1.Characteristics of fibromyalgia syndrome The disease occurs in women, and the most common age of onset is 25 to 45 years old. Its clinical manifestations are diverse. The main feature of fibromyalgia syndrome is widespread pain throughout the body. The onset of pain is usually insidious, and most patients cannot recall exactly when the pain started when they visit the clinic. The pain in fibromyalgia syndrome is diffuse and usually difficult to localize, often spreading throughout the body, with the neck, shoulder, spine and hip being the most common. The pain is variable in nature, mild and severe, often unrelieved by rest, and can be exacerbated by inappropriate activity and exercise. Most patients describe this pain as a dull, distracting ache. Patients often report joint pain but no joint swelling. It can be exacerbated by exertion, stress, mental stress, and cold, rainy weather. In addition to pain, patients may feel fatigued, have difficulty concentrating, and experience other unexplained physical discomfort. Although the disease primarily affects women, many men also suffer from it, but it is often misdiagnosed as chronic back pain. Approximately 90% of patients have sleep disturbances that manifest themselves as frequent awakenings, excessive dreaming, morning malaise, fatigue, generalized pain and morning stiffness. There are 2 important features of sleep disorders in patients with this disease. The first is that even though the sleep time can reach that of a normal person of the same age, the patient’s mental and physical strength does not recover, and some patients may even complain of being more tired after sleep than when they do not sleep, and the other feature is the difficulty in falling asleep. The cause of fibromyalgia syndrome is unknown. Doctors now believe that the kind of pain caused by this disease is not due to injury or inflammation of muscles and joints, but rather because something is wrong with the nervous system in processing the pain sensation in the nerve endings, amplifying the pain. In these patients, as the nerves that transmit information to the brain become very sensitive, when the person feels pain, this stimulus signal is amplified. So compared to normal people, fibromyalgia patients are much more likely to feel pain: what normal people feel as moderate fatigue and discomfort is, to the patients, a lot of pain. In the worst cases, they feel pain for no reason. 2. Treatment of fibromyalgia syndrome At present, fibromyalgia syndrome is still mainly treated with medication, supplemented by non-pharmacological treatment, such as patient education and cognitive-behavioral therapy, aerobic exercise, etc., which can significantly improve the efficacy and reduce the adverse drug reactions. Antidepressants are the drugs of choice for the treatment of fibromyalgia syndrome, which can significantly relieve pain, improve sleep, and adjust systemic status. Sedative-hypnotic drugs can shorten the time to sleep, reduce the number of night awakenings and improve sleep quality, which can help patients with fibromyalgia syndrome to improve sleep, but the effect on pain relief is not obvious.