I thought I was too young for this | Arthritis Information

 

I'm frustrated, tired, broke, and have no insurance.

I'm almost 27 years old, and until two weeks ago I've been perfectly healthy. The only time I've ever been in the hospital was to have my daughter 5 years ago. So, two weeks ago, I woke up and made it about halfway down the stairs when my legs began to hurt. I hobbled into the kitchen to get a glass of juice like I normally do, and then came in to the computer to get ready for my daughter's homeschool lessons. The back of my neck was achy and my legs hurt. My shoulders hurt. I struggled through her lessons and spent the rest of the day in the recliner. When my husband got home I told him I didn't feel good, but felt that I'd be fine in the morning.

The next morning he woke up at 5am for work and asked how I was. I said I felt fine. No pain. So he went ahead and went to work. Once I started to get out of bed a couple hours later, I realized that I was still in pain. Same as the day before. Again I struggled through my day and told husband I was sure I'd be ok the next day. Wrong, the next day I was worse! I called off school for DD and laid in the recliner all day. My husband called and asked how I was and I told him worse. He cut his day short and came home and took me to Redi Med. They did a complete blood count, it came back normal. No anemia, white cell count normal, heomoglobin fine. They advised that if I wasn't feeling better in a couple days to have my thyroid checked, as it could be hypothyroid.

So I managed to get an appointment at the doctor's office for the following Friday (a week later). They said the test came back normal, although I have a copy on the way and intend to seek a second opinion on that as I've heard a lot of doctors aren't aware of new guidelines for thyroid disorders.

But, what if my thyroid is fine? What the heck else could this be? For a few days my jaw hurt to chew, but now it's fine and I'm eating like it's going out of style. My hands are a little achy, it's hard to open jars, and it hurts to put weight on them, like when getting in and out of a chair. Not as badly as it did, but it's still there. My elbows were also very sore for a few days, although it felt like the pain was in the muscle as opposed to the actual joint itself. I was very bad for about 4 days, and have been getting progressively better for the past week. I'm to the point that other than bending down is difficult/painful and I get tired much faster than I used to (an hour shopping trip at Wal Mart wore me out) I feel close to normal. I'd say I'm at about 80%

I need to find a starting point so I can find a doctor who is willing to listen to me so I can get this problem diagnosed with as few exterraneous tests (and dead ends) as possible since I have to pay for this myself. I don't have insurance.

 

I originally posted this on the odds & ends board, and a reply said it sounds like PMR. Reading the posts is a little scary! OK, I lied. A lot scary. I'm wondering if it could have been brought on by stress? My husband and I are having serious relationship problems that may result in divorce, so we've both been under tremendous amounts of stress for the past several weeks.

Amber,
I am so sorry you are feeling so badly. The added stress of both relationship
problems and no insurance is awful. We are not doctors and can't dx you,
but the only thing that doesn't sound PMR like is that you feel 80% better so
quickly. Do you know a dr you trust? If not, I woould ask everyone I know if
they have a doctor they feel really listens to them and thinks out of the box.

Stay in touch with this board too... others will come up with ideas as well.
And let us know what your find out.
pgr

Hi Amber

I'm a Brit. who felt the same - 'I'm too young for this to be happening to me' !  However, it was happening and I'm dealing with it.

If it is PMR then its long term.  Most would say 18 to 24 months minimum.  I'm not finding that.  I'm now in my sixth month and have thrown myself into all manner of alternative ways to find an answer and feel that its working. 

At the beginning it was totally debilitating and in the end I had to go on to Prednisolone steroids. I've worked hard to get the dosage down and am currently down to 7mg a day looking to go to 6 mg later this week.  I'm now virtually pain-free, am able to start getting back to sport in a slow and partial way, but I'm getting there.

I do spend a fair bit on supplements as I feel that building and maintaining your immune system is the only way forward.  That takes time and is, of course, different for each one of us.

First things first though - you must get an accurate diagnosis.  I'd be happy to keep in contact if you want.  Private email addresses might be the way to go in - happy to forward mine in due course if you wish.

Graham

Amber,

    I don't know too much about the age of people with PMR.  Some people say that they had it years ago at your age and now as older that it has returned.

    Mine started in Aug 2006 and I started Prednisone in Jan of 2007.  I couldn't take it so tapered off to nothing in June and have been using aspirin and Tylenol.  I am lucky that going off the Prednisone, I didn't hurt like I did prior to taking it.   I, like the others, had to lift my legs in and out of the car and then could hardly walk when I got out.  Dressing was difficult and getting in and out of chairs was difficult.  I am now 63.

     I have been reading about the adrenal gland which has a lot to do with stress.   Last summer, I had one of my back teeth pulled and then I stressed my legs and knees on an exercise bike.  I really thought the bike made my knees stiff the next day, and they continued to get stiffer.  Then since I couldn't roll over in bed, I used my arms and pretty soon they started to hurt at my shoulders.

    So in hearing about the stress in your life, it very well could have brought this on, no matter what age you are.

     I have also found that too much sugar is really really bad for me and makes my joints hurt.   Your adrenal gland helps to process sugar.  Also, too much carbohydrates will make me ache, becasue that turns into sugar too.  This is so surprising to me.  I think though that I did stress my knees and the stress of a tooth being pulled, was just too much for my adrenal gland.

    That is why it takes 18 months or more for the disease to go away.  You have to get your adrenal gland built back up.   That is why they prescribe Prednisone, it replaces what your adrenal gland usually makes, only it is a lot more so that your body gets a big shot of it right away.

    Look at your diet and see what you are eating.  It may have something to do with your PMR.   It does with mine.  Everyone is different though.  It might be that you are young enough and if you stressed your adrenal gland, you are/were able to build it back up.  If you do get better right away, please read up on PMR, because it might return when you stress your adrenal gland again.  I posted a link a couple weeks ago that was an eye opener for me.  Watch the sugar you eat. 

    Keep in touch with us and let us know how you are doing.  I'm sorry to hear about your marriage, it is always sad when dreams are washed away.    But, you will go on, and maybe that is best for you.  If it is making you sick, it is best to be out of it.   Mary

Amber, I can't see how your symptoms could be all down to thyroid, but of course I'm not a doctor. There are really any number of things you could have, including all the things on the differential diagnosis lists which are in almost all articles on PMR you find on the net. Those are the things that are similar in some ways to PMR. In light of the rapid onset of your symptoms, you could have a viral infection or anything. I do feel for you because I have been in that scary place where you don't know what you have, you know something is going on, but what? Please ask around ALL your friends and relations for a recommendation of a good, kind, sympathetic and helpful doctor. I wish you all the best for a quick diagnosis and recovery. Keep in touch and let us know.

Amber, A lot of your symptoms sound like PMR, especially one I found most irritating, trying to get out of a chair without using one's hands because it made them hurt like blazes.

Did you have any shots, or a bad cold, or flu, or somesuch shortly before this episode?  That often seems to trigger PMR, and the stress you're under could have weakened your immune response.

As alluded to above, you're young and your adrenal gland may have kicked in and taken over to reduce your symptoms, unlike us old toots who need prednisone while our slow-motion adrenals debate and deliberate whether and when to help out.

Let us know what progresses.  We're all hoping this will go away without you having to spend a fortune on medicine and tests.

Thank you for the replies! Today I feel a lot better. Last night I discovered that I could open one of the dog crates with one hand. I haven't been able to do that! It's a plastic travel-style crate, and the latch has two curved pieces of metal about 4 inches apart that you squeeze together to open the door. Since this started, I've had to use two hands to open it. Last night and this morning I opened it with one hand, no pain. And I just tested to see if my hands hurt when I lifted myself out of my chair, and there's a tad bit of pain in the heel of my hand but not enough to make me think "ouch."  I did some reading and it certainly does sound like what happened to me. One article said that it tends to start where a generally healthy person (me, I've not been sick since 1999, aside from a minor cold here or there and some spring allergies) wakes up barely able to move with a lot of muscle pain. That's exactly what happened.

I think my course of action for now is going to be to educate myself about this as much as possible, but do nothing doctor-wise. I've started taking B-complex to help with my energy and Vit C to help boost my immune system more. I wouldn't not be surprised if I DO have an issue with my thyroid, I just don't think it's related to this "episode" as I call it. I have many symptoms of a hypothyroid, such as intolerance to cold, excessive hair loss, extremely dry skin, and a general lack of energy, all of which began during supposed "post partum depression" after my daughter was born. If this happens again, I will go to the doctor right away instead of waiting a week and going when I was feeling close to normal.

My husband and I have reconciled somewhat. My stress came about when I told him that I wanted out, due to feeling like I wasn't wanted or loved around here for several years, and he nearly had a mental breakdown, can't live without me, all that stuff. But I told him being stuck here 24/7 with a small child was driving me insane and I can't take it anymore. We've agreed on some things to make my life a little easier, including me taking a vacation by myself in the near future that I have wanted for over 3 years now, and I think I'll feel better about my life, anyways, and that should reduce my stress immensely.

Thanks again for your replies! 

Dear Amber,

I was cheered by your second post, that some things are getting partially
resolved for you. I feel that stress has much to do with the onset of the
symptoms of PMR, and with the continuance of symptoms. Sometimes just
knowing that others hear you and want to support you can be a great boast.
Please stay with us and let us know how you doing, and what you find out.
There is so much information here that can help you, and we care.

A friend of mine had similar symptoms, an episode that she told me about when I was first diagnosed with PMR.  At 27, you seem to young for PMR, but she had parvo.  Given that you have exposure to dogs, that could be a possibility.  I don't know what diagnositic tests there are for the parvo virus, but you might want to research that.

 

Well all of my dogs (there are 6 of them) have had thier parvo shots. I didn't know that was a disease that could pass from dog to human? I occasionally transport rescue dogs but it's been a while and they all checked out as healthy to my knowledge. I will look that up. Thanks for the tip.

I looked it up. A little lesson on parvo, LOL!

Each species seems to have it's own version of parvo, meaning that dog parvo is not transmittable to humans or other animals like cats, etc. Humans do have a version of parvo, but it includes fever, rash, etc, as symptoms, which I do not have. I have no had a fever at all during this, not even a time of feeling warm. My body temp at Redi Med was 97.8 degrees, and I am always cold. There's times I think I'd welcome a fever so I could at least be warm for a while! Just kidding, fevers aren't worth it!

Amber - my mistake about being able to catch it from dogs, however lack of a fever is not an indicator that it is not parvo virus.  Quote below:

Arthropathy
It has become increasingly clear over the past several years that parvovirus B19 causes arthritis and arthralgias in adults and children. Although parvovirus infections in adults are most commonly asymptomatic, an estimated 60 percent of women with symptomatic disease manifest arthropathy.^18,19 Men appear to be affected much less frequently.

The arthropathy associated with parvovirus B19 infection usually resolves by three weeks but persists in 20 percent of affected women. The most common presentation of parvovirus-related arthropathy in adults is the acute onset of arthralgias or frank arthritis involving the hands, knees, wrists and ankles. The symptoms usually subside within one to three weeks, although about 20 percent of affected women have persistent or recurring arthropathy for months and years.18 Concurrent constitutional symptoms such as fever are rare, but one half of patients have an associated generalized rash, and about 15 percent have the typical facial exanthem.19 Amber, Here is a good site on hypothyrodism.   I am hypothyroid and have been for 20 years and have taken Synthyroid and the generic. There are a lot of people on that forum that have joint pain.  Right now I have a rider on my insurance policy for my thyroid, or I would go to a entomologist who deals with hormones.  If this PMR does not go away in a year, I am going to go to one then because I will be on Medicare. At one time last year, a gal mentioned that she had PMR and she was treated and it went away in six or eight months.  I think youth and the ability to repair the body has a lot to do with it. The thyroid and the adrenal glands work together.  I really do think you stressed your adrenal glands and now they are working to repair themselves.  Your thyroid affects every cell in your body and has a lot to do with how your cells respond to repairing themselves. It is good to hear that you are feeling better.  Here is the site.  It was on this site that I learned about Selenium to help your feet.  It seems quite a few people that are hypothyroid have a plantar ficiscus  (sp) with their feet.  A few years ago, my feet hurt for four years and after one month of OTC selenium by feet no longer hurt.  I had stressed my feet and they just wouldn't get better.  I told my rheumatologist that and she said is was probably PMR.  She would not admit the correlation between the thyroid and my feet and pain.   I still take selenium and I have wondered if that is why I don't hurt as much as some people.  Before the PMR came along, if I didn't take selenium, the back of my shoulders and back pulled.  After a couple days of that, I started selenium again and it went away.  I take 200 mgs of selenium a day not without fail.  You might have to sign up for the form if the link doesn't work.  Mary http://forums.about.com/n/pfx/forum.aspx?webtag=ab-thyroid That's interesting on the parvo. My hands are the only things mentioned there that hurt. My knees and ankles haven't hurt at all. My pain was in my shoulders and elbows, to the point that finding a comfortable position to sleep was near impossible. Typing was painful due to the muscle in the top of my forearm being so sore. I have a tiny bit of pain left in my shoulders, not enough to keep me from moving, but enough I know it's there. Bending down, as to pick something off the floor was painful enough yesterday that I didn't want to do it, but today it's fine. Can you post the link to that page? Do they recommend some sort of treatment? Not that I imagine it would do any good at this point, it's been exactly two weeks since the symptoms started, and I'm darn near close to normal at this point. I wish I had good insurance! We have it available through Hubby's job, but it's expensive and only covers major medical stuff, like surgery and hospitalizations. For lab work and doctor visits, it's all out of pocket. It would just be so nice to be able to go to the doctor and just let him figure out what's wrong! Forgot to finish what i was going to say! My feet don't hurt at all, beyond the typical soreness a person might have if they are standing up all day or doing an excessive amount of walking. My main problem with my feet is that they are always cold! Even if the rest of my body is warm, my feet are almost always cold. Soemtimes they are normal, but at least 90% of the time, they are cool or cold to the touch, and uncomfortable. They were always cold to an extent before, but it got much worse following the birth of my daughter, and that's when I started having issues with excessive hair falling out during a shower or brushing my hair, dry skin (especially on my face, but the rest of my body is dry as well), and the extreme lack of energy. Many nights I am nearly passed out in the recliner by 8 or 9pm, and I sleep until about 10am. There's no real reason I can think of to be THAT tired all the time, I wasn't like this before. Raising a child is tiring, but she's a pretty easy kid and it's not THAT tiring!  There's no reason I shouldn't be able to stay up until midnight or 1am, sleep til 8 or 9, and have plenty of energy for my day. Before I had my daughter, I was taking care of several horses and riding 3-4 hours a day. That was way more tiring than my life now! AmberC39357.45375Amber, I got parvo virus (they called it "fifth disease) from the kids in my daughter's first grade class 14 years ago. The school didn't tell anyone they had an outbreak until about 3 weeks into it. Oh, forgot to mention, I didn't have a fever with the parvo either, just the aches. Reni I have seen parvo mentioned in several articles on PMR, as a trigger factor. Hope you get sorted soon Amber, I honestly don't think you have PMR. PMR can certainly come on suddenly, but it persists and one of the diagnostic criteria is symptoms persisting for at least a month, I think. Most people have had it for at least that long, usually longer, by the time they are diagnosed. As for your age, well, it is hard enough for us in our 50s to get diagnosed with PMR because the rheumatologists insist we are too young! But really, I would think that PMR in a 27yr old would be pretty rare and you'd be hard pressed to find a doctor willing to diagnose it unless you had absolutely classic symptoms, which you don't really have. There is some info on the net about a 24 year old man diagnosed with it. The net is a wonderful thing for learning about health and disease and for helping ourselves, but I think we really need to be careful with self-diagnosis. I was absolutely convinced I had fibromyalgia, joined a forum, described my symptoms and everyone there said yes, yes, you definitely have fibro. However, when I finally went back to my doctor to tell him how I was not better and had gone downhill, and told hom I believed I had fibro, he said "No, I think you have polymyalgia". And then we started the process of elimination of other conditions, a trial of prednisone, blood tests and a referral to a rheumatologist. Anyhow, I don't mean to lecture. Hope you find that good doc soon to get you on the road to a speedy diagnosis! I also am concerned about us dx ourselves or others. Another example of similar symptoms - I was tested for Lymes 3 times before being dx with PMR. I read an article that suggested both similar symtoms and Lymes as a trigger for PMR. Amber, I uderstand the financial issue with the insurance _ we really do need universal health care in this country!!! But PLEASE if you are not better, see a good dr and get a proper dx that will really help you! in the meantime, I am so glad this group is here for support. Like pgr555 said, it's hard to decide what to do when there's no healthcare available. It stinks. All I can really do right now is be glad that *whatever this is* appears to have gone away. But I've researched lots of dieseases and there's never anything bad about knowing about different stuff. And if this happens again, I have plenty of ideas and knowledge to help me find the right kind of doctor to get it sorted out. I haven't really diagnosed myself, just asking "could it be this? or this? or this?" in trying to hit on what it might possibly be so I can take care of it. My true feeling on it right now is that it was brought on by the stress I've been under. Husband and I have settled things for now. I get some "time off" from time to time, and I'm planning a vacation right now where I am going on vacation, alone, to spend some time with some friends I haven't seen in a long time, and have a few days where the only person I have to be responsible for is myself. I need it desparately! And I'm fianlly going to get it! Girlfriend vacations are the best! Glad you are getting time to rest & recoup. Also happy for you that you are feeling better. pgr Copyright ArthritisInsight.com