Over six million Americans have been diagnosed with fibromyalgia, an agonizing medical disorder. The debilitating disease affects muscle and connective tissue, causing great pain throughout the body, and up to 90 percent of those afflicted are women, according to the National Women’s Health Information Center.

Patients with fibromyalgia experience a plethora of symptoms and have been prescribed an equally wide range of treatments for their illness, which is indicative of the perplexing nature of this disease. Not only is it difficult to diagnose, as many of its signs are congruent with other conditions like rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis, but it is even more difficult to treat when there are vast amounts of seemingly unrelated symptoms to remedy.

Because evidence of fibromyalgia can be so diverse, those in suffering often require a number of physicians and specialists to develop a viable solution. A general practitioner can work with physical therapists, psychiatrists, neurologists and others to form a treatment plan, but it is clear that even with many great minds working together, there is not yet a cogent solution for this condition.

Out of the 364 users who reported information about their treatments for fibromyalgia, the most frequently prescribed medications were only given an average score of 3 out of 5 stars for effectiveness – which begs the question, why are ineffective drugs being prescribed? It boils down to trial and error. One of the most popular treatments cited in our survey is tramadol (Ultram), an analgesic and opioid derivative. According to a study performed by the University of Michigan Health System, fibromyalgia patients have a decreased ability to bind to certain opioids and painkillers, therefore what works for others may not work for those with fibromyalgia.

The most often-experienced symptom, with more than 83 percent of users reporting its existence, is muscle weakness, followed by headaches, tenderness and muscle cramps. Healthetreatment users have noted that the most severe symptoms they have suffered include tenderness, fatigue and chronic back pain.

It is currently unknown how fibromyalgia is caused, however, some studies have pointed towards abnormalities in the central nervous system, while others have that it is musculoskeletal in nature.