Hello, Amanda, and welcome!
Ugh! How frustrated you must be! And with being in pain and uncomfortable as well... I feel for you. Please continue to seek medical care until you find a physician that will actually listen and show compassion. My labwork always comes back normal, but I still have swelling, redness and pain. Know none of this is in your head and you deserve to live comfortably. Please continue to post with any questions you may have or just to vent. We've got a great group of people here who have been through lots. We're also here to support and encourage ya. Hope you have a superfantastic and extra-comfortable day!Hi!Hi, my name is Amanda and I am 18 years old. I am a college student at NAU. In August of 2006 I began experiencing pain, swelling, and redness in my left knee. I went to my primary doctor who sent me for an x-ray. The x-ray came back normal so I was then sent for an MRI. The MRI too came back normal. I was put on an anti-inflammatory, but experienced very little relief. My primary then sent me to an orthopedic surgeon. He had no answers, but decided to send me to physical therapy. This continued for about a month, however I did not get any relief from this. I went back to the orthopedic surgeon, but was discouraged when he began to think this was all in my head. I decided to get a second opinion and went to a new orthopedic surgeon. He took new x-rays and saw that I had chondromalacia patella in both knees. His idea was a shot of cortisone in my left knee cap and more physical therapy. The shot of cortisone did not work nor did more physical therapy. About a month later the orthopedic surgeon decided a bone scan would be a good idea to rule out infection and cancer. I must say this was definitly the most frightening test. The scan came back clear. I continued the physical therapy in hopes that it would work. Blood work was done, however it only showed high levels of inflammation. In April of 2007 I began experiencing pain, swelling and redness in both of my hands. I went back to my primary who decided to send me to a rheumatologist. She sent me for more blood work and tried another anti-inflammatory. Again the blood work only showed high levels of inflammation. The rheumatologist decided to try putting me on a low dose of prednisone every other day for about two weeks, in hopes that this would finally help. Again this did nothing. In August of 2007, I left home to go to college. Since then I have been researching as much as I can trying to find an answer for myself. I have been back to my primary doctor twice, yet the blood work still shows the same thing and the medications she has tried still do nothing. The pain is now in both knees and I have even begun to have problems with my feet. Tingling in my hands does not surpise me, it only adds to the confusion of what is going on with my body. I am only 18 years old and I feel as though I am walking like someone who is in their 80's.
Hi Amanda,
I am on my 4th rheumatologist but it was my 2nd one that diagnosed me. I will admit however that every one of those doctors treated the symptoms even when they could not be sure what was causing my bilateral joint pain. It was in fact an orthopedic doc treating my swollen red knee that sent me to my 1st rheumatologist. Hearing about my stiff hands/fingers must've been a clue to him that we were not dealing with an injured joint, but rather a chronic condition. My labs are always beautiful...some anemia...some high WBCs...but normal sed rates and other markers for inflammatory conditions.
RA is a disease that can come on insidiously or like gang-busters. It takes patience and time to get to the bottom of it. Plus you are young and they want to be sure it's not an injury before coming to a hasty diagnosis.
Take care!
MB