In spite of having fibro half my life now, I don't have any stiffness so I bet yours is more fibro than MPS.

Have you ever checked to see if you have active trigger points??

I'm voting for fibro - never seen anything that says stiffness is associated with MPS, but lots about it being related to fibro.

I'm so stiff when I get up in the morning that I walk to the bathroom like a penguin - can't bend anything including my feet and ankles.

I've read that stiffness is the fibro, but you could have both depending upon your other symptoms. I am also very stiff in the mornings. I've gotten up too quickly and have stumbled into furniture and walls because my body wasn't ready for what my mind was asking it to do!

I really can't get up and get going like I used to. I guess I look a little like a penguin too :). I take it really slow in the mornings now. I'm usually moving like a "normal" person after an hour and a cup of coffee.

I've been diagnosed with FMS and CMP. I don't know what causes the pain and stiffness but I just broke down and bought myself a cain yesterday. I have problems making my 100 trips to the bathroom in the middle of the night.

Have you been to Devin Starlanyl's website, & taken Devin's diagnostic? This should help you figure it out.

I think my stiffness is more related to CMP (MPS). The muscles in my feet stiffen up at night and make it painful to walk for awhile. I'm not sure how fibro without CMP would feel like. My pain seems to be all from CMP although I have the overwelming fatigue that is associated with fibro.

exhockeydog; I call that painful walking the "Tim Conway walk"...from the Carol Burnett show. Sometimes I walk like that when I get out of bed and nothing helps until I either take a hot shower or soak.

Dear Dixie4Me,

I agree that it is definitely FMS, but you could also have MPS as they seem to go together in a lot of FMS sufferers. I have both and it is definitely Not fun! Both cause pain but for different reasons. All I can say is Ouch!

I have had Fibro for over 10 years and I am stiff every day, especially in the mornings. I get the MFP about once or twice a month for 2-5 days at a time and it diables me. I cannot move. Did you ever have a bursitis in a shoulder or knee. Well it feels like that everywhere and ican explain it to you(the MFP) but right now, I have to go to bed. Can't sit up anymore too much pain.If you don't understand FMP and want to know EXACTLY what it is and what happens to the body to cause the pain. I can let you know. Just give me a holler and whenI feel a ittle better. I'll explain it, how it was explained to me. Most DOCS don't bother to explain, buthtis one did and it finally made sense to me. Stiffness is a part of Fibro most people that have it deal with everyday, it jsut depends to what extent it is depending on happenstances, like the eather, or stress. Talk to you soon.
Wendy(wendy9929)

I don't see how you can have chronic myofascial pain for a few days. My trigger points seem permanent. I think they affect me sometime worse than others but it more is a function of my physical activity. My fibro symptoms seem to be out of control and I've yet to figure out how to control them, even after 8 years.

db