Overlapping Conditions Among Patients With Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Fibromyalgia, and Temporomandibular Disorder

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Abstract
OBSERVANT physicians over the years have described numerous clinical conditions that share features such as fatigue, pain and other symptoms in the absence of objective findings, disability out of proportion to physical findings, and an apparent association with "stress" and psychosocial factors. These include illnesses such as chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), fibromyalgia (FM), and temporomandibular disorder (TMD), as well as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), interstitial cystitis, multiple chemical sensitivities, chronic tension-type headaches, post–concussive syndrome, chronic pelvic pain, and chronic low back pain. Although often labeled "psychosomatic" or "functional" disorders, similarities in clinical manifestations among these conditions, such as increased pain sensitivity in patients with FM and interstitial cystitis, suggest a possible common alteration in central processing mechanisms.1