Is there a connection between fibromyalgia and IBS?

Is there a connection between fibromyalgia and IBS?

Lin Chang (UCLA Division of Digestive Diseases) gives expert video advice on: Can IBS cause weight gain or weight loss?; Is IBS painful?; Can IBS damage the colon or other parts of the digestive system? and more...

There is a strong connection or association between IBS and fibromyalgia. In studies, if you use the standard diagnostic criteria for both conditions, it's been estimated that in fibromyalgia, about 30% of fibromyalgia patients will have GI symptoms compatible with IBS. If you look at an IBS population, about 30% have fibromyalgia. In my experience in doing research in IBS and fibromyalgia, I feel that the prevalence of IBS in the fibromyalgia community, or other GI conditions such as constipation, is much more common in fibromyalgia. While in the IBS patient population, I don't see as much fibromyalgia, even though it's been estimated to be as high as thirty percent.