Fibromyalgia Treatment
Widespread pain & fatigue syndrome — diagnosis and treatment at Arthritis Care of Texas.
Fibromyalgia causes widespread pain, tiredness, and poor sleep. The body’s pain signals are turned up too high, so normal touches can feel painful. Treatment can ease pain, improve sleep, and help you stay active.
There is no cure yet — the goal is control: turning the pain volume down, restoring sleep, and getting your life back to the size you want. Success looks like more good days than bad, better sleep, improving stamina, and flares that are shorter and easier to ride out. Improvement is real but gradual — measured in months, not days.
Fibromyalgia is a condition that causes widespread pain, as well as additional pain at various "tender points" on the body. This pain is usually associated with the muscles and may be accompanied by fatigue, morning "stiffness," insomnia, headaches, anxiety, depression or irritable bowel syndrome. There is no known cause of fibromyalgia, but researchers believe it could develop as the result of numerous factors working together, such as infections, genetic predisposition, physical trauma and emotional trauma.
Did you know… 5 million adults in the U.S. currently suffer from fibromyalgia — approximately 2 percent of the adult population? The majority of those suffering from the condition are women, with a female-to-male ratio of 7 to 1. However, anyone can develop fibromyalgia — including small children.
Could I be at risk for developing fibromyalgia?
Aside from a family history of fibromyalgia, having a rheumatic disease or simply being a woman can increase one's risk of being diagnosed with the condition.
What types of fibromyalgia treatments are available?
There is currently no cure for fibromyalgia, though pain-relievers and anti-depressants have been shown effective in reducing fibromyalgia symptoms. Sometimes patients achieve better results when supplementing a medical treatment plan with alternative therapies, such as massage or acupuncture. However, no alternative therapy for fibromyalgia should be pursued without the approval of a rheumatologist.
Is there anything I can do to make the symptoms more manageable?
Lifestyle modifications, such as regular exercise, limited caffeine intake, and stress-reducing habits, can help minimize symptoms for fibromyalgia patients.
Did you know?
- The name is a word puzzle: fibro (fiber) + myo (muscle) + algia (pain) — “pain in the muscles and connective tissue.”
- Fibromyalgia does not damage joints or muscles. Instead, the nervous system’s pain “volume knob” is turned up, so everyday sensations register louder than they should.
- Many patients say they can feel a weather front coming in their bodies — and research suggests people with fibromyalgia really can be extra sensitive to falling air pressure.
Common worries
Do my doctors think the pain is ‘all in my head’?
No. Fibromyalgia is a recognised disorder of pain processing — the nervous system’s amplifier is set too high, and brain-imaging research shows it. That is why treatments target pain signalling and sleep, and why being believed is the starting point of your care here.
Why don’t anti-inflammatory drugs and scans show anything?
Because fibromyalgia is not inflammation or tissue damage — scans and inflammation blood tests are normally normal, and that normality is itself part of the diagnosis. The tests are still done once, to be certain nothing else is hiding behind the same symptoms.
Will it get worse and disable me?
Fibromyalgia does not damage joints, muscles, or organs, and it is not progressive in that sense. Symptoms fluctuate, and with sleep, graded exercise, and the right medicines, most patients improve meaningfully. The plan is built around function — what you can do — not just pain scores.
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What counts as a flare: pain, fatigue, and ‘fibro fog’ clearly worse than your usual for several days, often after poor sleep, stress, illness, overexertion, or weather change.
What to do: pace rather than stop — gentle movement, warmth, and protecting sleep usually shorten a flare. Keep taking your regular medicines and call us at (361) 400-7700 if a flare is not settling or is different from your pattern.
Do not adjust steroids on your own: steroids do not treat fibromyalgia — do not start leftover tablets for a flare; they will not help this condition and carry their own risks.
What isn’t a flare: soreness after a new activity that eases in a day or two, or one bad night’s sleep with a normal next day. Also, new symptoms — a single hot swollen joint, weakness, fever — are not fibromyalgia and always deserve assessment.
Ready to be seen? New patients are seen within 2–4 weeks.