I have had back pain for about 4 years now and last June my shoulder started hurting as well. Finally, after not having insurance for many years we obtained insurance through my husbands new job and off to the doctor I went. He did a variety of blood tests and my ANA came back elevated and I had an HLA-B27 done and it was negative, but he diagnosed me with ankylosing spondylitis. After he couldn't control my pain with Motrin (I am sensitive to naproxen) he sent me to an orthopedist and he said I had bursitis. I have been in physical therapy for almost 2 months and my back feels better but my should is the same and now my other shoulder hurts and my knee is swollen. I have had x-rays on my back and shoulder and those came back negative. I have had an MRI and an injection of something into my shoulder and that didn't help and the MRI came back negative for a tear. So far I have had pain or still have pain in my shoulders, left elbow, right knee, feet, back, and neck. I have been on Celebrex and skelaxin with no relief. In fact the Celebrex gave me the worst stomach cramps ever! Now I have been told by my physical therapist that I have severe tendonitis. I can't continue with physcial therapy because the pain is just unbearable. Should I continue with the orthopedist or see someone else?
I am at my end here....I'm afraid I'm just going to get worse if I can't get it under control.
Any help or information would be helpful
Shawna
You may want to see a Rheumatologist. You could still have Anklyosing Spondylitis even though your HLAB27+ was negative.
A good rheumatologist should be able to help you.
They may need to use medicine to further diagnose the problem. That's the stage I'm at. The doctor wants me to try Enbrel to see if I respond. If I do, I probably have AS.
I know you wrote this a long time ago and I was just wondering what the outcome was. When I read your story I just cringed at the thought of the terrible pain you must have been dealing with. I have had some bad luck and misdiagnoses with ortho/spine specialists in the past. I am not trying to generalize, but I know where you are comming from there. I hope you have found some answers and some relief. Let us know how you are doing.
The first treatment and remedy is usually aspirin or a similar anti-inflammatory drug. Other ways to help treat the problem and prevent repeat attacks include: