The purpose of this study is to examine the characteristics of the nerves and the small veins
in the skin of people with fibromyalgia. This information will then be used to identify
possible processes in the skin that may help explain why some people feel pain relief with
the study drug (milnacipran) and others do not. The investigators expect to learn more about
the pathophysiology of fibromyalgia and the way in which milnacipran acts on these patients.
The investigators hypotheses are:
1. The pathophysiologic basis of fibromyalgia in some patients may be due to a biochemical
and/or morphological pathology among the sensory innervation.
2. Fibromyalgia patients may have different sites of innervation.
3. Milnacipran may have a therapeutic effect on some fibromyalgia patients.
4. Abnormalities in fibromyalgia patients may predict the likelihood of a good response to
milnacipran.