Managing Fibromyalgia
There is no one-size-fits-all approach to managing fibromyalgia. Because fibromyalgia can affect pain, sleep, energy, thinking, mood, and daily function, management often works best when several approaches are used together.
Build your Fibromyalgia Toolkit
Think of fibromyalgia management as building a toolkit.
Learn About Fibromyalgia
Understanding fibromyalgia is an important part of managing it. Learning about pain, symptoms, triggers, and treatment options can help you take a more active role in your care and make informed decisions with your healthcare team.
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Movement & Physical Activity
Regular physical activity is one of the most consistently recommended approaches for managing fibromyalgia. But we also recognize that movement can be difficult—especially when symptoms are severe, during a flare, or after a long period without effective symptom management. For some people, even everyday activities may feel overwhelming at first.
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The goal is not to push through significant symptoms or start with a traditional exercise program. Start where you are. This might mean a few minutes of gentle movement and gradually building from there as your body allows.
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Walking, water exercise, stretching, strengthening, yoga, tai chi, and other forms of movement may be helpful. What matters is finding movement that is manageable for you and building gradually over time.
Sleep
Sleep problems are common in fibromyalgia and can contribute to pain, fatigue, and difficulty thinking. Identifying and addressing sleep problems is an important part of fibromyalgia care.
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This may include healthy sleep habits as well as evaluation and treatment of sleep disorders or other factors interfering with restorative sleep.
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Your toolkit may look different from someone else's and may change over time.​​
Medications
Medication can be one part of a fibromyalgia management plan. FDA-approved medications for fibromyalgia include duloxetine (Cymbalta), milnacipran (Savella), pregabalin (Lyrica), and sublingual cyclobenzaprine (Tonmya).
Other medications may also be used based on an individual's symptoms and other health conditions. Medication choices should be made with your healthcare provider based on potential benefits, side effects, and your individual health needs.
Pacing & Daily Life
Finding a sustainable balance between activity and rest can help reduce the cycle of doing too much on better days and needing extended recovery afterward.
Pacing doesn't necessarily mean doing less. It means learning how to use your energy and activity more strategically so you can participate in the things that matter to you.
Treat the Whole Person
Fibromyalgia often occurs alongside other health conditions. Migraine, irritable bowel syndrome, temporomandibular disorders (TMD), and pelvic pain conditions are among a group of conditions known as Chronic Overlapping Pain Conditions (COPCs), which commonly occur together and can share underlying features.
Identifying and treating these and other health conditions can be an important part of improving overall health and quality of life.
Build Self-Management Skills
Learning skills to manage pain, stress, activity, sleep, and other symptoms is an important part of living well with fibromyalgia. Approaches such as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), mindfulness, relaxation techniques, pain coping skills, and other evidence-based strategies can help you manage symptoms and improve daily function.
You can learn many self-management skills on your own through books, trusted websites, programs, and other educational resources.
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Visit our Resources section for tools and information we recommend →
Knowing what to do and making changes in everyday life, however, are two different things—and change can be hard. If you would like more support, consider working with a pain psychologist or a National Board Certified Health & Wellness Coach (NBC-HWC) with experience supporting people with chronic pain. They can help you develop skills, work through barriers, and turn what you're learning into realistic changes that fit your life.
Behavioral and self-management approaches don't mean that pain is psychological. Living with fibromyalgia can also bring grief, loss, isolation, and changes in relationships, roles, and identity. These experiences—sometimes described as forms of social pain—can affect our health and well-being and deserve care and attention, too. Supporting your emotional and social well-being is another important part of caring for the whole person.
Get 1% Better
Managing fibromyalgia isn't about doing everything perfectly or changing everything at once. It's about discovering the combination of tools that helps you live better.
We like to think about it as working toward getting 1% better. Small improvements in sleep, movement, symptom management, daily function, or doing more of what matters to you can add up over time.
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Your Toolkit, Your Journey
Managing fibromyalgia is an ongoing process, and what works for you may change over time. Give yourself time to learn, adjust, and build on what helps. Finding healthcare providers who listen, understand your goals, and partner with you is an important part of that journey.
You Don’t Have to Do It Alone
Become a member of the Fibromyalgia Association. Membership benefits include joining our monthly Support & Education Group, receiving our monthly e-newsletter, and connecting with a community that understands and cares. Learn more about fibromyalgia treatments, explore self-management tools, and share experiences with others along the way.