Hello

I have been suffering for some time with a deep, aching pain that appears in
lots of different areas - even though it's the same pain...I get it in my
upper arms, hands, thighs, calves, and feet - but it is never in my joints.
I also have great difficulty in standing upright when I first get out of bed
because my feet are so painful ( they ache as though I had been marching all
night) and can only go down stairs by walking like a toddler - ie putting
one foot down on the next stair then bringing the other to follow it. My
doctor has ordered blood tests to do some investigations, and mentioned
arthritis might be one of the options. When I attempted to question her
further, she was quite offhand and said it wasn't worth discussing things in
any more depth until I had the test results back.

Could any kind soul with some experience tell me please if what I am
experiencing is common in arthritis? I know nothing about this illness at
all - can it be cured? I know that my great grandmotehr was crippled with
rhumatoid arthritis, does this mean it is more likely that I am susceptible?
And could the fact that I had a very nasty virus just over a year ago, which
I thought at first was a cough and cold, but which left me poorly for
months, have been a trigger?

Hope someone can give me some pointers...thanks in advance for any
help/advice

L

Hi Lola,

There are over 170 different diseases/and/or problems that a
Rheumatologist considers arthritis. Your doctor is correct in not wanting
to alarm you without test results. You could have a Fibro problem, one
or more thyroid problems, one of several types of inflammatory arthritis
which can not be cured but today's medicines handle it very well..... I
have to admit that your symptoms sound much like the ones I had 25 years ago
and I have RA. THAT DOES NOT MEAN YOU HAVE THAT OR ONE OF THE OTHER
TYPES. Do not get into a state over this before you get some good answers.
I know, I know,,,,, a person can not help but get upset with what your day
is like now BUT stress or over stressing makes many types of arthritis
much worse. Please ask to see an RD for the best answers.
Harv

"Lola" <Lola@Ihatespam.com> wrote in message
news:M3kCb.1705$FN.932@newsfep4-winn.server.ntli.net...

It sounds like a auto immune disorder, but then there are so so many
out there. I have Fibromyalgia, and what you are describing sounds
like Fibro. Seeing that you have no joint pain.

The auto immune disorders do tend to run in families/hereditary. But
then not always. I have a sister who has Lupus and Endometriosis,
also BiPolar. I have Chronic Depression also.

Lots of these syndromes/disorders/diseases minmic each other. Hard to
tell which one it exactly is. The best bet is like Harv said, let the
Rheumie doc take a look at you, run tests, and make a diagnosis. Self
diagnosing causes alot of stress, done that to myself before.

I wish you luck!

Lola wrote:

Your doctor is wise in not making a diagnosis before the test results
are returned. However she could have presented a little information,
such as there are over 100 types of arthritis and some are hereitary.

While you are waiting for your next appointment, locate an arthritis
organization or a support group where you can have more of your
questions answered.


What you are described is common in some, but not all, types of
arthritis.

Arthritis cannot be cured, although there are new medications
available to slow it down -- modify its affect on the body. There
are called DMARDS for **surprise** disease modifying anti-
rheumatic drugs.




If you have the HLA-B27 genetic marker or the HLA-DR4 genetic

While sports and other types of injuries are known to be causes
of arthritis, identifying other triggers has been elusive to science.
There is continuous study to determine if a virus "might" be one
of those triggers.