By following the 2012 Canadian Guidelines for the diagnosis and management of fibromyalgia, a family doctor or general practitioner should be able to diagnose fibromyalgia in a timely manner. Additional tests can be used to confirm or rule out a diagnosis of fibromyalgia without consulting a specialist.
Because there are no identifiable biomarkers for fibromyalgia, doctors use the diagnostic criteria for FM as well as tests to rule out other conditions. This process is called the diagnosis of exclusion and ensures that doctors don’t mistake fibromyalgia for a condition with similar symptoms. The process may seem long to the patient, but it’s necessary for arriving at the correct diagnosis and ensuring appropriate follow-up.
The following elements, present for at least three months, should be used in the diagnosis of fibromyalgia:
- Widespread physical pain and fatigue
- Sleep disorders
- Neurocognitive changes
- Mood disorders
- Other physical manifestations of varying intensity when these symptoms cannot be explained by another illness.
Research has identified objective neurophysiological abnormalities in people with fibromyalgia. However, these cannot be used to diagnose or care for people with fibromyalgia in a clinical setting.