20years old with chronic joint pain, no diagnosis, does anyone recognise my symptoms?

I'm 20 years old and have had chronic joint pain for around 5/6 years, I feel dismissed by gps and due to this my regular check ups have laxed however after an agonising past week I went to an appointment today however after leaving with the same frustrating result I am desperate for any help anyone can give whether it be suggestions for routes to investigate or self-help remedies. I'm feeling really low desperate to find a hope of resolution to this.

I would say pretty much 80% of my joints are affected however most noticeable are my wrists, right elbow, thumbs, ankles and both knees however my left knee is majorly more affected. (In the past year I have noticed my hips completely giving out -as if they are clicking out? every once in a while and my elbow has only started since a subluxative dislocation in late november)
I do get pain in my toes joints, fingers and sometimes shoulders but this is a lot less common.

All of my joints constantly click and crack noticeably loud, whilst the most common pain is a consistent pulsating ache. I have this ache almost continuously all the time however sometimes areas flash up and become more exasperated this is most often my wrists and my knees.
My main area of concern is my left knee joint, I have extreme pain in both my upper and lower joints of the knee, and on top of my usual joint pain I get agonising shooting pains across the knee cap that can render me unable to stand. Its worst when my leg is completely straight or has been in the same position for over half an hour. This knee has always been bad however was made worse a year ago when I chipped a lump of fatty tissue and it got caught under my knee cap whilst exercising, after being passed from gp to physio to hospital I was already nearly 2 months into the injury and so therefore we decided to just go with me exercising to wear down the lump myself. Although I have had definite improvement since that if I have any kind of trauma to my knee I am in excruciating pain and its worse than it has ever been.

I can go periods with no joint trouble at all but then just as easily go through periods of constant agony where after a busy day working or at University I often find my self unable to stand completely weak.

This is holding me back from taking part in sport, I can't go to the gym anymore as in particular my knee is just too painful and then i've had to hold back on my dancing I've tried to keep up and push past the pain as its the one thing I absolutely love doing but i've not been able to do any since Feb after my last competition. -However this said there has been no improvement on my joints since this break.

All I have been ever told by doctors is that I have 'soft' joints and 'weak' joints and i've had a couple of x-rays on my knee. I've asked for more tests in the past on overall joint issues and I've been pawned off each time, i'm so desperate that i'm currently looking into whether I can see a specialist on private healthcare.
Each time I have been to the docs they have just said lets try some anti-inflammatories, first I was put on ibroprofen however after having serious stomach problems as a result I now can't have those so I was then put onto disclophenac which to be fair does take the pain away and reduce long periods of struggle. But my doctors decided due to me being on the drug for over 3 years I shouldn't be taking it and for the past year and a bit haven't been taking any (just using the volatrol disclophenac gel here and there to try and soothe the aches). So i've been on paracetamol and taking the odd ibroprofen here and there with a lot of food if I ever think there is any swelling or i'm having a particularly bad patch.
Today I went to my gp and I was prescribed like every other time rest, physio (which I don't qualify for free sessions so I do/will have to pay for) and then to have ibroprofen for a month, whilst putting me on medication to protect my stomach (which I have to pay for on prescription money I don't have for something I don't particularly want to take as I know how ill I was before).

I take glucosmaine sulphate and iron supplements and these do definitely improve my over all well being. I don't eat meat or dairy (only occasional intake of dairy), other than this issue I am in perfect health. My brother and sister are both diabetic and I have acute blood sugar level drops (I'm not sure whether this could have any relation?)

I'm so frustrated with having no answer and being talked to like i'm making everything up and just wasting their time. I don't know how many more days I can take where I can't physically get out of bed because of the pain. I'm only 20 years old I just want to feel like it, its making me feel so low.
Any help at all is appreciated, there must be another route I can explore other than ibroprofen and paracetamol...

Thank you
Rach

I'm with Ides here. Reading your symptoms, seeing what brings relief, the swing from symptoms coming, going, better and worse several things jumped out at me and a Rheumatologist can rule out or diagnose those.

Also a few auto-immune diseases could cause the symptoms and possibly be hindered by your dietary habits.

I'm also a long-term Voltaren user and my Doc will only allow me to use the pills 6 months out of the year.

Depending on where you live and your healthcare situation how difficult it's going to be to see a specialist such as a Rheumatologist and likely will require a referrel from your primary who doesn't seem to be onboard here with looking for the cause versus just treating the symptoms.

Hoping you the very best!

I strongly suggest that you see a rhumetologist (doctor that specializes in arthritis and similar situations). My first guess is that you are suffering from Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis.

Rach welcome to Healing Well Chronic Pain forum. I have a few questions, have they done a good blood work up on you? Checking your thyroid, and ANA for arthritis, maybe checking you for Lyme disease, even MS? There are so many things that can cause your type of symptoms, but you need a good doctor to do a thorough work up to find out what is going on.

I wish you well, and again welcome to the forum!

White Beard

Thank you so much for all of your replies, this had made me feel so much comfort that its not just me alone and I might at some point have an answer!

As i'm in the UK I have to go through a referral system to get blood work and specialist doctors however i'm getting referred on friday to private health care which means I should be seeing a specialist within the next few weeks and getting the blood work done asap. I'm requesting to be referred straight to a Rheumatologist.

I'm looking into each of the suggestions you guys are making and i'm reviewing and considering it against myself and its given me a platform of which to spread from, and also made explaining my systems a lot easier so hopefully it will enable me to give more direction to my docs so I can get closer to an answer.

I've never even had anyone suggest an autoimmune before so i'm definitely going to look a lot into the tests that can be done for that. I've had some blood work done but it was a basic looking for anything majorly out of the ordinary.

Thank you all for all your help!!

There are several different disorders which cause widespread pain. Fibromialga being one of those. Personally if I were you, I would schedule an appointment with a neurologist to see if they could find the cause.
I hurt my back sixteen years ago when I was 20. And until I found a doctor that would actually listen and do a MRI, no-one would believe that I was in pain!

Keep a journal of your pain to take with you. Write down when the pain starts each day, how bad it is 0-10, what makes it worse/better, what you do to try to make it better, i/e. meds, heat/ice, excersize, massage, stretching. This will help the dr. to better understand your symptoms and how to better help you get some relief and answers.
Also always keep a copy of all test results for your records, even blood tests! Because sometimes some disorders can be detected this way. This will help from wasting time when you get to an appointment and they don't have them.
And yes autoimmune disorders like Lupos can cause sever widespread pain, also so can Lyme disease.

BEST OF LUCK!

Post Edited (shellyb1978) : 4/29/2014 12:36:11 PM (GMT-6)