Until recently some physicians believed that fibromyalgia is not an actual symptom complex. They claimed that the symptoms of fibromyalgia are manifestations of depression, along with symptoms of diseases such as chronic fatigue syndrome, Epstein-Barr syndrome, interstitial cystitis, irritable bowel syndrome, bacterial infection, and others.

Fibromyalgia has also been called a "wastebasket" diagnosis, usually meaning that the doctor doesn't acknowledge real pathology or consistent disease.

Some doctors and medical researchers still don't believe that people "just have" fibromyalgia. They suspect that other diseases for instance Lyme disease or spine problems are undiagnosed and mistaken for fibromyalgia or other syndromes like Myofascial syndrome.
Clauw used functional MRI scans to provide the first objective proof that fibromyalgia pain is real. In a study published last year, he took 16 sufferers and 16 unafflicted volunteers and applied a small amount of pressure to their left thumbs. In the fibromyalgia patients, blood rushed to areas of the brain involved in pain perception. The healthy volunteers might just as well have been getting a manicure. Clauw had to double the pressure on them to elicit the same response that he saw in the afflicted group.
Recent tests suggest that people who develop the syndrome start with a genetic predisposition. The disease runs in families, and researchers have identified at least one gene that appears to be involved. But life-style and temperament also play a part. Often patients are workaholics who push themselves to the limit, despite years of escalating pain. Then a trigger — a car accident, a viral infection—pushes them over the edge and this has severe implications on their nervous systems. Researchers have consistently found that patients have three times more of a pain-transmitting chemical called substance P in their spinal fluid and too little of the pain-reducing chemicals serotonin and norepinephrine.

Fibromyalgia is real – and you are not alone!