I finally learned I had Chronic Myofascial Pain (CMP) as a direct result of someone suggesting that my pain might be fibromyalgia. It was not, nor are CMP and fibromyalgia the same condition, although they are frequently found together.
Apparently the AMA recognizes them as separate. Certainly every website and publication I have found states that the two are separate conditions. CMP has, according to U.S. Pharmacist, been elevated from a syndrome to a true disease, unlike firbromyalgia. http://www.uspharmacist.com/oldformat.asp?url=newlook/files/feat/chronicpain.htm
Wow, thanks Paperback Writer for a well written report, and for not jumping on the “you’re all a bunch of bitter, angry, deluded whiners” bandwagon. There’s plenty of research showing otherwise these days, but the stereotypes will persist for some time to come, I’m sure. I appreciate the contribution towards fighting ignorance. Kudos to you!
Well, some official definitions have been changed to separate FMS and CMP, but some researchers think they are really the same thing, and some aren’t sure. The research is still evolving.
The difficulty in defining FMS or CMP or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is that, as syndromes, they’re really just symptom clusters – there’s no identified cause like a tumor or virus. That is, the only thing we have to define these diseases is their clinical presentation. This means that: 1, not all sources agree that these are separate conditions and 2, the definitions may change again.
It doesn’t, however, mean that these aren’t real diseases.