Fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) is a chronic widespread pain condition of unknown aetiology. Patients often report worse pain with changes in ambient temperature, and even disabling extreme temperature sensitivity during winter. In our murine passive transfer model for FMS, cold sensitivity in the animals appears to be conferred by patients' immunoglobulin G.
An electronic literature review was conducted into the influence of ambient temperature on pain intensity in fibromyalgia. Databases interrogated were: Pubmed, Google Scholar, and Science direct. Search terms included: “fibromyalgia”, “hyperalgesia”, “ambient”, “environmental “, “temperature”, “sensitivity”, “pain intensity”, “pain scores”, “mechanical sensitivity”, “weather”. Exclusion criteria were: age < 18, animal studies, non-English and articles predating 2000. These results were compared to our own emerging data (IRAS:240099).
Five original articles were identified. An Argentinean study correlated pain with decreased temperature. Geographical variation was seen in an American Twitter analysis. Two Norwegian studies, however, were unable to correlate meteorological temperature with fibromyalgia pain. A  study from the Netherlands (n=333) identified subgroups of patients with significant air temperature-related pain symptoms, through a multilevel regression analysis over a 28 day period.Since little is published, we have commenced an interview-study to investigate temperature sensitivity. Of the 13 patients recruited to date (02.2019), 10 report increased pain with temperature drops. They identified a wide range of 'ideal' ambient temperatures (14°C to 30°C), but the distribution was non Gaussian. The mode was 28-30°C. 
In summary, there are few studies investigating sensitivity to ambient temperature in FMS. Studies present averages, and sensitivity heterogeneity, we posit, is the reason studies disagree. Detailed understanding of this phenomenon may identify patient subgroups with differing types of immunoglobulin G autoantibodies and support personalised treatment pathways.

A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW AND PROSPECTIVE STUDY INTO THE INFLUENCE OF AMBIENT TEMPERATURE ON PAIN INTENSITY IN FIBROMYALGIA