Scott Howard74 said:Honestly, your best bet is just to talk to the rheumatologist. If they need to admit you to the hospital for more testing to figure out what's actually happening, let them. Just give us an update once you've seen the doc.
Greetings, here is the update...
Five months ago, I dealt with a severe, long-lasting respiratory issue. It involved heavy nasal and oral congestion. After two or three weeks, I finished a course of Augmentin, and that finally cleared things up.
A few weeks later, my left elbow started killing me. Over the next couple of weeks, the pain intensified, spreading through my upper arm, forearm, and hand. It got so bad I was practically useless with that arm for weeks. My GP prescribed Advil (one 600mg tablet daily) and some Aspercrem, but after just a few days, the pain started creeping into my right arm, my neck, and my cervical spine too.
My GP bumped my Advil up to 600mg three times a day, but it trashed my stomach. I scaled it back to twice a day and just used Aspercrem on top of it, but that didn't do much either.
Two months ago, my left fingers started tingling. Now the numbness has spread to my feet, along with this strange sensation in my legs. The pain is migrating.
I called my father. He went through something similar decades ago—lasted a few months. He’s HLA-B27 positive, and Indomethacin was what actually helped him.
I started on Indomethacin 50 mg / 3 x myself. It provided some relief for about two or three weeks, but after a brief break, I couldn't touch it again. Every time I took it, the dizziness was unbearable—lasting three to four hours. Now, I just use Aspercrem twice a day on my knees, elbows, ankles, and hands.
I've switched to taking only Tylenol at night before bed, but now the pain has migrated from my elbows down to my knees and ankles. For the last two months, I’ve felt like I ran a marathon every single day despite doing nothing. My knees feel heavily swollen, even though there's no visible swelling. I'm still applying Gavex cream twice a day to my knees, elbows, ankles, and arms.
I’m dealing with occasional sharp, stabbing pains in my upper arms now, along with a sense of weakness and slight numbness. My knees feel almost constantly swollen; walking feels like I just finished running a marathon. On top of that, I've been getting nasty bouts of dizziness, especially over the last few days.
I just saw the rheumatologist. He says my symptoms point toward possible reactive arthritis. 😕 Labs are normal, X-rays look fine, urine tests are good, and stool samples should be okay too. I’m hoping it’s just hemorrhoids acting up. Right now, I'm only taking Tylenol at night before bed—avoiding NSAIDs entirely. I am still using Gavez cream twice a day on my knees, elbows, ankles, and arms.
The dizziness has ramped up again over the last few days. My knees feel even more swollen than usual, and walking feels like I just finished a marathon. 26 miles Marathon training. Also, I’ve been dealing with some nasty bouts of dizziness lately—especially over the last couple of days.
Has anyone dealt with similar symptoms? What do you recommend?
My rheumatologist wants me back for a follow-up in three months and ordered an HLA-B27 test. To be honest, I’m skeptical about the whole thing, and I've been feeling pretty lousy lately.
Thanks