 Unexplained pain...Costo? Arthritis? Rheumatoid Disorder? Please help.
Hi; I would really appreciate some help on this. I’ll try to be as brief as possible, since it’s a long story. When I was 15 (I am 37 now), I suddenly came down with a pericardial effusion. I almost died; there was so much fluid in my heart sac, my fever had been high for so long and I waited so long to go to the hospital (on the advice of my doctor at the time…said he couldn’t “hear” anything in my chest). At the same time, I was also diagnosed with a severely hyperactive thyroid. It took months to bring the inflammation down and then bam, I was back in the hospital with a pleural effusion this time. They did every test under the sun; rheumatoid tests, lupus, bone marrow, you name it. I was sick for a very long time (almost two years). I was on prednisone and aspirin for inflammation and had radioactive iodine treatments for my thyroid, plus I was on medication for that as well. My thyroid has been normal for 19 years now. Anyway, they never figured out what caused it and said I was a “mystery.” I didn’t give it a second thought until I started developing unexplained pain in my 20’s. One doctor said I had costochondritis and I had physical therapy for that, which didn’t help at all. I get neck pain, back pain, chest pain, migraines, etc. all the time. I’m often very fatigued and generally just “don’t feel good” quite a lot. An x-ray showed that my c-spine (neck) is “rigid” and some degeneration is going on in there. After exercise, such as rowing a boat, shooting a basketball or even lifting something light, it often triggers a month-long bout of pain in my chest, back, shoulders, etc. Right now I’m going through it because I went rowing a few weeks ago; my chest, back and sides are killing me. It even feels like it hurts when my heart beats, if that makes any sense…depending on how I’m laying. Sometimes I get severe middle back pain that is accompanied by a strange feeling in my esophagus. My eyelids get puffy and swollen on top and I suffer from very dry eyes and my ophthalmologist was baffled. Her assistant said I had “strange, unexplainable rough spots in one eye.” She had me on drops for a while, but nothing helped so I’m back to wearing contacts without being cured of that. I know this all sounds weird and it’s so frustrating, because these are all seemingly unrelated symptoms. I’ve also gained about 25 pounds in the past few years or so. I’ve had a complete blood work up (last year); everything came back negative…inflammation tests, rheumatoid, thyroid, lupus, etc. All my doctors just scratch their heads…even the rheumatologist I had when I was 15 couldn’t figure it out. I know it’s definitely SOMETHING. I’m not imagining these things, even though I feel like people think I am because there’s just no diagnosis. I’m tired of always being in pain, always being tired, never being able to keep up with other people. I’m a young, basically healthy woman who likes to be on the go and I just can’t do it anymore. I’m getting so depressed. Is there anyone out there who can help, or at least relate to what I’m going through?
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Nan
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