Many symptoms of fibromyalgia remain unexplained and confusing to those of us who have to live day to day with fibromyalgia. One of the mysterious symptoms is increased unexplained bruises. How many times have you found yourself thinking “How did I get that bruise on my arm?” Only to look down at your legs to notice two or three more bruises.

I have never really found in depth information on why people with fibromyalgia bruise easier and more frequently. We are often told it is just part of fibromyalgia. Fibromyalgia often creates skin issues – increased bruising is included in that category. In one article, I read 50% of fibromyalgia patients reported having skin issues, while another article reported 80% of patients reported skin issues. Either way the percentage is fairly high for skin issues.

Here are a few POSSIBLE causes of increased/unexplained bruising. I am not stating this could be the SOLID explanation for bruising in fibromyalgia.

Has anyone ever stopped to think about medications as the possible culprit? Some medications can possibly have a side effect of increased bleeding and bruising easier. From my research NSAID medications such as ibuprofen, Naproxen( Aleve), aspirin , diclofenac etc. can all cause you to bruise easier. People with fibromyalgia often take many of the above painkillers looking for some relief of chronic pain. SSRI anti depressants can also cause easier bruising. Fibromyalgia pain is often treated with anti depressants. Both NSAID and SSRI medications block/limit certain blood platelets from working resulting in easier bleeding and bruising. Keep in mind a bruise forms when blood vessels under the skin break ( this is what I mean by easier bleeding in this case). A small bump on a chair could easily cause a blood vessel to break, even if you barely hit yourself. There may be other medications that cause easy bruising to form.

If certain vitamin levels are low or a deficiency exists a person may also notice more bruises. Fibromyalgia is known to cause many nutrient deficiencies to exist. I have not done a lot of research on lack of nutrients, but here are a few that can cause easier bruising if a deficiency exists. You MAY bruise more if your iron is low, vitamin d, calcium, vitamin K and B12. I am sure there are more to add to this list. For example low iron can cause unhealthy blood cells, which results in your body not getting the required oxygen that it needs to function. This can possibly leave your skin more susceptible to bruising. Vitamin K is essential in blood clotting and also helps strengthen capillaries . Lower vitamin K can cause the capillaries to weaken and break under the skin leaving behind a bruise.

Fibromyalgia can leave a person very clumsy. Clumsiness can be caused by lack of mobility due to pain, sleep deprivation, etc. I know I am clumsier since my fibromyalgia diagnosis then in the past. I find myself always running into things – the corner of the counter, a chair or even the bed-frame! I think fibro fog (brain fog) can possibly contribute to unexplained bruises. For myself I may have done something to cause a bruise to form and simply do not remember – but my family members remember the cause of some of my bruises as they witnessed it happen. For example my vehicle door swung back on my leg as I was reaching in to get an item out of the back seat due to wind. I later discover I had several bruises on my leg from the incident, but don’t remember the door swinging back on my leg. Fibro fog causes us to become forgetful at times. Could this be the cause of some of the unexplained bruising? Just food for thought!