In 2002 i was diagnosed with graves disease. i had my thyroid killed off and spent about 2 years trying to get my levoxyl all straightened out. I was so exhausted from low thyroid levels. I was also having pain from endometriosis during this time so i was very miserable. Finally after around 2 years everything was getting back to normal. I started feeling great got my energy back. I remember actually skipping down a driveway in excitement that i actually felt great for the first time in a couple of years. Well 6 months later my fingers started to swell every morning. I would wake up and they would be so swollen i couldnt even bend them. Next my feet join in. Then my knees and ankles. Next my elbows. And now my shoulder blades. My shoulder blades are so bad sometimes when i breath it actually hurts them. My knees and ankles constantly throb. My fingers will be ok and then all of a sudden they feel like there on fire and then they swell like crazy. I hurt when i wake up but evenings are the worst. The more i hurt the more i want to relax but the more i relax the more i hurt. I took lortabs for 2 months straight of course i became somewhat addicted and immediatly stopped taking them. I was taking 10's and of course they no longer worked because i was so use to them. Now i am taking 2 muscle relaxers every evening and they are not helping that much i am still throbbing in pain. I have suffered for about 3 years now. The first year i went to different doctors but nobody believed me when i told them how bad i was hurting. One doctor told me to come back in a year if i was still hurting. I put in my 2 weeks notice at work because i can no longer deal with this pain. I am 25 about to be without a job. I am probably going to lose all hope of ever saving money to build me and my husbands dream home and i cant even talk about the fact that i am never going to feel good enough to have a baby. my whole life is falling apart. I just want to know what it feels like to be normal again. Ive already lost most of my friends do to the fact that i would rather spend the rest of my life on the couch. Im not sure if its rheumatoid arthritis but it could be my imagination but my fingers seem like they are bending differently. Im kinda getting worried and i am scared the doctors will just give me the run around. Does anyone think this sounds like rheumatoid arthritis? any other suggestions?
Thanks sorry so long i have no one to talk to about it.
Have you seen a rheumatologist? If not, I would certainly think it would be a wise thing to do. A lot of your symptoms certainly seem to be consistent with RA. If it is, there are medications that could help you get back to a better life. I started with pretty severe symptoms but am doing a lot better today...4 years later, so it certainly is not hopeless. If it is RA, you need something to control the inflammation that is the source of the pain and stiffness, not just pain control medication.
I hope you find a knowledgeable and understanding doctor soon,
Alan
Dear Augustriley, oh my gosh it sure does sound like this awful 'stuff'. An RA doctor can help you figure it all out. I know it is expensive to see doctors, but with the pain you are in it is really hard to THINK straight and you need help. (they respond to people in pain!) We've all been through that intense, creaping pain, and yes it does move from area to area in our bodies. You begin to wonder what else can hurt!
I do hope you can get help real soon. I take prednisone and it has been a lifesaver until my RA meds (methotrexate and remicade) can have time to work....unfortunately it takes a long time (when you are in pain every hour of every day doubles in time!!, every week feels like three), for these superdrugs to work, but trust me it will be better. I hope you can find a good doctorm as that's the key.
Best of luck, Sarah
You have to get to a Rheumatologist. They must do blood work and xrays. Your symptoms could very well be RA, but they could be any number of inflammatory conditions. You are risking your life and permanent damage if you don't start getting treated. The doctor that told you to come back in a year, should be shot.i have been to 2 rheumatologists the one said to come back in a year and the other said if we didnt have inflammation we wouldnt be alive of course when he said that i didnt go back to see him. and my blood work came up negative 2 years ago but i have read that not everyone has it in there blood and that sometimes it doesnt show up right away. Most of the time the doctors just try to blame it on my thyroid but i know what low thyroid levels feel like and this is totally different. I switched family physicians and the one i go to now would probably listen to me if i told him. Dealing with the graves for so long and then this showing up i feel like 5 years of my life have been wasted. thanks for all your help everyone hope your day turns out great and pain free Oh I am so sorry! All of my blood work is negative but I DO have RA. Keep on searching until a rheumatologist listens to as you are risking serious damage. There are meds that can stop the swelling, pain and damage. It took me 3 rheumatologists to finally find one to pay attention to me and I do have slightly deformed fingers now that will never be the same so please keep fighting.Please call your doctor and insist on testing and if they do not listen, find a
new rheumy. Ask around, someone will give you a good name. Maybe if
you list where you are from, someone on here may be close by and can
recommend one based on experience. Good luck, I feel for you right now.
Keep us posted.Someone posted a thread recently about who had multiple autoimmune diseases. There were a lot of people with more than one. If you look it up on the Internet, you will find articles discussing this. You might want to print that out before you next appointment. Really, you have been treated shabbily and irresponsibly by the doctors. Get a good one and start living your life again. I am so sorry you've been treated like this.
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