Fibromyalgia Research UK

12/10/2026

Could the name “Fibromyalgia” be outdated?

many researchers, doctors, and patient advocates consider the name "fibromyalgia" outdated because it describes where people feel pain, rather than why they feel it.
The name was coined in 1976. It combines Latin and Greek roots: "fibro" (fibrous connective tissue), "myo" (muscle), and "algia" (pain). At the time, doctors believed the disease originated as a localized inflammation of the muscles and tissues.
Because medical understanding has evolved, the name is structurally misleading in three major ways:

1. It Implies a Muscle Disease (It Isn't)

"myo" points to muscles, but decades of research have proven that fibromyalgia does not cause damage, deformity, or true primary inflammation in the muscles. Biopsies of fibromyalgia muscle tissue show it is completely healthy. The true issue lies in how the central nervous system and the brain process pain signals.

2. It Completely Ignores Non-Pain Symptoms

The name only addresses pain ("algia"), ignoring the profound systemic symptoms that patients often find just as debilitating.

The term fails to reflect:
• Severe cognitive dysfunction ("fibro fog")
• Chronically unrefreshing, disrupted sleep
• Profound, cell-deep fatigue
• Nervous system hypersensitivity to light, noise, and temperature

3. Modern Science Points to "Nociplastic Pain"

The medical community has created entirely new categories of pain to describe conditions like fibromyalgia. It is now widely classified under:

• Central Sensitization Syndrome (CSS): An umbrella term for conditions where the central nervous system gets stuck in a "hyper-reactive" state, amplifying normal sensations into pain signals.

• Nociplastic Pain: A clinical term adopted by the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) to describe pain that arises from altered nervous system function, distinct from nociceptive pain (tissue damage like a cut) or neuropathic pain (direct nerve damage like sciatica).

What Are the Proposed Alternatives?

While a formal, global name change has not yet been universally adopted, several terms are preferred in modern neurological and clinical research:
• Central Sensitivity Syndrome (CSS): Increasingly used by specialists to capture the broad, multi-symptom nature of the disease.
• Chronic Widespread Pain Syndrome: Frequently used in research and epidemiology to describe the overarching condition before narrowing down clinical subsets.

What would you call it?

11/10/2026

Inflammation in Fibromyalgia

Fibromyalgia is often described as a problem with how neurons in the central nervous system (CNS) process pain. But neurons may not be acting alone. Immune cells in the CNS, known as glial cells, also appear to become activated and release inflammatory substances. With AFSA funding, Loggia is studying whether inflammation outside the CNS—in muscles and other tissues—helps drive widespread pain in fibromyalgia.

Standard blood tests do not show clear signs of inflammation in people with fibromyalgia. And even if they did, blood tests cannot pinpoint which tissues are inflamed. This AFSA-funded project uses whole-body imaging with a special marker to detect inflammation-related cellular distress signals that regular testing misses.

Detecting Inflammation

This research was the first to document brain inflammation in people with fibromyalgia, They used imaging to measure levels of TSPO, a protein marker found on immune cells when they respond to inflammation. Higher TSPO levels point to more inflammation in an area and show up as illuminated dots on the PET scan.

So far, imaging studies in fibromyalgia have mostly looked at the brain, leaving key questions unanswered. What is happening with immune cells elsewhere in the body? And could activated immune cells outside the CNS help keep pain processing in the brain stuck on high alert?

Not Just the Brain

Researchers typically use TSPO-PET to detect brain inflammation, but they can also apply it to tissues outside the brain. In fact, Loggia has already shown that TSPO-PET can sensitively measure inflammation in the knee joints of people with osteoarthritis.

Although this AFSA-funded project is a small pilot study, it is an important step toward validating patients’ pain experiences. By looking for measurable signs of inflammation and for future treatments that offer more targeted, lasting relief.

08/10/2026

Genetic risk factors of fibromyalgia identified in largest study of its kind

New genetic risk factors have been identified for fibromyalgia syndrome.

genetic sequence
The landmark study, which involved scientists at King’s College London, published in Nature Medicine, highlights how the nervous system plays an important role in the development of the disorder.

Fibromyalgia is characterised by widespread pain and tenderness, fatigue, and problems with sleep, memory and mood. Despite affecting about two per cent of the global population its biological causes have remained unclear. The results of this study are an important step towards resolving that uncertainty.

The team analysed genetic data from more than 2.5 million adults, of which 55 thousand had been diagnosed with fibromyalgia. The researchers scanned millions of genetic differences across the DNA of people with and without fibromyalgia to find changes that were more common in those with the condition. This enabled them to identify DNA sequence variants in 26 regions of the genome that affect the risk of developing fibromyalgia. Many of the genes implicated in these regions are involved in brain and nerve function.

Professor Frances Williams, co-senior author on the paper, and Professor of Genomic Epidemiology, King’s College London, played an important role in bringing together the data from 11 health research studies from the US, UK, Finland, Estonia, Denmark, and Iceland and 53 researchers across seven countries.

By studying the DNA of over 2 million individuals we can be confident that the findings are real and they suggest that fibromyalgia represents a problem in pain processing.

Professor Frances Williams
Dr. Michael Wainberg, an investigator at the Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute and the University of Toronto and co-senior author on the paper, said: “This work changes how we think about fibromyalgia at a fundamental level. For decades, patients have been dismissed or told their pain is simply psychological. Our findings confirm the condition has a clear biological basis.”

While the findings do not yet provide a genetic test for diagnosing fibromyalgia or a new treatment for patients, they offer valuable insights into the underlying biology of the condition. This could help researchers develop better ways to identify, understand and treat fibromyalgia in future.

A surprising link to Huntington’s disease

Of the 26 genetic variants identified, the one most strongly linked to fibromyalgia risk was within the gene HTT. Different mutations in this gene cause Huntington’s disease, a severe, progressive and fatal neurodegenerative disorder. Another variant pointed to a receptor called GPR52 that regulates HTT levels. This receptor is already being investigated as a possible drug target in Huntington’s disease.

Professor Frances Williams helped to interpret how the genetic findings relate to the symptoms and conditions doctors commonly see in patients, with the study revealing substantial genetic overlap between fibromyalgia and a range of other conditions, including low back pain, irritable bowel syndrome, and post-traumatic stress disorder. The researchers think that shared biological mechanisms within the nervous system may make people susceptible to several of these conditions, explaining why they often appear together.

Professor Frances Williams, said: “We know that chronic pain syndromes cluster together in individuals and families and are genetically similar. Targeting the shared mechanisms underlying them could potentially benefit a whole cluster of disorders.”

Genetics are not the only determinant of whether someone develops fibromyalgia. The authors suspect that even people carrying many fibromyalgia genetic variants require other risk factors, such as a painful arthritic condition, to trigger fibromyalgia syndrome.

Dr. Nasa Sinnott-Armstrong, Assistant Professor at Fred Hutch Cancer Center and co-senior author on the paper, said: “Understanding how genes, environmental exposures, and life events jointly contribute to the risk of fibromyalgia syndrome is critical. Further research into triggers of fibromyalgia and corresponding changes in neural tissues will help understand what drives fibromyalgia and how to treat it.”

The study’s researchers have founded the Chronic Pain Genomics Consortium (https://paingenomics.org) to investigate other chronic pain syndromes, starting with pelvic pain. The consortium sees fibromyalgia as only the beginning of a broader exploration of the landscape of chronic pain conditions.

Professor Frances Williams said: "This study provides important new insights into why some people develop fibromyalgia syndrome and identifies biological pathways that could lead to new treatment approaches. One of these pathways is already the focus of drug trials for Huntington’s disease, raising the possibility that existing pharmaceutical research could eventually benefit people with fibromyalgia. The findings also help us better understand why fibromyalgia so often occurs alongside conditions such as anxiety and depression, bringing us closer to understanding the condition as a whole."

05/10/2026

24/09/2026

Fibromyalgia Eye Problems and Symptoms You Should Know About

Woman with Fibromyalgia eye problems
Fibromyalgia eye problems?

What is fibromyalgia best known for? The first thing just about anyone thinks of when they hear the word fibromyalgia is the chronic pain associated with it. However, there are many other fibromyalgia symptoms to be aware of, and we are going to focus on one in particular today. Fibromyalgia eye symptoms can become chronic and be a debilitating part of the condition.
What should you know about the eye symptoms of fibromyalgia? Is there a natural way to find relief from the symptoms of this condition that affects millions of people around the world? Here are some of the things you should know about fibromyalgia if you or a loved one is living with this condition.

Can Fibromyalgia Affect Your Eyes?

Fibromyalgia primarily affects the muscles and soft tissues, some individuals with fibromyalgia may experience a range of eye-related symptoms such as dry eyes, eye strain, sensitivity to light, visual disturbances like blurred vision, eye floaters, and eye twitching. These symptoms can be linked to factors such as sleep disturbances and medication side effects. Additionally, fibromyalgia may be associated with ocular symptoms like a foreign body sensation and irritation, often coexisting with conditions like dry eye syndrome and reduced corneal sensitivity.

#1. Impaired Vision: Can Fibromyalgia Cause Eye Twitching?

One of the significant signs of fibromyalgia is fatigue. It can lead to muscle weakness. When this muscle weakness occurs in the six muscles that control the eyes, impaired vision can result. Things may appear blurred or doubled. Also, a condition that is associated with fibromyalgia – migraines – can also cause visual disturbances. If your vision problems occur before or during a bad headache, this may indicate that you are also experiencing migraines. This is one of the more common fibromyalgia eye problems that people experience. The other conditions that are common with fibromyalgia and can lead to impaired vision include fibromyalgia eye floaters and fibromyalgia eye twitch.

#2. Sensitivity to Light: Fibromyalgia Eyes
Bright or glaring lights can actually be a trigger for fibromyalgia symptoms. They can also make it tough to see. You may want to invest in a pair of good sunglasses for the outdoors and glasses with a glare-resistant coating for when you have to use screens for long periods of time. These strategies can help with this type of fibromyalgia eye problems.

#3. Difficulty Driving at Night
It can be tough to drive at night when the glare from the headlights of oncoming traffic is blinding, regardless of whether you have a condition that makes your eyes more sensitive to light. Now add fibromyalgia into the mix and driving after dark may actually become dangerous. So be careful driving at night if you have these types of fibromyalgia eye problems.

#4. Fibromyalgia Eye Pain
Fibromyalgia is a painful condition, so this one fibromyalgia eye problems that perhaps makes the most sense. When you are tired or stressed out the effect may become even worse. Fibromyalgia eye pain and pressure is common with fibromyalgia symptoms. Fibromyalgia sufferers are also more susceptible to chronic migraines or other headache conditions, along with that, eye pain Fibromyalgia and eye socket pain can be related to various types of headaches as well.

#5. Dry Eyes
The eyes use specific muscles to release moisture. If your eyes are dry, it may be an indicator that something isn’t functioning right. Of course, it can also indicate dehydration, so be sure that you are getting plenty of fluids.

19/09/2026

The First Fibromyalgia medication in 15 years

Tonix Pharmaceuticals has launched Tonmya (cyclobenzaprine), a newly approved oral treatment for adults with fibromyalgia.

Tonmya is the first approved treatment for adults with fibromyalgia in over 15 years. It is a non-opioid analgesic that, when taken at bedtime, significantly reduces fibromyalgia pain and was generally well-tolerated in clinical trials. It is designed for rapid absorption into the bloodstream without being processed by the liver, enhancing both safety and efficacy.

Fibromyalgia is a long-term health condition characterised by chronic pain across the body, often in conjunction with other symptoms such as fatigue, cognitive problems, lack of restorative sleep, headaches and depression. No single treatment has yet been found to be widely effective for fibromyalgia, and many treatments show only limited efficacy.

Clinical trials measured factors such as pain relief, tiredness and quality of sleep among over 1,400 patients. Across phase 3 trials, the drug significantly reduced patients’ daily pain scores compared to placebo at 14 weeks, which was the primary endpoint of the studies. Also compared to placebo, a greater percentage of patients reported a clinically meaningful (>30%) improvement in their pain after three months.

Andrea Chadwick, Anesthesiology, Pain, and Perioperative Medicine at The University of Kansas Health System, said: “For years, fibromyalgia patients have struggled with limited treatment options that often fall short. The availability of Tonmya marks a meaningful advancement by targeting neurotransmitters thought to be involved in fibromyalgia.”

Tonix is a US-based company focused on developing vaccines and therapies for diseases of the central nervous system.

18/09/2026

Please May I ask you to participate in this latest research

12/08/2026

What does the new Fibromyalgia prove?

fibromyalgia is a real, it’s a recognized medical condition. It is a chronic disorder that causes widespread body pain, extreme tiredness, and sleep problems. Major health groups like the Mayo Clinic and Harvard Health confirm it is a physical disorder, not "all in the head".

Scientific Proof and Brain Changes

Nerve processing: Brain scans show that people with fibromyalgia process pain signals differently than other people.

Central sensitization: The brain and spinal cord turn up the volume on pain. Normal touch can feel painful.

Chemical imbalances: Studies show abnormal levels of certain chemicals and neurotransmitters in the brain that relay pain messages.

Immune system links: Recent studies suggest immune system antibodies may activate pain-sensing nerves in some patients.

Why do people still doubt it?
Invisible symptoms: Patients look fine on the outside, which led to past historical myths that the pain was fake or purely psychological.