She has extreme pain and loss of strength in her hands. She experiences numbness in her legs and hips. Her back and head hurt constantly. Some concerns with the inablitiy to empty her bladder. Lups, rehumatoid arthritis, Lugaric’s disease, MS, and cancer have been ruled out by othapedics, and neurologists. She has had MRIs, lumbar punctures, and test that deliver shocks to the nerves to determine how they function. Now she is starting to experience shortness of breath and fatigue. I am worried; does this sound like anything you have ever heard of or do you know where she should turn for help; what kind of doctor? what treatment facility? She is a wonderful Christian woman who is a single mom and she desperately needs direction!!!!

Hi, I’m 34 years old and have been extremely active over the last 15 years- running, biking, wrestling and a tour of The Marine Corps… Anyway, I started having knee pain over the last 2 months and finally went to see a really great orthopedic surgeon who did a complete exam, coupled with an MRI. When the MRI came back he told me that the only thing he could see was a small touch of arthritis on the underside of my kneecap.

There is NO history of arthritis is my family and it’s hard for me to believe that I’m already getting arthritis…

I originally thought that I had a tear in my knee cartilage (medial meniscus) but was told that there is no tear. Could pain from behind my kneecap be spreading to a different area of my knee giving my “phantom pain?” Someone told me that pain sometimes radiates to a different are of the knee… I have no locking “catching” whatsoever. I can do leg machines fine. No limp. No swelling. Sometimes it makes me uncomfortable to have knee bent. Advice?

It all started 3 weeks ago, I was running a fever, pain in stomach and swelling after I ate to the point I looked pregnant. I also have very excessive belching after I eat with nausea. Went to Dr. and they said gastritis.
1 1/2 week later still fever, pain in neck, chills and just feel bad. Went to Dr. and checked me for viral meningitis, rocky mtn. spotted fever and done chest x-ray, everything came back NORMAL. Put me on strong antibiotics then 1 week after taking antibiotics I develop a lump under jaw bone on left side. Went back to Dr. and ran more test checking more stuff but everything was fine. Kept me on antibiotics.
Then 2 days ago I develop a pain burning feeling on left side of armpit radiating in left side of breast up to my shoulder. Kinda feels like it did when I had kids and breast had a burning pain in them. I still have nausea and last night vomiting. I am not pregnant, had a tubal ligation done 11 years ago. I am 36 years old and have Rheumatoid Arthritis which I take immune suppressant drugs for that cause cancer.
Anyone who can shed some light would be helpful. I have went to Dr. 3 times now and I feel I am getting no where. Every week I have new symptom. The blood work came back with no infection but I was running a fever and had lump in neck. Lump is now gone 1 week later.
I forgot to mention that I had my period 2 weeks ago so I know this is not hormonal from periods.
The kind of Dr. I went to was a family physician.

For the past week, I’ve been sick. Before you say ask a doctor, I’m going tomorrow. But would like some opinions in the meantime.

Started out thinking it was the flu for the first few days – fever, upset stomach, general “sick” feeling, no energy, loss of appetite. After the fever broke though, I had a couple days of BAD joint pain in my neck, especially in the mornings. A couple days ago I got a weird rash all over my body. Not itchy, just darker pink, a little raised, but not scaly or itchy. It’s not causing problems, just bothering me that it’s there. I’ve also been having bad body/muscle/joint aches. It feels like I have arthritis in my hands, fingers, toes, and feet. The backs of my legs feel like they’re all bruised up. I have no energy. I’ve had headaches the whole time, ranging from mild, to moderate to extreme, then back to mild. The past couple days I’ve had sores in my mouth – where my gum meets my bottom lip, and on my tongue. They keep spreading.

It seems like I develop a new symptom every day! When is this going to end?!

BTW, I am a 23 F. And not sure if I’m contagious, because my husband, and 11 month old haven’t shown any signs of catching anything. Please help, thanks for reading

Whenever my fingers come in any contact with the cold, for even the slightest amount of time, the begin to swell, turn red, become itchy, and hurt very very bad. Also on my fingers, the part in between my knuckles and fingernail won’t tan? What does that mean?

I have had knee problems since my senior year in high school 2001 when I played basketball. I had microfracture surgery in jan of 2002 and my meniscus was partially torn and was only out of work (weatherization) for 3 weeks but my knee felt good. The pain comes and goes and I can’t stand or sit for any length of time due to pain. Cold weather really bothers it which makes me believe its early signs of arthritis. I can play basketball now but i wear a sleeve on my knee for compression becasue of tendonitous. When I was born my feet were curved inwards and I had braces to straighten them. I’m only 24 and want to know if malaligment is whats wrong with me and if there is anything I can do to get it corrected.

My 10 year old active, healthy and happy dog has sudden symptoms of pain. He is slightly hunching back and cannot seem to get comfy. It is now Friday, 4 days ago he was trembling for a couple of hours. That stopped that afternoon. He vomited 2 times that night BUT the whole week he is eating well, drinking water as usual, has regular urine and slightly less but still good BMs. At the park he runs and plays with his buddies BUT indoors he is whimpering and in obvious pain. Seems to be abdomen. On Thursday I took him to the vet. He had an xray and found nothing (no tumor thank goodness!). Vet says he MIGHT have a bacterial infection or inflamed intestines. Gave us four meds. Anti fungal, anti diarrheal (although he does not have loose stools), anti biotic..but no pain killers. Any ideas? He is a healthy active happy boy otherwise. He does have arthritis but this seems to be IN his tummy. He does not eat trash but does eat white snow in the park. Help.

I have to take 800 mg of ibuprofen everyday for my arthritis. Ever since beginning, I have been soo tired. I have also had quite frequent urination. At first I thought I had been pregnant (which would explain the headaches that I get too but now I’m aware that its linked with my auto-immune disease) But then I got my period which was just as long and heavy (if not heavier) than usual, so I had to check that off my list. I dont understand why I am having these symptoms.

I’ve had a host of odd, seemingly unrelated symptoms for 6 months now–in addition to the above, I’ve had muscle weakness, joint pain, fever/chills that come and go, visual disturbances, and shortness of breath.
We went to a freind’s house for THanksgiving and everyone commented on how “great” I look after losing so much weight (I was carrying a few extra pounds from pregnancies). I came home and weighed myself and was horrified to see that I have lost 30 pounds in 6 months without trying.
I have been to several doctors who have tested for mono, thyroid condition, rheumatoid arthritis, Lyme’s disease, diabetes, brain tumor, MS, heart problems, etc. I saw a gastroenterologist in July 2007 and had the complete work-up with upper GI, endoscopy and colonoscopy; they found nothing. I also had my gall bladder out in 2007.
So what is causing this? What testing have I missed? My husband wants me to see my ob/gyn to have my hormone levels tested, although I doubt that would cause all this. Any advice?
mr. bigz — I am on a waiting list for an appointment with a Lymes specialist. He’s the only one in our area, so there’s quite a long wait.