Yunus, Muhammad B · Pain research and treatment · 2012 · DOI
This review examined how often fibromyalgia (a condition causing widespread pain and fatigue) occurs alongside other chronic pain conditions, including ME/CFS. The researchers found that fibromyalgia frequently co-occurs with conditions like rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, and osteoarthritis, and that it can be missed or misdiagnosed in people who have these other diseases. Recognizing fibromyalgia separately is important because it may change how doctors treat patients and what medications they use.
For ME/CFS patients, this study confirms that multiple pain-related conditions often occur together and share common underlying mechanisms (central sensitization). It highlights the clinical importance of recognizing fibromyalgia as a distinct problem even when other diagnoses are present, which could improve treatment decisions and reduce unnecessary medications. Understanding these overlapping syndromes helps validate patient experiences and guides more targeted management strategies.
This review does not establish causation—only that FMS and other CSS conditions frequently co-occur. It does not prove that central sensitization is the sole cause of these conditions, nor does it demonstrate whether one condition causes another or whether they share a common underlying mechanism. The review also cannot determine whether improved recognition and separate diagnosis of FMS actually leads to better patient outcomes.
About the PEM badge: “PEM required” means post-exertional malaise was an explicit required diagnostic criterion for participant inclusion in this study — not that PEM was studied, observed, or discussed. Studies using criteria that do not require PEM (e.g. Fukuda, Oxford) are tagged “PEM not required”. How the atlas works →
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Primary citation
Yunus, Muhammad B (2012). The prevalence of fibromyalgia in other chronic pain conditions.. Pain research and treatment. https://doi.org/10.1155/2012/584573
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-yunus-2012-prevalence-fibromyalgia,
author = {Yunus, Muhammad B},
title = {The prevalence of fibromyalgia in other chronic pain conditions.},
journal = {Pain research and treatment},
year = {2012},
doi = {10.1155/2012/584573},
note = {PubMed: 22191024},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/yunus-2012-prevalence-fibromyalgia},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-25. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/yunus-2012-prevalence-fibromyalgia
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