Hello

[Anamnesis]

Well, hello,

I'm not quite sure why I'm here. I suppose this is my way of accepting that maybe I should start trying harder to get some answers.

I'm a little bit of an odd case. Most of the people I've seen here have been through so much. And I haven't. At least not yet. Hopefully not ever.

My mother had Chron's. She was misdiagnosed, screwed up by one really horrid doctor. She had a lot of complications, weight gain, pancreatis, necrotizing entrocolitis from the prednizone, etc. She died when I was still a kid from other complications.

Her sister was diagnosed with IBD a few years ago. She had one really, really bad flare-up, and since then, nothing.

I've been paranoid over the last few years that I'll start seeing symptoms. Oddly enough, my best friend from childhood was diagnosed too.

I haven't had any weight loss. In fact, I've gained a good 20-25 pounds over the last two years. I do have stomach pains sometimes, really bad ones. But not often at all. I don't have any serious bowel problems, though I have seen mild symptoms.

My main issue has been arthritis. I went to a doctor who tested me for rhuematoid, lupus, etc. All negative. She sent me to a rhuematologist. He saw nothing wrong with me. I had no symptoms that day--- Because I figured something out. If I stop eating processed food, I have absolutely no pain. It just goes away. I had the pain on and off for ten months. Started as a deep bone pain in my lower legs, then spread, and started jumping between joints. It moves quickly, and it can get really bad. At one point I thought I had physically injured my knee. Once I figured out the food thing, from an attempted diet, I tried to avoid processed food. But I was pretty stressed out around that time, and I love processed cheese. Grilled cheese or macaroni... delicious stuff...

At the end of that ten months, the arthritis stopped being connected to food. I could no longer avoid certain foods to keep it away. It just was. All the time. Then it disappeared. And two weeks ago, six months after the fact, it came back. So I started researching Chron's again...Because I know it could be connected. I just have no idea if it's worth trying to get diagnosed now. If I don't feel hardly any symptoms other than the joint pain, which comes on with bad exhaustion, I just don't know they can find anything. Also, I got glasses at 19, which I also thought was odd. I've seen that connected to.

Not really sure what replies I'm looking for here. I just wanted to get my story out there. Maybe someone else had symptoms that developed weirdly like this. My mom was diagnosed in her late twenties, so I am expecting it. Aunt was in late thirties.

 

[David]

Hi there and welcome A few things:

1. Might I ask how old you are?
2. With your family history and current anxiety, why not head to a GI for a good checkup? If they find something, at least you can start treatment. If they find nothing, your mind can be at ease.
3. Regarding the arthritis, get your vitamin D levels checked. SO MANY people are deficient and if you are, proper supplementation can make a world of difference in joint, bone, and muscle pain.

Keep us updated I wish you well!

 

[Angrybird]

Hello and welcome :bigwave: It certainly cannot hurt to have things checked out based on your family history, as David has said if they do not find anything at least your mind can be put at ease. Hoping you can get a definitive answer soon, keep us updated on how you get on.

 

[Jessi]

Hello Anamnesis. :welcome: to the forum.

I completely understand your concern, as it's obviously in your family already. My dad was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis when my siblings and I were quite young. Needless to say, there was paranoia among a few of us that we'd start seeing problems within ourselves. We're all grown now and have kids of our own, and so far, so good.
However, I was diagnosed with several other autoimmune diseases along the way. (See my signature below.)

As was mentioned by David and Angrybird, it's a good idea to get checked out. Maybe it wouldn't hurt to do it annually. But definitely don't let it consume you. Our minds are amazing and can produce psychological symptoms, if we're not careful.

I do want to mention, however, that a Rheumatoid Factor blood test will not tell you if you have Osteoarthritis or Psoriatic Arthritis, like I have. Here's an example:

Diagnosing Psoriatic Arthritis (Taken from http://www.everydayhealth.com/psoriasis/psoriatic-arthritis-101.aspx)

Psoriatic arthritis is not diagnosed on the basis of a single test. Your doctor may run several tests to rule out other conditions, such as rheumatoid arthritis, gout, and Reiter's syndrome, that produce similar symptoms. Tests may include:

X-rays to monitor your joints for changes that are specific to psoriatic arthritis
Sed rate blood test to determine your erythrocyte sedimentation rate and whether or not inflammation is occurring; an elevated sed rate could indicate numerous forms of arthritis as well as rheumatic diseases
Joint fluid test to rule out gout; the doctor extracts a small amount of joint fluid and has it analyzed
Rheumatoid factor test to rule out rheumatoid arthritis; the rheumatoid factor antibody does not show up in the blood of people with psoriatic arthritis

Joint pain.... That's the stuff I would focus on if I were you.

 

[Anamnesis]

To reply to the comment about my age, I am 21 right now.

I probably will go to get checked out here fairly soon. I've been worrying about this for too long now. When the joint pain started, I didn't have to worry about missing much. Now I'm married, have to walk to classes, and have quite a few hours at my job which requires a lot of walking.

 

[Anamnesis]

Oh, and the Vitamin D was something I had in mind for a while to check. The reason I didn't was because of the disappearance of the joint pain. That came when I eating my healthiest, and getting more vitamins that usual. I know vitamin deficiencies like that don't just clear up over night, and since nothing drastic in my diet changed in the months before the disappearance, I don't think a vitamin deficiency could be the cause. I spend a lot of time outside, and I drink a lot of vitamin D fortified milk.

 

[Anamnesis]

Maybe I have more stomach symptoms that I thought. Apparently eating dried plums gives me, well you know. And kale, cooked kale, looks the same coming out. My stomach hurts really bad today. Sigh.

 

[Jessi]

I'm sorry that you were hurting so much the other day. I sure hope you're feeling better now.