I am a 31 year old female. I had a baby 1 year ago, and I'm suffering with some kind of inflammatory disease. In 2003 I was diagnosed with a severe case of scalp psoriasis. I still use a medicated shampoo to this day to keep symtoms at bay, but it is working. I starting having joint pain in 2006 that only affected my hips. My primary Doctor at the time sent me to an endometriosis Dr. who spoke to me and basically had me in for laparoscopic sugery within a week. After the surgery he diagnosed me as having Endometriosis.
In 2007 I started having joint pain in my extremeties, elbows, wrists, fingers(all joints),spine and pain in my achilles tendon. The joint pain went away completely with the pregnancy, but some new symptoms arose. My mouth was so dry it turned white I literally had no saliva. My eyes were red, itchy and dry. After the 1st trimester I could barely sleep. Mind you I wasn't that big because I was also diagnosed with Oligohydramnios (low amniotic fluid) which resulted in Intrauterine growth restriction. I had to be induced prematurely, although my daughter was small she was in perfect health 5lbs 1oz.
I take Zantac everyday because I have horrible indigestion even from drinking water. After the birth of my daughter I have been suffering with cytolytic vaginosis. The Dr. says my Ph is too acidic and that is what causes it. I've been treating myself with baking soda washes once a week to balance my Ph but it only slightly relieves the symptoms and has not gone away. This has been going on for a year now. I had some blood work done that showed I have high levels of uric acid, positive ANA pattern speckled, Titer 1:60, ESR is 47 and as far as I know everything else came back normal.
My Rheumatologist says I don't have Lupus because my Titer isn't high enough, although I do have an Aunt that has a severe case of SLE. Rheumy told me she thinks I have Psoriatic Arthritis. None of my xrays show bone damage. I went to see her last week. She had me on Meloxicam which wasn't relieving my pain at all. When I was talking to her I mentioned the Psoriatic Arthritis and she says, "but you don't have psoriasis." I said yes I do have scalp psoriasis and I actually told you this 4 visits ago. She said, "Oh, well scalp psoriasis doesn't cause psoriatic arthritis." I was dumbfounded. She was the one who initially told me that I probably had Psoriatic Arthritis and now she is completely contradicting herself. She started me on 500mg of Naproxen 2x a day and Ultram 50mg up to 4 times a day. It has relieved the joint pain in my wrists, fingers and elbows pretty significantly. I am still having horrific hip pain to the point of difficulty walking and back pain mostly in my lower back and neck. My spine is the only thing she hasn't xrayed. It's worth mentioning that a Dr. took an xray of my neck years ago and said, "I had lost the natural curve and a few discs were slightly out of place." I had told my Rheumy this but I'm sure she completely ignored me like she always does. I'm hoping someone out there can relate to what I'm writing and offer some advice for what my next move should be. I'm miserable, have limited Dr. choices due to insurance and I just don't know what to do at this point. 
Post Edited (afbrown) : 10/4/2011 11:21:53 PM (GMT-6)