For LaReeia Howard, 39, it all started with pain in her legs. It was so bad that she couldn’t sleep at night, which meant she was exhausted throughout the day. Pain medications didn’t help, and her doctors didn’t know what was wrong. For a while, they thought it might be bursitis, a painful inflammation of the tiny fluid-filled sacs that ease friction between the tendons, bones and muscles near your joints. But treating that only made things worse.

Family Support
LaReeia’s husband, Darryl, and her son, Kerry, were extremely helpful, especially before her diagnosis, when the family didn’t know for sure what was happening. They took charge and encouraged her to rest, while making meals and doing chores around the house. “It made my little boy grow up more,” she says of her son, who was 6 when LaReeia was diagnosed with fibromyalgia. “He was more responsible then than he is now at 13.”

Still, LaReeia did her best to keep the burden off of their shoulders. “Sometimes I was alright and sometimes I wasn’t,” she says. “The days I was alright, I’d iron my little boy’s clothes, and put five day’s worth on the dresser in case I was sick.” Of the bad days, LaReeia says, “I’d get out of bed and I’d be lying on the couch and I’d be crying, because it hurt really, really bad. I tried not to disturb Darryl and my son.” But, her husband would always find her and comfort her. “He’d fix me a pillow and he’d sit with me when I’d be hurting, and it helped,” she says.

Since LaReeia and her twin sister LaFreeia had a history of developing the same medical conditions, she wasn’t surprised when she learned that they both experienced similar symptoms of pain and fatigue. (Eventually it was confirmed that LaFreeia had fibromyalgia, too.) LaFreeia says it helped to have someone so close to her going through the same thing. Depending on who was feeling better, one sister would visit the other to offer support and help out around the house.

A New Life
It took about five years for a rheumatologist to diagnose LaReeia with fibromyalgia, referring her to a neurologist for treatment. She felt great to finally have a diagnosis, she says, because she finally knew what was wrong with her.

Around the time she was diagnosed, LaReeia began working in a warehouse, loading trucks. It was strenuous work that required her to be on her feet all day. “It hurt constantly when I was working all day long,” she recalls.

Water aerobics and stretching exercises eased her pain a little, but it was medication that really made the difference for LaReeia. Now she can work around the house and take care of her family without the pain. Flare-ups are rare, as well. “I’ll have a flare-up when the weather gets cold — winter is the worst time for me — or if I stay up too late and I don’t get any sleep that night,” she says.

Her treatment plan has proven to be a successful blueprint for her sister, who has followed LaReeia’s example. Their fibromyalgia has been so similar, that whatever helps LaReeia is often beneficial for LaFreeia.

Keep Looking
Now that LaReeia has her fibromyalgia under control, she encourages others to seek out the diagnoses and treatments they need. “Fibromyalgia is a disease and a lot of people want to tell you it’s not and that there’s nothing wrong with you,” she says. “But you still need to go to the doctor, and if that doctor doesn’t want to accept that it is a disease, keep going until you find a doctor that will listen to you. That pain is real.”