The Difference Between Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia - Which Disease is Worse?

FM and CFS are distinct diseases that share many of the same symptoms. Problems with sleep, pain, digestion, fatigue, and memory are common to both, yet a trained physician can differentiate between the two.

How? The secret is in the expression of the syndromes' most common symptoms: pain and fatigue. Both often involve pain - muscle pain, head pain, joint pain, and general body pain. But FM takes top honors in this category, involving long-term pain in all four quadrants of the body. FM is also distinguished by "tender points," 18 predefined points on the body that are painful when a specified amount of pressure is applied. If you have CFS, yet suffer with pain all over your body, ask your doctor to do a tender-point test. If you have pain in 11 or more of these points, you probably also have FM.

Fatigue is the hallmark of CFS; yet FM patients may experience severe fatigue as well. The key difference here is that most CFS patients usually pay a huge price for physical exertion - one that frequently involves paralyzing fatigue, along with extraordinary malaise, swollen lymph nodes, night sweats, and a host of other symptoms, some of which seem to be caused by immune system activation.

Which disease extracts the greatest toll on its sufferers? Is it the incapacitating pain of FM, or the paralyzing fatigue of CFS? That's easy. It's the disease that you have. If you have both, it's the one that you had first, because it's the one that rewrote your life's script and seemed to leave you vulnerable to the second.

In any event, both conditions warrant serious attention by you and your healthcare provider, and both require that you honor your body and give yourself every advantage. Start by avoiding physical, mental, and emotional stress as much as possible, getting plenty of sleep, avoiding junk foods and foods with excess sugar, preservatives, and other chemicals, and by eating a diet filled with fresh vegetables, fruits, whole grains, lean meats, and non-farmed fish.

Wishing you freedom from both CFS and FM,

Rich Carson
ProHealth Founder and CFS Patient

"We recommend that you do not stay with a physician who minimizes the existence of FM in any way. Without guilt, embarrassment, or hesitation, transfer your care elsewhere," write FM physician Mervyn Willard, MD, and support group leader Patti Wright. But where? How? Here's their step-by-step guide. more

Roles a primary care physician and various specialists can play in a Fibromyalgia patient's care. more

Now with a 10-year track record, the outpatient Fibromyalgia Rehab Program at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles offers a model for coordinated FM patient care. more

Studies Indicate Magnesium & Malic Acid Beneficial for FM Muscle Comfort and Energy

Clinical studies consistently find individuals with FM and CFS tend to be deficient in the mineral magnesium (Mg) - a key to cellular energy production and muscle comfort. Leading FM/CFS specialists also consistently report that Mg/malic acid supplementation may support quality-of-life improvements.* more

Brain Cells Generate New Gray Matter at U. of Florida

Researchers at the McKnight Brain Institute have induced human brain cells to turn into torrents of "beautiful new neurons," pointing the way to untold therapeutic possibilities.* more

Opportunities to Participate in FM Studies & Trials

Management of Fibromyalgia pain and other symptoms is becoming a popular focus of pharmaceutical companies and others. Scores of research centers all across the country are looking for FM patient volunteers. more

Relief of Major Depression in Less Than Two Hours with Experimental Medication

A single very low intravenous dose of a medication historically employed for anesthesia - and experimentally for FM pain - can provide significant relief or remission of treatment-resistant major depression in less than two hours, an NIMH study reports. more

New Mechanism for Chronic Pain Relief Identified

Researchers at the University of Edinburgh have identified a way to produce a dramatic natural painkilling effect using small doses of certain "cooling chemicals," either injected or applied to the skin. more

Online Group Self-Help Program

The next online CFIDS & Fibromyalgia Self-Help discussion program, held four times a year, will start soon. more

A small sampling of letters from our various e-mail boxes. A mother looking for information on FM in adolescents; constructive criticism from a support group leader; and one person's dietitian-directed path to pain control. more

We Trotters Set the Pace

For some of us with chronic pain, we develop something called the trotter's pace. We're not too fast and we're not too slow. We set our own pace according to our abilities and according to how we feel that day. We're not competing with others who may be faster. We just set our pace and do our best. There will be others who will want to run to keep up with others, or who refuse to set their pace. If they are capable of it, let them go ahead. Remember, our mission is to do our best, not to impress others.

From Living With Chronic Pain One Day At A Time by Mark Allan Zabawa

If you're going through Hell, keep going.
- Winston Churchill

At ProHealth we are committed to bringing you the most up-to-date information on Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia. We are always striving to improve our services, and your opinion counts. If you have any comments or suggestions, please let us know.

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Published by ProHealth, Inc., ImmuneSupport.com is the Web's largest resource for Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Since 1988, ProHealth has raised and donated over 2.5 million dollars to CFS and FM research and advocacy groups seeking a cure. We believe in "commerce with compassion."

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Clarification

In our August 23 CFS newsletter, we ran an article summarizing "Dr. Kenny De Meirleir's Breakthrough Research and Recommendations for CFS Testing & Treatment," which applies in part to Fibromyalgia patient testing as well. more

The point we wish to clarify is that Dr. De Meirleir has no financial relationship with/interest in REDLABS USA, a testing-services lab which he co-founded with Vincent Lombardi, and which an American company subsequently took over for "zero dollars."