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Originally Posted by cwat89 First post. I'm a 31 y/o male and I've been dealing with whole body muscle/joint pain for going on 3 years now. Been tested for RA 4 times with negative results every time. I have inflamed joints on both hands that are very tender and hurt and have limited range of motion yet NO diagnosis. I have had x-rays of my hands and it shows good joint spacing with no deterioration. I have a toe on my left foot that is f'ed up six ways to Sunday and hurts badly yet x-rays show perfect joint condition. I have constant pain in most all joints and get occasional swelling in my knees. I noticed my back beginning to hurt constantly around the age of 25 or 26. I have always been overweight for nearly all of my life which I'm sure didn't help. I've also worked a lot of physical labor jobs. Well, 3 years ago, 2017, I was up to my highest weight of 260lbs at 5'10" height. So I started losing weight and at the same time got a new non physical labor low stress job. I got down to 188 lbs and leveled out to around 192-195 and stayed there for about a year. Then I went on ativan for anxiety disorder/emotional meltdown in late 2018. Ended up getting addicted to that and it caused me to start drinking alcohol A LOT. Ativan gave me tremendous energy so I was burning off the increased alcohol calories. Well after a 4 month stint of that wrecklessness ativan was taken away from me. The alcohol continued and energy bursts stopped and exercise stopped due to pain issues getting worse so therefore I gained back about 20lbs. I'm currently at 210 and while it's not ideal it's a lot lighter than I was when I started out. I have since stopped drinking for about a month and a half. I slipped up a couple times but have gotten back on the wagon.
I say all that to get to the point of losing weight and getting a much better job did NOTHING for my pain issues as they only have gotten way worse. In early 2017 I was the victim of a hit and run at my previous company which put me out and in physical therapy for increased back pain than I already had. The last neurosurgeon I visited said I have severe disc degeneration from T6-T12 and a herniated T11-T12 disc and bulging T12-L1. Also have schmorl's nodes in my thoracic spine region. He said he feels the degeneration has been there long before the wreck and that the wreck made it worse.
I have spent thousands on different primary and specialist doctor visits and blood work for zero help. I spent a lot to have a 2nd MRI done that revealed no changes than what I stated above. Chiropractic care helped for a few months but it was no longer beneficial. Massage therapy helps in the moment but then I hurt worse the next day. I have never been looked at for fibromyalgia despite me asking about it and telling the docs my grandmother had it. My most recent doctor I went to who is an Internal medicine doc is the only one who has asked if I have had a fibro diagnosis. Of course the answer is no. So he is sending me to another (hopefully better than the previous) rheumatologist. If this doesn't provide any help I don't know what to do. All I hear from people is "oh your too young to hurt like that" or "suck it up" or "just wait till you get my age" My grip strength is horrible. I enjoy tinkering with cars and mechanical stuff and fixing things and nearly everything I do hurts and hinders me enjoying these things.
Just don't know what else to do. I'm lost on an endless journey to find answers. |
I wonder what else besides RA you have been tested for. You should have specific blood tests for systemic lupus, mixed connective tissue disease, ankylosing spondylitis because of the chronic back pain, Reiters syndrome, etc., and some general tests like CRP, sed rate, complement levels to check inflammation status. About 40% of people with RA test negative for it, especially early on. A CCP test is more sensitive for RA. If you have red, hot swollen joints you have something more than fibromyalgia. Insist on getting a thorough work up for autoimmune disease from a rheumatologist. You will get answers if the right tests are done.