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Difference between ME/CFS and Fibromyalgia?

Posted , 14 users are following.

ImustImust
ImustImust

What is the difference between ME/CFS and Fibromyalgia? My hospital has now diagnosed ME/CFS but when I read the forums it here it seems the two are almost identical. Are they the same thing or not?

0 likes, 20 replies

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  • betty98863
    betty98863 ImustImust

    Posted

     As i have no personal medical background, I cannot say for certain, but I do tbelieve they are two seperate, with Chronic Fatigue being present in both, I  have CFS, i have been told, but am not in ipain,except for the odd headache, just the very debilating exhaustion, which prevents me from leading my life as i would, i have had to give up work as well as most social activities, which is not much fun, I livo in hope somebodysomewhere will find something that will help us with this terrible illness/
  • GeorgiaS
    GeorgiaS ImustImust

    Posted

    I'm curious too; I have friend who has Fibro and we both have brain fog, pain etc. I think she has more pain than me but I'm more bed-ridden than she is. She has more energy to do things.

    I'm also curious because the symptoms of MS are virtually the same as the symptoms of ME!

    • betty98863
      betty98863 GeorgiaS

      Posted

      i have a friend who has m.s. and is working full time, it is baffling, as all these seem to be showing similar sysmptoms, so how does one differentiate, Georgie isn't that brain fog awful, i hate it, how do you pass the time, I seem to spend a lot of time watching t.v. and on my computer as i play scrabble with friends that way  
    • GeorgiaS
      GeorgiaS betty98863

      Posted

      I was wondering who Georgie was! Lol It's been ages since I've been called that.

      Yes brain fog's awful. At it's worse the thought of moving and getting out of bed to go to the toilet etc's absolutely nightmarish. Found something that helps with that, I'll message you.

      I'm on the pc a lot too; I have a table that slides over the bed. I play games and watch programmes. I'd love to be able to do some housework; it's a terrible mess! 

  • Tidsel
    Tidsel ImustImust

    Posted

    They are not the same thing. Some symptoms are apparently the same, but the causes are different. One ME cause is malfunction in mitochondria which generates energy, this is not apparent in F. I believe the most common symptom with F is muscle pain.
  • wknight
    wknight ImustImust

    Posted

    They are different, here is a simple comparision, ME/CFS is to do with tiredness and Fibromyalgia is more about joint pain.

    Its not uncommon for people to have both but I only ever suffered with CFS

    • GeorgiaS
      GeorgiaS wknight

      Posted

      It's not as clear cut as that though is it. I have ME and I have quite a lot of pain, I'm prescribed Codeine, and my friend with Fibro says she gets tiredness and brain fog.

      And we each as individuals suffer from these diseases on different levels of intensity.

      I think something to closely look at is that they're auto-immune disesases and ME, Fibro and MS all fit that.

      I read a study saying that people dying in the last stages of AIDS do not have as much fatigue as people with ME. That's another thing to look at.

  • jackie00198
    jackie00198 ImustImust

    Posted

    You can do a Google search about this issue. From my understanding, they are kind of "close cousins," with some possible shared symptoms. For instance, I think both illnesses include fatigue, but ME/CFS has post-exertional fatigue, and Fibromyalgia does not. My friend with Fibro takes walks and that helps her; I can't walk because I'd get exhausted and ill. Also, with Fibro, there are specific pain pressure points in the body, that can be used to diagnose the illness.  ME/CFS can, of course, cause pain, but not in specific points in the the body. So no, these illnesses are not the same.
    • GeorgiaS
      GeorgiaS jackie00198

      Posted

      My friend who has Fibro talks about areas of her body that are really sensitive and painul, whereas it affects my body more generally and when I'm the most exhausted.
  • Bunnyhugger
    Bunnyhugger ImustImust

    Posted

    They are not the same thing but they often occur together.  The diagnosis of fibromyalgia depends on whether you have pain at 18 specific pressure points on your body.
  • Pipsniff
    Pipsniff ImustImust

    Posted

    I've been diagnosed with ME, but suffer a great deal of pain, so I don't really know what separates the two conditions. The pain clinic said they are treating me as if I have Fibro, because they usually present in similar ways and respond to the same treatments. I only have half of the tender spots, so did not get a diagnosis of Fibro, even though joint and muscle pain is the most dibilitating symptom for me.😩

    I also suffer with fatigue, memory loss, brain fog and many more of the ME/CFS/Fibro symptoms.

    It's awfully confusing and every doctor I've spoken with will tell me something slightly different, because there's no real understanding of disease and most doctors are not up to date with all the new evidence/study's.

    I think the most important thing for me, is that it's irrelevant whether it's ME or Fibro, as long as I'm treated with the same respect and get the right treatment so I can have some sort of quality of life. The pain clinic have been great; only been once and feel like I've been taken seriously for the first time since diagnosis. Take care x

  • rose02814
    rose02814 ImustImust

    Posted

    Hi all I was diagnosed with CFS but I have all the symptoms of Fibro as well. I have great deal of pain, fatigue and brain fog is my main symptoms. When I spoke to my GP about the difference they told me they both have similar symptoms and are treated in a similar way.
  • Gized
    Gized ImustImust

    Posted

    They are linked. Usually you get one, you get the other also.

    I have both.

    • DaisyBee
      DaisyBee Gized

      Posted

      Do you use medication? I make do with Paracetomol when bad enough but I have Tramadol which I save for the evenings and night when my jerking body won't let me rest. Not ideal but at the moment it works for me until I can find something else to replace the Tramadol.

    • DaisyBee
      DaisyBee

      Posted

      But, is the Medication the cause of the tiredness? The mystery continues!
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