Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Medically Unexplained Symptoms

Abstract

Fibromyalgia is generally considered a pain disorder, but most patients have additional symptoms, most commonly fatigue, insomnia and dizziness. Chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia overlap in symptoms and are associated with a variety of psychophysiological disorders, including depression, anxiety and migraine. Patients with fibromyalgia have central sensitization to pain which can be traced to several factors including genetic variants, prior exposure to pain and stressful life events. Although many people believe that chronic fatigue syndrome is caused by a viral infection, post-viral activation of the immune system or primary immune system dysfunction, to date there is no convincing evidence for any of these disease mechanisms. Large outbreaks of chronic fatigue syndrome in the UK and USA had features consistent with mass psychogenic illness, including a marked female predominance and the lack of objective neurological and laboratory findings.

The patient with FS [fibromyalgia syndrome], whether local or general, must accept that the cause of the ongoing symptoms does not relate to an extrinsic force, but rather it relates to factors under the control of the patient – to the patient’s own psyche and pain system.

Geoffrey Owen Littlejohn [1]

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
eBook
USD 14.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 22.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  1. Littlejohn GO. Fibrositis/Fibromyalgia syndrome in the workplace. Rheum Dis Clin N Am. 1989;15:58.

    Google Scholar 

  2. Private patient of RWB, details changed to protect privacy.

    Google Scholar 

  3. Inanici F, Yunus MB. History of fibromyalgia: past to present. Curr Pain Headache Rep. 2004;8:369–78.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Smythe HA. Nonarticular rheumatism and psychogenic musculoskeletal syndromes. In: McCarty DJ, editor. Arthritis and allied conditions. 8th ed. Philadelphia: Lea & Febiger; 1972. p. 485–90.

    Google Scholar 

  5. Moldofsky H, Scarisbrick P, England R, Smythe H. Musculoskeletal symptoms and non-REM sleep disturbance in patients with “fibrositis syndrome” and healthy subjects. Psychosom Med. 1975;37:341–51.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Yunus M, Masi AT, Calabro JJ, Miller KA, Feigenbaum SL. Primary fibromyalgia (fibrositis): clinical study of 50 patients with matched controls. Semin Arthritis Rheum. 1981;11:51–1171.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Inanici F, Yunus MB. History of fibromyalgia: past to present. Curr Pain Headache Rep. 2004;8:373–4.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Hudson H, Pope HG. Fibromyalgia and psychopathology: is fibromyalgia a form of “affective spectrum disorder”? J Rheumatol Suppl. 1989;19:15.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Teive HA, Germiniani FM, Munhoz RP. Overlap between fibromyalgia tender points and Charcot’s hysterical zones. Neurology. 2015;84:2096–7.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Yunus MB, Kalyan-Raman UP, Masi AT, Aldag JC. Electron microscopic studies of muscle biopsy in primary fibromyalgia syndrome: a controlled and blinded study. J Rheumatol. 1989;16:97–101.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Yunus MB. Central sensitivity syndrome: a new paradigm and group nosology for fibromyalgia and overlapping conditions, and the related issue of disease versus illness. Semin Arthritis Rheum. 2008;37:339–52.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Ferguson D. Repetition injury in process workers. Med J Aust. 1971;2:408–12.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Editorial. Repetition strain injury. Lancet. 1987;ii:316.

    Google Scholar 

  14. Browne CD, Nolan BM, Faithfull DK. Occupational repetition strain injuries: guidelines for diagnosis and management. Med J Aust. 1984;140:329–32.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Littlejohn GO. Fibrositis/Fibromyalgia syndrome in the workplace. Rheum Dis Clin N Am. 1989;15:46.

    Google Scholar 

  16. Littlejohn GO. Fibrositis/Fibromyalgia syndrome in the workplace. Rheum Dis Clin N Am. 1989;15:47–8.

    Google Scholar 

  17. Littlejohn GO. Fibrositis/Fibromyalgia syndrome in the workplace. Rheum Dis Clin N Am. 1989;15:48–53.

    Google Scholar 

  18. Littlejohn GO. Fibrositis/Fibromyalgia syndrome in the workplace. Rheum Dis Clin N Am. 1989;15:52–3.

    Google Scholar 

  19. Littlejohn GO. Fibrositis/Fibromyalgia syndrome in the workplace. Rheum Dis Clin North Am. 1989;15:49.

    Google Scholar 

  20. Norheim KB, Jonsson G, Omdal R. Biological mechanisms of chronic fatigue. Rheumatology (Oxford). 2011;50:1009–18.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  21. Meals RW, Hauser VF, Bower AG. Poliomyelitis-the Los Angeles epidemic of 1934. Calif West Med. 1935;43:124–5.

    Google Scholar 

  22. Shorter E. From paralysis to fatigue: a history of psychosomatic illness in the modern era. New York: Free Press; 1992. p. 308.

    Google Scholar 

  23. Epstein MA, Barr YM. Cultivation in vitro of human lymphoblasts from Burkitt’s malignant lymphoma. Lancet. 1964;i:252–3.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Henle G, Henle W, Diehl V. Relation of Burkitt’s tumor-associated herpes-ytpe virus to infectious mononucleosis. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1968;59(1):94–101.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  25. Steinbrook R. 160 victims at Lake Tahoe: chronic flu-like illness a medical mystery story. Los Angeles Times. 1986 June 7.

    Google Scholar 

  26. Holmes GP. Chronic fatigue syndrome: a working case definition. Ann Intern Med. 1988;108:387–9.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  27. Norheim KB, Jonsson G, Omdal R. Biological mechanisms of chronic fatigue. Rheumatology (Oxford). 2011;50:1012–3.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  28. Mertens M, Singh JA. Anakinra for rheumatoid arthritis: a systematic review. J Rheumatol. 2009;36:1118–25.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  29. Roerink ME, Bredie SJH, Heijnen M, Dinarello CA, Knoop H, Van der Meer JWM. Cytokine inhibition in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome: a randomized study. Ann Intern Med. 2017;166:557–64.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  30. The Medical Staff of the Royal Free Hospital. An outbreak of encephalomyelitis in the Royal Free Hospital group, London, in 1955. Br Med J. 1957;2:895–904.

    Article  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  31. Editorial. A new clinical entity. Lancet. 1956;i:789–90.

    Google Scholar 

  32. McEvedy CP, Beard AW. Royal Free epidemic of 1955: a reconsideration. Br Med J. 1970;1:7–11.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  33. McEvedy CP, Beard AW. Royal Free epidemic of 1955: a reconsideration. Br Med J. 1970;1:10.

    Google Scholar 

  34. McEvedy CP, Beard AW. Concept of benign myalgic encephalomyelitis. Br Med J. 1970;1:11–5.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  35. Shorter E. From paralysis to fatigue: a history of psychosomatic illness in the modern era. New York: Free Press; 1992. p. 310–1.

    Google Scholar 

  36. Wessely S. Chronic fatigue and myalgia syndromes. In: Sartorius N, et al., editors. Psychological disorders in general medical settings. Berne: Hogrefe and Huber; 1990. p. 82–97.

    Google Scholar 

  37. Marsh S. Interview with Professor Simon Wessely. The Times, 2011 August 6.

    Google Scholar 

  38. Wessely S, Powell R. Fatigue syndromes: a comparison of chronic “postviral” fatigue with neuromuscular and affective disorders. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 1989;52:940–8.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  39. Wessely S, Powell R. Fatigue syndromes: a comparison of chronic “postviral” fatigue with neuromuscular and affective disorders. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 1989;52:946.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  40. Wessely SC. Impact commentaries. The nature of fatigue: a comparison of chronic “postviral” fatigue with neuromuscular and affective disorders. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 2012;83:5.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  41. Arnold LM, Fan J, Russell IJ, et al. The fibromyalgia family study: a genome-wide linkage scan study. Arthritis Rheum. 2013;65:1122–8.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  42. Mogil JS. Pain genetics: past, present and future. Trends Genet. 2012;28:258–66.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  43. Albright F, Light K, Light A, et al. Evidence for a heritable predisposition of chronic fatigue syndrome. BMC Neurol. 2011;11:62.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  44. Schur E, Afari N, Goldberg J, et al. Twin analyses of fatigue. Twin Res Hum Genet. 2007;10:729–33.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  45. Mikkelsson M, Kaprio J, Salminen JJ, et al. Widespread pain among 11-year-old Finnish twin pairs. Arthritis Rheum. 2001;44:481–5.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  46. Johnston KJA, Adams MJ, Nicholl BI, et al. Genome-wide association study of multisite chronic pain in UK Biobank. PLoS Genet. 2019;15:e1008164.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Robert W. Baloh

Authors
  1. Robert W. Baloh
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Robert W. Baloh .

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2021 The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Baloh, R.W. (2021). Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. In: Medically Unexplained Symptoms. Copernicus, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-59181-6_8

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-59181-6_8

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Copernicus, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-59180-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-59181-6

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation