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| nikki613
- Sun May 10, 2009 1:05 am |
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For a while now I have been in a moderate amount of pain, and I am wondering if these symptoms are somehow linked. Every person i talk to about this seems to think I am crazy, but I figured it would be better to discuss it on here to see if it's something i should look into.
For starters, i have the strangest pain, the most of it occurring in the skin of my knees, and my shoulder blade area. It feels as though I have sunburn or a rash of some sort, but there is nothing there...no redness or any visible traces of a problem. It hurts if the sheets on my bed so much as rub against it. Very frustrating.
In addition, I get severe stabbing pains in my chest, usually on the left side under my ribs. It is not constant but very sharp. My back is constantly bothering me as well, it just seems to hurt no matter what i do. I feel tired constantly and have terrible difficulty sleeping, and as of late, a very hard time moving bowels. I have a pretty healthy diet so I don't believe this is contributing. I know this sounds like a bunch of complaining, but I just feel like someone my age (23) should not be having these types of problems. Any doctor I see will usually just prescribe me with an anti-inflammatory or muscle relaxer, and these do not seem to help. If anyone can help me figure out if these symptoms are linked, PLEASE let me know. I just want to find out what's wrong and address it. Thank you!
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| Faye Lang, RN, MSW
- Fri May 15, 2009 4:32 pm |
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 Hello Nikki613,
Such obscure symptoms as you describe can be due to an autoimmune condition. Your symptoms suggest diagnoses such as Fibromyalgia or Dermal Lupus, both of which can have associated symptoms/conditions like the bowel issue you describe. Since anti-inflammatories have not helped, it's time for you to see a rheumatologist, or a university associated medical center dermatology department. Many times, this type of condition has an insidious onset, with symptoms developing over time, which makes it hard to diagnose, and will require assessment by a specialist. Please schedule an appointment as suggested, and go to a site such as "Mayoclinic.com" to review autoimmune symptoms and conditions. That will help you organize what you need to describe to your doctor. Also, a log of symptoms as they occur can help the doctor see the severity of what you describe.
Good luck to you.
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