Hi, Does anyone know if it is normal for doctors not to take arthritic pain seriously. I am having great difficulty with any of the three rheumatologists i have been to, they keep sending me back to my GP.
For the past eight years i have been having joint trouble, it started with knee pain and then both ankles. I had been taking pain killers for a long time for headaches and decided to stop them for various reasons, about three and half years ago and immediately my hands and lower back, pelvis started. My lower back is very stiff and painfull in the mornings and gradually gets easier, until i sit down in one position for a very short time, then it all starts becoming rigid again.
My right hand is a little swollen but i am having unimaginable pain down my thumb and every so often i have what i call a spasm where my thumb is so bad i can't move it. This used to go away after a few minutes, but now its lasting up to an hour or two. My wrists are a little swollen and painfull and also weak.
I have pain in both feet, both sides of my pelvis and my lower back feel as if it is gradually becoming rigid. Over the past year and half my neck has joined in and it has become so bad that i can't move my left arm for many days. this has only happened a couple of times.
Fortunately i only have problems with two or three joints at the same time, otherwise i wouldn't be able to get out of bed at all.
Xrays of hands, wrists, knees, pelvis and neck are all showing osteo degenerative changes, but nothing too serious. Blood test are sometimes slightly up such as esr 26 (according to my GP) but from what i've read, this isn't high at all. 
It appears from how i see things that doctors won't take you seriously if there are no significant results in the blood.
Very sorry for the extended post but i am comletely sick of this whole situation and needed to explore other peoples situations, in an attempt to get some advice.
KittyB 
