About four years ago, Monica Chuhna started to have difficulty sleeping. She experienced numbness and tingling in her hands, feet and face, but she didn’t know what was wrong. She was tested for arthritis, diabetes, and other conditions, and even feared that she might have a brain tumor. As test after test came back negative, her symptoms didn’t go away, and more symptoms appeared.

“I’m actually a very healthy, happy person,” Monica says. “It was very frustrating because there were things that I wanted to do. I wanted to live life and enjoy being out, but I just didn’t have the energy to get out of bed.”

Getting the diagnosis
Monica’s sister Dianne had been diagnosed with fibromyalgia following a car accident 18 years ago. The symptoms that Monica was experiencing were very similar to her sister’s symptoms. “When she and I started talking about similar symptoms, I realized, perhaps I have fibromyalgia as well.”

When Monica spoke to her doctor about her suspicions, he listened to her symptoms and family history. He admitted that he probably wouldn’t have two years earlier, but he'd heard a lecture on fibromyalgia that had opened his eyes to the disease. He was able to refer Monica to a neurologist who gave her a diagnosis and set her on the path to treatment. “For the first time, I felt like someone really understood what I was experiencing and really was going to do everything that he could to help me.”

Monica and her doctors, including her neurologist and general physician, are still working on finding the treatment that’s best for her, but she says, “On a scale of 1 to 10, I put myself at an 8.” She has had a lot of success with complementary treatments, such as stretching, exercise and relaxation techniques, but she and her doctors still haven’t narrowed down the most effective medications for her. While she finally has the energy to live her life and do the things she wants to do, she still has flare-ups. “About twice a month it’s so bad that I don’t even want to get dressed,” she says.

Even with her flare-ups, Monica finds the strength to make each day her best. She gathers strength from her work as a behavioral therapist, and feels blessed to have the support of friends and family. Sometimes she can’t do everything that she wants in any given day, but she makes the most of what she can do. “You make your list and you prioritize.”

NEXT: A helping hand