OBJECTIVES: To describe the management by French General Practitioners (GP) of patients suffering from fibromyalgia (FMS). METHODS: A questionnaire was sent to 10,000 French GP randomly selected. RESULTS: First analysis of a random selection of 200 responses on the 1016 questionnaires received (response rate: 10.2%) showed that 34% are male with an average age of 47 years. A total of 73.5% of them have patients suffering from FMS in their care: 34% have 5 or more patients, 6% have 10 or more. Each GP has an average of 6.1 FMS patients and 88% prescribe a fundamental treatment to their FMS patients: 77% declare prescribing analgesics (A), 42% tricyclic antidepressants (TCA), 55% serotoninergic antidepressants (SA), 23% hypnotics/sedatives (H/S), 21% homeopathic treatments (H) and 6% morphine derived treatments(MD). A total of 82% prescribe treatments for the symptomatic pain relief of their FMS patients: 66% prescribe A, 16% TCA, 15% SA, 34% H/S, 18% H and 9% MD. Ninety percent(90%) of GP's recommend “alternative” treatment: 42% acupuncture; 3% chiropractic treatment; 9% hypnotherapy; 31% spas; 33% osteopathy and 74% relaxation techniques. For 85% of them physical exercise is part of the care: 78% recommend swimming; 68% regular walks; 55% yoga; 27% stretching and 23% bicycling. CONCLUSIONS: FMS is a frequently diagnosed illness in general medicine (6 FMS patients/GP). The difficulties in treating the illness seem evident as shown by the multiple therapeutic choices. We may note the important recommendation of “alternative” medicine and physical exercise.