I have fibromyalgia, too, and also have greatly improved through diet. However, I still have symptoms...The best helps are regular exercise and stretching (as you mentioned); regular acupuncture (used to need this every week, but now down to twice per month); deep tissue massage (every few months); and monthly chiropractic (this one is not essential, but helpful). I also think that it is just taking time for my nutritional deficiencies to be compensated for. My digestion was very poor in the past (due to unknown gluten intolerance), causing long-term nutritional deficiencies that only resolve over the course of time.

I hope that helps some! Really, I'm also still struggling with that last bit of chronic inflammation that has not died down. How do I get my immune system to relax....? I look forward to reading what other people post on this one.

Protein mimicry by certain viruses/bacteria/fungi. Pretty sure the protein in this case would be Type 2, Type 3 and Type 6 Collagen.

Immune deficiency exacerbates the problem. Or rather, it lets the problem occur in the first place.

Vitamin D deficiency has to be considered in the management of fibromyalgia syndrome. Have you checked your leveLs?

For me the cause of my fibro was stress. Toxic food stress and mental/percieved stress. I had a whole cascade of health issues come up when my husband found his whole birth family. Yes, his parents had him at 16, then got married, still married and now he has 3 siblings, and I have 2 mother in laws! Really crazy time. Anyway. It just aggravated other stresses that were already there. Mainly food stress, toxic, sugar and gluten laden foods which were my favorite (aka addiction) started the whole reaction. All that had to go bye bye when I basically couldn't hold anything down or in. Both ways. Then I began with gluten free, then the GAPS diet. I felt a ton better, but I would say, I really felt muscle tightness mostly during the GAPS diet. That diet allowed a lot of honey. Therefore, I feel that carbs really contribute to fibro as well.

Meditation (guided) has really helped. The book Full Catastrophe Living by Jon Kabat-Zinn really helped calm my whole nervous system. I think the nervous system just goes haywire and needs a mechanism to calm is down.

Sleep is also really key. I have had terrible issues with it. Falling asleep is no problem, but waking up at 4am really makes me feel crappy. I don't take anything but low carb has helped me with this.

Also, low carb had really helped. I now pretty much cycle, 2 days low carb 30-50, then increase carbs 70-100, maybe more, on one day. But, last weekend I went overboard and my sleep sucked and I felt super stiff on Monday morning. Went low carb yesterday and slept well and feeling great today.

Lower carb eating has really helped my fibromyalgia tons, but it's no cure. But lots of little things add up and make a difference. Avoid chemicals and processed foods as much as possible, even sweeteners (Stevia and Splenda might be okay). Go for organic healthy versions of foods that you trust.

I found a magnesium supplement helps alot too.

Addressing nutrition and what you're eating helps.

As for the muscles, I second the above that massage will help alot. I get a monthly massage and it's worth every penny. Chiropractic too if you can find a good one (look for one that practices the Brimhall methods and/or atlas orthogonal techniques). Swimming, jacuzzi or soaking on a hot bath with Epsom salts and some nice essential oils. Meditation, yoga, gentle stretching, and yes, exercise as you can do it. I found lifting heavy things (weights) helps too.

Get any other issues that might make your fibro worse dealt with as best as possible, such as other medical conditions, stress, etc. And behavior changes in accepting you might not be able to do everything without sufficient rest and recovery too.

And last, make sure you are sleeping well. Have a good sleep environment. Stick to a strict sleep schedule even on your days off. If you need a medication to help you sleep better, talk to doctor or try melatonin.

And remember, sometimes it's the little things that slowly add up to make a difference. There's not typically going to be one big win, but small differences can really help over time.

I would say one theory is the neurological feedback loop of pain being hypersensitive so that a response (and associated tissue changes like spasm or inflammation) is triggered at lower thresholds than normal.

Movement based therapy (exercise/PT) and body work (chiropractic and massage) would both be good options to attempt to rectify this mechanism. Increased proprioceptive feedback inhibits nociception. But, these neurological changes may take some time to heal. Just keep working at it! Good luck.

Have you tried yoga? I'd be a (bigger) mess without regular yoga, it helps so much.

Have you tried something similar to the Wahls Diet? It is essentially a paleo-style diet optimized for mitochondrial care and efficiency. I would try following that a couple months and seeing how things progress, and making sure that you're also supplementing with r-ALA, CoQ10 (ubiquinol), and creatine.

http://www.terrywahls.com/eating-the-wahls-way

Hope you find relief soon.

I have personally helped quite a few people with fibro. They are all 90-100% pain free and most are off all meds. You can get more info on my youtube site and contact me there if you have any questions.I don't know if this would be for you or not but it's free to find out more and research. http://www.youtube.com/user/westsidephxrelivers?feature=results_main