Arthritis in young people

Is it rhuematoid athritis you are suffering from?

BS”D

Probably a dumb question, but have you been thoroughly tested to rule out Lyme disease? Anyone who has ever been in summer camp or in the country could have been infected with this and sometimes it is not detected until very late in the (still reversible) disease process.

lyme disease can last much more than 4 years

i would take itzak up on his suggestion and ask your doctor

BS”D

Arthritis caused by Lyme disease can be partially or totally reversed but if you had so many tests I would hope that was one of them. But remember doctors are but human and often very subjective in their diagnosis and treatment.

I was prescribed the wrong creams (plural, as in at least 3 different ones) for a very minor skin condition that I called “insurance related dermatitis” because of all the money the group practice I went to made from my insurance company on that nonsense. Then after a year and 50 odd tubes and bottles of incorrect medication I saw another doctor and she prescribed the right one – and the first doctor admitted to me that she did not give me that right off only because she herself is sensitive to it!

my friends sister was niftar from juvenile rheumatoid arthritis which usually is not fatal but is fairly common, I dont think it fits what you are describing as the onset is ually from 5-early teens. about 300,000 kids in the U.S have it, and 10% have what she has, which is system jra and causes the organs to shut down. As I said this doesnt fit what you said I just wanted to bring awarness of this problem.

Oh and I forgot to mention in my previous post about Celebrex. It’s NOT a controlled substance (so your Dr. can call it in to the pharmacy, and you can get refills), but there is no generic for it, so it can be a bit pricy. Take just once a day, as needed. It’s in the same family as advil, so the side effects are kind of similar, but this drug is much more powerful then an advil. It’s a pretty good alternative for people who can’t handle codeine or other harder pain killers.

You can also do strength training exercises, but take it easy, don’t strain yourself. It just builds some muscle, and strength, and that can ease the pain as well.

I’m sorry you have to go through this, especially at such a young age. Hope this info helps a bit.

I’d like to raise your awareness to another possibility – Raynaud’s and thoracic outlet syndrome. Raynaud’s is a sensitivity to cold which causes poor blood circulation to the fingers and causes them to turn red and blue. About half of Raynaud’s cases are simple, meaning they are not caused by any underlying factors – you simply need to stay warm to avoid the symptoms. However, about half of Reynaud’s cases are caused by underlying conditions such as lupus or thoracic outlet syndrome (TOS). TOS is a group of symptoms caused by the fact that sometimes a person’s rib or collarbone structure causes crowding in the chest area and presses on arteries or nerves, causing a lack of blood flow to the fingers. Someone I know, in her late teens, suddenly in the wintertime developed several swollen fingers that looked arthritic. The family doctor said it was Raynauds. However, I did some internet research and saw info about TOS that seemed applicable in her case. In arterial TOS for example, the particular fingers that tend to swell were the same ones that swelled in her case. The swelling disappeared when the weather warmed up but then returned the next autumn. At that point she underwent some tests that measure finger temperatures after hands are immersed in ice cold water several minutes apart over a period of time. Her fingers took longer than normal to return to regular temperatures. Another test was a measure of blood flow to her hands. She fortunately has a mild case in which she is advised to 1) exercise to help increase blood flow; 2)try to gain a little weight to increase her body warmth (she is thin); 3)wear wool gloves, wool socks, and a hat and dress warmly enough when the whether gets cool or cold. Some people take a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory for this but she didn’t need to. In extreme cases surgery is performed to break the bone that is compressing everything in the chest and create more room.

You may want to ask your doctor if this is a possibility in your case.

BS”D

I would hope you were tested for Lyme Disease but after my year of collecting useless creams due to a subjective medical error, I would always triple check. Sometimes even the most thorough doctor can miss something or use incorrect judgment when diagnosing an illness.

Off the top of my head, yes, the organism that causes Lyme does cause skin problems as part of the disease process.

Swimming is probably the best exercise for you because it has the lowest impact on your already compromised joints.

Hey picked this up form wiki for you, a little info on Vitamin D deficiency:

Deficiency

Vitamin D deficiency can result from: inadequate intake coupled with inadequate sunlight exposure, disorders that limit its absorption, conditions that impair conversion of vitamin D into active metabolites, such as liver or kidney disorders, or, rarely, by a number of hereditary disorders. Deficiency results in impaired bone mineralization, and leads to bone softening diseases, rickets in children and osteomalacia in adults, and contributes to osteoporosis.

Diseases caused by deficiency

.

Vitamin D deficiency is known to cause several bone diseases including:

Rickets, a childhood disease characterized by impeded growth, and deformity, of the long bones. The earliest sign of subclinical vitamin D deficiency is Craniotabes, abnormal softening or thinning of the skull.

Osteomalacia, a bone-thinning disorder that occurs exclusively in adults and is characterized by proximal muscle weakness and bone fragility.

Osteoporosis, a condition characterized by reduced bone mineral density and increased bone fragility.

BS”D

Intellegent, I am going to ask a research physician at Hadassah Hospital who is a friend of mine to see if he has any info on that. Now dealing with post chassune exhaustion exacerbated by a 2 mile walk to get rid of all I ate so will do it tomorrow IY”H.

ive had rheumatoid arthritis for the last 3 years and at first my local doctor told me it was just growing pains but then i was refered to a hospital (as an outpatient)and after blood tests, MRI’s, Ultra sounds they found that i had arthritis. At first i was on Naproxon and then i was referred to another hospital (as an outpatient) and was seen by ‘the best doctor of rheumatoid arthritis in Europe’ and was prescribed with Metotrexate a very strong Anti Inflamatery and am required to go for blood tests every 1 1/2 months to monitor it. i also had one of my knees drained of fluid with a needle and then they injected a very strong anti inflametry in it. Athritis is basically when the imune system fights against the joints and this medication weakens the imune system.

Hopefully you are better, Intellegent, and i am too late to help you but i thought i would share it anyway for any others who might be suffering from this condition.

GG yekke: Wishing you a refuah shelamh b’karov besoch kol cholei yisrael!

I would be so grateful if you can write the name of the doctor of whom you had seen as an outpatient for the rhuematoid arthritis? A very young member of my family (in Golders Green),is suffering very badly and no one is helping her or any medication. Thank you in advance!