I am not sure what is wrong with me, and would be extremely grateful for thoughts/advice. About a month ago, i started getting generally sick - tired, headachy, etc then about 3 weeks ago I got a really bad stiff neck and back, along with intermittent headaches. I assumed I'd slept oddly and ignored it, but the stiffness wouldn't go away. Then I developed a really, really sore throat - the kind that keeps you up at night, but only a very low-grade fever - never above 100. I went to the doctor who did a Lyme test and a strep test. Both were negative, and the doctor said I just had a virus. The sore throat faded to almost nothing and the fever and headaches are gone, but the stiff neck has morphed into full body pain. I feel like every joint in my body is burning, especially first thing in the morning. It is so bad that I cannot get out of bed without help. I have pain in my shoulders, fingers, wrists, knees, toes, hands, etc.. It gets better throughout the day, but does not go away completely... I can't open jars, lift myself with my arms, or do a simple crawl stroke when swimming. Normally i am fit, health and active. Aleve doesnt really help even though I am now taking 4 aleve a day, 2 in the morning and 2 at night. I do not, however, have any noticable swelling or hotness of my joints. I will go back to the doctor next week, but he tends to have a laid back, wait and see attitude and I really can't stand this much longer. I have actually cried from the pain. I would really appreciate any thoughts as to what might be going on with me, what tests to ask the doctor to do, or any suggestions to alleviate the constant pain. Thanks so much.
Since this illness involved a fever and sore throat, I would wonder about mono, as it can cause joint pain and stiffness, as well as bad headaches and even meningitis. A blood test for mono, a CBC, sed rate, CRP and chemistry panel seem appropriate. If nothing shows up or tests for inflammation are positive, I would ask for an ANA and RA to check for lupus and rheumatoid arthrits. Hepatitis viral infections can cause significant joint pains and prolonged illness as well. Any recent travel or viral exposure should be relayed to your Dr.
I am so sorry on all what you are going through, being sick is never easy for sure...
I mentioned already in a similar post when my daughter had sore throat, sings of infection and then flare of whole body ache and joint pains. When her DR took her blood for Lyme, she said that Lyme really gets diagnosed mostly by symptoms, very rarely blood work shows Lyme disease even when patient has all the symptoms, sometime severe.
The pain/symptoms you describe can be from so many different health issues. People don't know that often strep throat test may show up positive for strep only on 3 rd time. Drs do it once and tell people they are OK, never mention to come back again if symptoms persist. It happened to me, my kids and many people I know. Only on second-third test it may come back as strep even if 2 days ago it was negative.
Mono is one of the reasons you have these symptoms, simple infection even if it didn't give you high fevers, may be a reason for it. I don't know how old you are, but if you ever survived Mono as a teen/child, your condition may be Epstein Bar now and when it flairs, give you symptoms you describe.
We can only guess here; only good DR can tell you what you suffer from.
