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joint pain since late July, getting progressively worse. Any ideas?

Posted , 7 users are following.

jeff94752
jeff94752

Hi all...I'm hoping someone can help me out as this has gone on for far to long. This is for my fiancee as she has been having joint pain since late July 2014 (so about 9-10 months) with no one being able to tell us anything. Originally the pain started in the right knee but it was more of an uncomfortable situation then pain. 2-3 weeks after the start of the first knee, the second knee started having the same uncomfortable situation. We started jogging behind a heavily wooded bike path near our apartment prior to the pain. Please keep in mind that at this time she was under very little stress. 

So anyways, the pain got steadily worse and worse till October. Which is when she started going to a physical therapist and knee specialist who could find nothing wrong. He diagnosed her as having brustitis and tendonitis. To be sure a X-ray and MRI were taken of her knees but both came back clean. The pain happens everyday and if she sits in a position to long the knees are stiff and hurt to move. We did discover that her hip was tender, but it did not actually hurt to move. 

Now, here is where it started getting really bad. We are due to be married in late May. Her father and her had a major disagreement on the wedding planning side (he basically threatened to not attend the wedding unless we relented) which made her EXTREMELY upset. A day after this incident occured she was having sever pain in her shoulders and elbows. I had to take her to the ER because of the pain. I was hoping that after the stress quited down (she works part time at a job she constantly gets yelled at, is going for her masters, family disputes, and the upcomingwedding) the oain would go back to her knees and stay there...this has not been the case as the pain has stayed in her whole body  since January...everyday.

The doctor has checked her blood which comes back as clean and ran a rheumatogical factor blood test to determine if it could be an autoimmune disease...which of course came back clean as well. Her doctor has said she has fibromyalgia and essentially told us good luck. We are attempting to get a reumatogist but none will call us back.

I have heard  that Lyme's disease can cause migratory arthritis pain but her doctor did not know which tests to run so we are still waiting for someone to call back so we can get her tested for that. However, we were able to convince her doc to give her doxycycline to try. We believe it did work as the two week supply was able to make her hips stop hurting, that or the physical therapist helped. She ran out of the doxycycline a week and a half ago and the hip pain has come back. Blood tests have revealed that there was no inflammation, which should be present with this extent of joint pain. No swelling has occured either. A doctor did the 18 point pressure test for firbomyalgia but none of those 18 points hurt. Her aunt and grandma have RA but not anywhere near to this extent. She hasent had a fever, but did have a stiff neck twice in this 10 month period (she could have slept on it wrong as it left within 3-4 days). The pain interrupts her sleep and is making school/work even more difficult.

Well...thats her story. I think I covered everything. Please, if anyone understand these symptoms or has any ideas please comment. Whatever this is doesn't seem to leave any clues except for the pain. Thanks for listening guys....hope someone can shed some light on this thing.

Regards,

Jeff

0 likes, 10 replies

10 Replies

  • han75
    han75 jeff94752

    Posted

    Hi Jeff,

    sorry I'm unable to shed any light on what may be going on but just wanted to say I'm in the same position. I've had joint pain all over to varing degrees for a year now. Stiffness, pain, sometimes very painful! Slight swelling but nothing much and no redness or heat. I also have flares of tingling, stabbing sensations, pin pricks and heat sensations in my legs and arms. Neck and upper back pain, it all comes and goes but is becoming more frequent and most days there will be something hurting! 

    I was referred to rheumatologist and have seen him 3 times. I've had blood tests which apart from showing raised inflammation levels were all normal. Mri of hip, normal. My rheumatologist has said he doesn't know what's wrong and has adopted a wait and see .. Not very helpful when you feel rotten most of the time! 

    Like I said not very helpful but thought it may help to know she's not alone in feeling like this. 

    Best wishes to you both

    hannah 

  • cheria
    cheria jeff94752

    Posted

    Wow, first i want to say how sorry i am that your new wife to be has to be subjected to this much control and hurtfulness for whats meant to be one of the most special "her" days of her life.. Unfortunately its this kind of stress and a history of this that lowers a persons immunity inducing painful conditions physically as well as mentally. From my own personal experience with this kind of emotional stress i too have had this kind of body pain. My doctor explained that i was in need a high strength vitamin b complex, the stress vitamin as well as magnesium glycinate with my multi vitamin and pain went temporarily away. I was diagnosed with a type of RA called Reactive Arthritis which was induced by intense stress compiled on other stressful events, with a sensitivity to milk or dairy products and gluten. Reactive Arthritis can be long term but if addressed proactively and stayed on top of this, this RA can be in long times of remission..being reintroduced in general by stressful internal or external conditions. I hope that your special bride to be can find ways to be supported by all those who care about her and that she can take control of her health through this time.. If she can relax and know it will be beautiful no matter what this may also contribute to her wellness.
  • raralady
    raralady jeff94752

    Posted

    Hi Jeff,

    I've had common experiences with Cheria so I'll tell you about it as it may help. 

    I got terrible pain, like your fiancee, in leg and arm joints which affected everything, I couldn't move for pain and couldn't sleep or even rest in comfort. This was at its worst around 8 months ago. I contacted a functional health practitioner as I wanted to try to fix the problem at source rather than control it with drugs. 

    I was put on a diet and nutritional supplement programme, very strict, no gluten/dairy, lots of veg, no sugar, lots of vitamin and mineral supplements. Hard at first but now I'm used to it it's not a problem. The good news is my pain is gone, it took a few months. Now I have some lingering stiffness here and there but not pain. I can work and enjoy life again. Only thing is, if I get stressed at work or home, my hands get bad again and I have to be sure to get to bed early, do my exercises, meditate and then I'm back to normal. I am confident that eventually I'll be fully well and the pain/stiffness will all be gone. 

    That's what's worked for me.

    I wish you both the best of luck with your journey. It's important to find something you can believe in and not get depressed - easier said than done but stress and misery make it worse which is hard.

     

    • cheria
      cheria raralady

      Posted

      Thank you for valdating the importance of this very helpful and needed informatuon.
  • carol24346
    carol24346 jeff94752

    Posted

    hello jeff

    it does sound like lymes but this needs to be confirmed by a specialist carol

     

  • cheria
    cheria jeff94752

    Posted

    As an RN of 7 yrs this does not sound like lymes disease caused by a tick bite. The only way to know is to see if a physician thinks there are enough symptoms to validate testing.
  • Light
    Light jeff94752

    Posted

    Sounds pretty bad.... so sorry...

    All I can add to these other posts is that 20% RA sufferers come out seronegative, so it can't be ruled out...

    And, she needs to see a rheumatologist asap. Take the xrays and reports etc because they will show something to him/her.

    The other thing is that RA is known to derive from a genetic pre-dispositon (aunt, grandma etc) but can be triggered by trauma and/or stressful events.

    She'll need lots of love and tender care... you sound like you're up to it!

    • cheria
      cheria Light

      Posted

      My research at a college level and very personal experience shows that RA is not something of genetic nature or triggered by stressful events or environmental factors the way mental illness is.. but is induced many times by a combination of long term immune suppression factors most often involving gut health, where nutritional absorption takes place, long term undiagnosed gluten, dairy and other strong sensitivities (physically and mentally), etc which all compromise immunity and effect the bodies ability to deal biologically with demands internally and externally..what generally triggers RA along with fibromyalga all over pain is something very physically demanding on the body such as illness, a sprain or body injury, long term lack of proper sleep and care of the mind, body, and soul, or a bodys inability to absorb nutrients properly and in the right demonitations for that person..example depletion of the B stress vitamins that need to be replenished as they are not stored..the immune system finally collapses..the inflammation of this internal environment creates long term permenant damage that cannot be reversed and starts the pattern if disease.
    • cheria
      cheria Light

      Posted

      I would like to add that although the environment greatly adds to induced internal stress, mentally and physically, which can't be underestimated, and does greatly contribute to many extra needs a body then needs to deal with the mental and physical stresses..with personality definitely being a contributor.. there very typically is an absorption problem in the gut nutritionally..undiagnosed long term, that is combined with other stress and inflammation demands in the body..it finally breaks down with inflammation and oortisol levels triggering disease.
  • TreatMeGently
    TreatMeGently jeff94752

    Posted

    There are loads of studies on the efficacy of antibiotics with RA also... The link between many autoimmune diseases and low grade sub clinical infection and the role of the microbiome is also mentioned in lots of recent medical literature.

    i have AS - and there are a huge number of people following a starch restrictive diet to starve out a particular gut bug called Klebsiella implicated in my arthritis.

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