Seventeen In a Seventy-year Old's Body? Erg...advice? Posted: 06-03-06 23:20pm
Hey... I feel awful for bothering you
all, but I need some...Advice? Or
something like that.
I'm seventeen years old, and i've been ill
for the past few years, but it has only
been unbearable recently. I have terrible
joint pain, just this awful...Sharp
aching? I don't know how to describe it,
but it's all over my body and all seems to
hit me at once. When this happens it
feels like I have the flu- i'm feverish,
completely foggy, and I just generally
feel ill. I usually get a rash, but
that's probably from fever? It's raised
and hive-like, but not really itchy at
all. I've had canker sores and nose sores
since I was a kid so I don't think that's
useful diagnostic criteria for me. I just
can't stand this anymore. I'm so tired,
you know? The aching is so intense and
the swelling and discolouration is
embarrassing. Sometimes I can barely walk
because my hip hurts so much and I had to
use a cane last summer because the pain in
my hip and foot of one leg made it
difficult to walk. I'm also always sick.
I was hospitalized with pneumonia (awful!)
and it seemed to spark another episode.
My pattern seems to be 1: feel slightly
ill. 2: wake up tired. 3: sometime that
day get hit by a really bizarre flu thing,
feel faint, etc. 4: wake up with terrible
joint pain and swelling. Does this make
sense to anyone???
(if it's noteworthy at all, it was my
mum's cane (she has ms) but that isn't
something that would be passed on
anyway.)
i'm asking you fine people because I know
you probably had to deal with the
difficulties of diagnosis and apathetic
doctors. Every time I see my doc he hems
and haws and tells me my bloodwork was
normal, everything they tested for was
negative or too low to be important and
there's nothing to be worried about. He
put me on naproxen just recently and it
doesn't seem to make much difference at
all. He said if the naproxen doen't help
by the time the prescription runs out then
he'll give me something else, and if that
doesn't help he'll refer me to a
rheumatologist.
I mean, something isn't right here...I
don't know what it is, but i'm seventeen-
I shouldn't have trouble opening drinks or
holding a pen or having to go to bed at
eight in the evening because i'm so tired,
right? I'm beginning to think my doctor
is useless, but it's impossible to find
another in this town... I don't know what
to do if the naproxen doesn't make it all
better. This is so confusing.
I really, really appreciate any replies or
advice.
|
momkat
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 06 Jun 2006 Posts: 1
Re: Seventten In a Seventy-year Old's Body? Posted: 06-06-06 16:37pm
Hey...I know exactly how you feel. I'm 17
as well and I have had all the same things
as you. It sucks I know. You really need
to push your doctor to sending you to a
rheumatologist. This past november I
couldn't take the symptoms anymore either.
My rheumatologist did a bunch of test and
found out that I have a disease called
systemic lupus and lupus nephritis. If
you have any more questions or just want
to chat sometime about it just send me
back a reply.
|
22inNEPA
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 18 Jun 2006 Posts: 1 Location: Pennsylvania
You're Not the Only One ... Posted: 06-18-06 18:17pm
If it makes you feel any better, i'm going
through somewhat of the same situation.
Although i'm 22. I had an awful rash all
over my face, arms, legs and chest so I
went to the dermatologist. She then ran a
blood test to rule out lupus. My
bloodtest came back showing that I had an
elevated level of ana, this was late may,
just about the time that I started getting
awful, aching joints. To the point where
I didn't even want to wake up in the
morning because my shoulders hurt so bad.
She recommended that I see a
rheumatologist, which I did this past
friday. He seems great and I really think
that he's going to get down to the cause
of this. My rash is gone, although I also
haven't been in as much sunlight as I had
been before. So that could be why. But
anway the rhuematologist is running 13
different blood tests to check for things
such as lupus, sjogren's, hepatitis c and
many others ... I recommend that you see
a rhuematologist as well.
|
Petiesperson
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 26 Apr 2006 Posts: 8 Location: Missouri
Posted: 06-18-06 19:42pm
Yeppers thats exactly how I felt when my
lupus was active. Thankfully I have been
in remission for two yrs.
Pay close attention to your nutrition.
Cut out all processed foods, soda,
artificial sweeteners. Don't use a
microwave.....Microwaves destroy
nutrients. You need all the nutrients you
can get from your food. Get as much rest
as you can. Eat whole foods.....Lots of
fresh veggies and fruits......If you like
meat try chicken, turkey and fish......Cut
way back on red meat.
Hang in there......I know its
tough......{{{hugs}}}
pam murphy,b.S.,rrt
|
rowdy161
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 25 Jun 2006 Posts: 1 Location: australia
Seventten In a Seventy-year Old's Body? Posted: 06-25-06 07:30am
I am a 45 year old male living in
australia, I was diagnosed with sle when I
was 19, it took 3 years for somebody to
diagnose it. I could not work at all,
lifting a plastic tea spoon was too hard,
and walking was almost out of the
question. I lost 22 kilograms in 4 weeks,
and my parents were told to get to the
hospital I was in by the end of the week,
as the doctors did not think I would
survive past the end of the week. I was
filled full of every drug known to
mankind, and had mega doses of prednisone
every day. After feeling that I could not
and did not want to go on living, if this
was all life had to offer, and
contemplated taking my own life, I
realised that I had been to hell already
and that life could only get better. I
stopped taking all medication, and fought
through the constant pain, I gradually
forced myself to start walking a little
more each day and trying to gradually
build up my strength. My biggest help was
my mum ( god bless her )
i returned to work about 18 months later,
and have not had any symptons since I was
approximately 24 years old.
I have been left with severe liver damage
and renal problems, but these are nothing
compared to the pain I went through with
my lupus.
|
Petiesperson
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 26 Apr 2006 Posts: 8 Location: Missouri
Posted: 06-26-06 17:16pm
Ooooooohhhh I have to say. Though
nutrition and supplementing with
glyconutritionals helped me immensely and
I thank god every day for the two years
i've been in remission....No one should
stop taking their medications willy
nilly......
As my nutrition-status improved I worked
with my docs to gradually titrate myself
off my meds. If you have a good doc
....He/she will work with you in this way.
If not find yourself a new doc!
Wishing you wellness and joy,
pam murphy,b.S.,rrt
edit
|
dax
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 11 Aug 2005 Posts: 5 Location: Vancouver
Posted: 07-21-06 01:26am
It most definitely sucks to be feeling
unhealthy at a young age. I'm 23, male,
and I was diagnosed with lupus last year,
and i've probably seen the doctor more
times this past year than the last 10
years combined. And it's not like I was
unhealthy before. I always ate healthy
and stayed very fit, I was a reservist in
the military. But the saying goes, ****
happens.
Naproxen is just pain killer. Like
advil advanced. Doctors are somewhat
hesitant to put you on corticosteroids.
They want to be absolutely sure that is
the right decision.
I remember I went through extreme
exhaustion. Somedays I would sleep for
almost 15hrs in a day, almost
consecutively. My pillow would be full
of hair when I woke up. And for a brief
period, I would always seem to have a
constant fever. Nothing huge, but my
forehead definitely was warmer, and stayed
warmer, than usual. I also had this
constant pain in my left abdomen for like
3 weeks. I thought my spleen was
rupturing or something. And yes, the
joint pains.
The joint pains. I initially thought it
was my just getting carpal tunnel (i'm a
computer science student). While it was
primarily in my fingers and wrists, I did
get pains in my knees too. But looking
back, it definitely was part of the bigger
picture.
I still believe the best medicine is
within yourself. Be as healthy as
possible. Try to eat whole grain
instead of flour. More fruits and
veggies, less meat. Less microwave,
more cooking. Less oil. Try to sleep
earlier. They say your body's melatonin
is higher earlier in the night, which
promote healing. Milk... I dunno...
I've stopped drinking milk and moved to
organic soy. But there can be a whole
discussion about whether if milk is good
or bad for you. Up to you on this
one.
And of course, exercise. I know it's
tough. I remember when I first got out
of the hospital, I was physically unable
to do a single situp or pushup. I would
also get constant headaches for staying in
a vertical position for too long.
Well this thread is a couple months old.
But do try to push the doctor's. Only
you know your body. I had raynaud's
phenomena for the longest time and only
until I pushed hard enough so he would do
every single possible blood test which
resulted in him sending me to a
rheumatologist. (this was before I
experienced the things in the above
paragraphs though)
|
sillylupie
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 30 Jul 2006 Posts: 1 Location: Malaysia / Thailand
Posted: 07-30-06 08:13am
Female, 29yrs old, diagnosed with sle
about 3 yrs ago, had a serious flare early
this year, was hospitalised in icu for 3
days, quite alone in a foreign country.
It only makes me appreciate life even
more.
Don't despair my friend, I know it sux to
have all the joint pains, fever and
feeling malasie all the time. Worst
still, if you have to handle office
politics! Stress can trigger flare, in my
case, alcohol too. Also, do not ignore
any symptons (like fever, dizziness,
blurred vision, feeling cold!!), seek
medical attention immediately! In my
case, I was ill for three weeks (seen the
doc twice, antibiotic did not help), all I
wanted to do was sleep, hoping to feel
better the next time I wake up! I missed
work several days, and finally I took a
taxi to a hospital (in thailand), told the
doc that I am sick, feeling so very cold,
shivering, and guess what? My blood
pressure was down to 40/60 (something like
that), my white blood cells count was down
to a critical level (something like 0.7),
I was admitted to the ward immediately! I
really felt like I was going 'somewhere'
else!
Anyway, I survived...
That was my very first lupus flare!!
Yes, painkiller has become my sort of my
daily 'supplement'. I have tried
everything from panadols, neurofen,
naproxen, mobic, bextra, ... All for the
reason of being able to go to work! My
predicament in life! And trust me, office
politics is only adding stress to this mad
mad world of mine!
So, milanka, I hope you read this and be
strong!!! (i am still trying to be
stronger!!!!)
with love, sillylupie
|
SarahRL11986
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 15 Sep 2006 Posts: 6 Location: Omaha
Posted: 09-15-06 15:44pm
Yea, i'm 19 years old and you should go
see a rheumatologist as soon as you can.
Otherwise if your regular doctor does any
blood tests on you have her/him check your
thyroid and you ana levels, because I had
thyroid problems and a really high ana and
then I got recommended to a rheumatologist
because of those 2 things and my severe
joint pain that was so bad sometimes I
couldn't even undress myself, I couldn't
unbutton my own jeans, or pull of a
sweatshirt on my own. But the
rheumatologist didn't get the lupus right
away because it was never truely active
for the 1st 2 years I was seeing her, but
she always watched for it because she
couldn't figure out why I was always
feeling like crap and the joint pain and
everything, and finally when the lupus did
flare, she caught it, in more then enough
time.
