Help, my 12 yr old sons predicament. | Arthritis Information

My 12 yr old son Liam with joint pain and high temperatures and episcleritis in his eyes has now been on Brufen 400mg 3 x a day and keeps suffering from nausea and tummy pain, he is also on long term antibiotics, this has been going on now for 5 months and his pain is still just as bad if he misses his painkiller.

He has an appt with his paediatric RD on Dec 2nd, have you any ideas what questions I should be asking about a firm diagnosis. (My own RD and GP agree and say Ankylosing spondylitis, he has HLAB27 + results but only slightly elevated ESR and CRP and the pattern of joint pains and spinal pain and inflamed eyes that only respond to Voltaren eye drops are all indicative of this.)

But the paed RD says he doesn't think it is inflammatory he thinks Fibromyalgia or a temp virus that has caused arthritis. He says Liam has a degree of ENTHESitis as his heels and achilles tendons both hurt badly, another sign of AS. So please if you can come up with some questions to ask, this Dr is very righteous and wants to know why we stopped physio attendance and podiatry and that is due to being unable to afford it, we didn't want to have to tell him that but I am asking this time for a referral to a public hosp allied health services. My own instincts tell me it is JIA as he has all the signs including regular high temps, warm joints but not too much swelling. Thanks for any input. Janie. Am sorry that your son has all these problems at such a young age. Hope Liam's doc can get something organised for him.

lorrie2008-11-21 19:57:39Thankyou Lorraine, that is a great help, I will do that, kind regards Janie. Are you going to the seminar in Bris, if so, I hope I can meet up with you, with Cords and Jan, should be fun! Gee Janie- I don't know what questions you should ask but I would go with your gut and tell the doctor about your feelings. I've been wondering how your son's been doing. I'm disappointed to learn he is still not feeling well. How is he coping? It must be hard to be a boy his age sitting on the sidelines.

Much Hugs!

Shame on you and this forum!

AchingAudrey2008-11-30 11:12:31janie - Have you looked into a condition called Sever's disease? It is a condition that causes heel and achilles pain, and shows up in children 10-14. My son has this and it can be excruciatingly painful. The growth plate in the heel becomes inflamed. My son developed symptoms at age 9 when he was playing on a select baseball team as catcher. His case was pretty severe and he ended up having surgery to release the achilles and he also had a disolvable implant in both of his feet to limit hypermobility of his sub-taylor joint which was exacerbating the pain. His case was not the norm however. Most kids get relief with stretching and icing. The condition is similar to Osgood-Schlatters in the knees. The condition resolves itself when the growth plate seals up after major growing is finished. We were told around age 16. My son still has flare-ups but they are manageable now. He has resumed all activities after being unable to participate in much of anything for almost two years. With your son's arthritic problems, it would make sense that this could be a possibility. Holden was diagnosed with a simple xray of his heels. Here is a link or you can just google sever's disease. Maybe this will help you in some way.

http://www.athleticadvisor.com/Injuries/LE/Foot&Ankle/sever's_disease.htm

edited to add link...graciesmom2008-11-09 12:00:33

I wish you the best. Dont discount your Gut feelings. Write down your questions. Be sure the doc listens to his symptoms...all of them. I am so sorry the young man is so unwell. I hope he improves and soon.

Hi Janie,

I am so sorry that Liam is still in so much pain. With the HLBA 27 being + and the hip,heel, and eye involvement it does sound like AS. I am wondering if He could possibly have AS and another type of inflamatory arthritis. Do you have or do you know of a book called "Its Not Just Growing Pains" by Dr. Thomas Lehman? It is about the best book out there on childhood arthritis. Explaining the different types and treatments. I let my sons' PT have mine so I am without one right now or I could look it up in there and see if it says anything.

I will try and do some researching today and see what I can find.

Janie,

I just woke up, lol. I am sorry, I had just rolled out of bed when I read your post first time around.

It definately does sound like inflamatory arthritis. What meds is he on besides the voltaren for his eyes? Is there another Peds rd he can see? I would let him know how you feel and that you would like to start treating his Arthritis NOW. AS is an arthritis usually found in adult males. Can your rd treat him?

Prayers for you and your son.You are all so wonderful, thankyou so much for making me feel better, I appreciate everything you have all offered.

The other meds he is on are IBUPROFEN 400mg 3 x a day
Penicillen - 2 x a day
Endep - 10mg at bedtime
somac - 20mg daily
Epilum - 10mg am and pm
Panadol - as needed 4 - 6 hrly

Gracie, I will certainly mention that to the RD and Pam, thankyou for your research and my RD has seen Liam and has diagnosed AS and JIA, but the Paed RD didn't agree, unfortunately he is the only Paed RD in Queensland.

Thanks again guys, regards Janie.

PS All you newbies on here, please see how there are so many informative and helpful people on this board. This is the reason I come here.
Hope some answers are on there way Janie, unfortunatly what is going on with your son is out of my league.

That's a heavy dose of meds for such a young one to be on..
Thankyou Stephen, I am worried sick about him and all the meds he is on, he has gone back to bed just now, with joint pain, headache, he is very flushed and its just another school day home with mum, I am going to cuddle him right now, Thanks Stephen. On top of that I am not good today either, just sucks! I hate this for both of you. I actually have a student this year who is kinda in the same situation. He is going to be 13 next month and is having a number of joint issues and fevers as well. He is still trying school when he can. Our school nurse has kinda taken him under her wing as well. He has an appointment with another specialist next month and we are all hoping to get some answers. Adolescence is so hard without these other issues as well.

I can only echo what others have said. Be up front with the dr. about any financial stuff going on. Unfortunately, autoimmune issues don't go away quickly and you will probably have a relationship with this dr. or another for awhile.