hi Lessara,

I sure hope you don't have it .. There is some evidence that fibromyalgia can run in families, but not always. Nobody else in my family, cousins, aunts, uncles etc has it but me. My mother has arthritis, but they're not the same thing, nor are they related. They just happen to have pain in common.

There are a lot of other things that can cause muscle aches and pains. Low thyroid, diabetes, low magnesium ... chronic fatigue to name just a few. Or it could be muscle strain due to bad posture or a bad chair, a pinched nerve ... the list goes on.

Fibromyalgia is usually diagnosed by ruling out everything else, since there is no specific test to show that you do have it. The pain has to be all over the body, not just one part. There also have to be positive tender points, which are points on your body that don't hurt until you press them.

There's a long discussion we had a few months ago with another member who had some strange symptoms. There are some good posts about fibromyalgia, lists of symptoms and how to tell if you have it. Check it out here.

Doreen