What’s Missing From Your Fibromyalgia Care Plan?

What’s Missing From Your Fibromyalgia Care Plan?

There’s a lot to focus on when it comes to treating fibromyalgia. Learn whether you could benefit from having more mental health support, better medication options, help identifying triggers, or something else.
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Published on September 15, 2025
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Managing fibromyalgia can sometimes feel like trying to fill a leaky bucket: Just when you’ve gotten one symptom under control, another pops up to take its place. Moreover, those symptoms can be notoriously hard to treat, because the medications currently available are only so effective.

If you’ve been dealing with more fibromyalgia flares recently, your care plan may need some fine-tuning. “The more people — and their clinicians — understand the source of their pain and what to do, the bigger breakthroughs we will have in their care,” says Martina Ziegenbein, MD, a rheumatologist and fibromyalgia specialist with Whole Health Rheumatology of Cape Cod in Mashpee, Massachusetts.

This assessment was crafted in partnership with Dr. Ziegenbein, who also has fibromyalgia. It can help you determine which area of care is worth focusing on next and exactly where to start. For each question, choose the answer that best aligns with your experiences.

Question 1

What’s your biggest challenge in managing fibromyalgia?

  • No matter what I do, symptoms keep interfering with my daily life.
  • I feel misunderstood by family, friends, and even strangers.
  • I don’t know what makes the symptoms I have better or worse.
  • I don’t sleep or eat very well sometimes, which makes symptoms even worse.
EDITORIAL SOURCES
Everyday Health follows strict sourcing guidelines to ensure the accuracy of its content, outlined in our editorial policy. We use only trustworthy sources, including peer-reviewed studies, board-certified medical experts, patients with lived experience, and information from top institutions.
Resources
  1. Munipalli B et al. Depression: A Modifiable Risk Factor for Poor Outcomes in Fibromyalgia. Journal of Primary Care & Community Health. January–December 2022.
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Michelle-Seguin-bio

Michelle Seguin, MD

Medical Reviewer
Member of American College of Lifestyle Medicine

Michelle Seguin, MD, is a board-certified family medicine, lifestyle medicine, and certified functional medicine physician (IFMCP). She is a practicing physician at Root Functional Medicine, a leading telemedicine practice specializing in personalized, root-cause care.

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Jessica Migala

Author

Jessica Migala is a freelance writer with over 15 years of experience, specializing in health, nutrition, fitness, and beauty. She has written extensively about vision care, diabetes, dermatology, gastrointestinal health, cardiovascular health, cancer, pregnancy, and gynecology. She was previously an assistant editor at Prevention where she wrote monthly science-based beauty news items and feature stories.

She has contributed to more than 40 print and digital publications, including Cosmopolitan, O:The Oprah Magazine, Real Simple, Woman’s Day, Women’s Health, Fitness, Family Circle, Health, Prevention, Self, VICE, and more. Migala lives in the Chicago suburbs with her husband, two young boys, rescue beagle, and 15 fish. When not reporting, she likes running, bike rides, and a glass of wine (in moderation, of course).

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