tired). If you have fibromyalgia, you have pain and tenderness throughout your body. Sometimes you may have two or more chronic pain conditions at the same time, such as:

  • Chronic fatigue syndrome
  • Endometriosis
  • Irritable bowel syndrome
  • Interstitial cystitis
  • Temporomandibular joint dysfunction (TMJ)
  • Vulvodynia
  • Symptoms

    People with fibromyalgia may also have other symptoms, such as:

    • Trouble sleeping
    • Morning stiffness
    • Headaches
    • Painful menstrual periods
    • Tingling or numbness in hands and feet
    • Problems with thinking and memory (sometimes called “fibro fog”)
  • Treatment (did not locate an injection therapy)

    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. Your doctor might suggest a prescription pain reliever such as tramadol (Ultram). Narcotics are not advised, because they can lead to dependence and may even 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.