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My name is Anita. I went to my ortho. dr. this past week for what I

thought were bone spurs on my ankles and shoulders causing all my

pain. I do have them, they show up on x-rays. He did not go ahead

and do a blood test to check for certain if I have RA. Although,

that is all he talked about to me. He did not even tell me other

things it could possibly be. He said he did not see a sugnificant

amount of joint damage. I took that to mean he did see some. He

started talking about the start of RA. My the way I am 32 years old

and have pain in both ankles, toes, wrists, hands, fingers,

shoulders, neck and elbows all the time! I was starting to think I

was crazy. People always said to me you are too young to have that

kind of pain. Like I was making it all up. There are days when I

can't hardly walk or play with my kids. The pain is so great at

times I cannot even sleep. When I got to the doctor he asked about

swelling and stiffness and tenderness and heat generated off places

of pain. And yes I have all those and my wrists and hands and

fingers swell and feet swell all the time, everyday. I hate this

pain. I love to play and hold my kids, but I cannot do it anymore. I

just don't understand why the doctor didn't go ahead and do the blood

test last Wednesday instead of me coming back this coming Wednesday?

He did however, give me a shot of kenalog in my hip and this being

Saturday, it still has not started working. I am drained trying to

find out what is causing my pain and trying to keep myself sane. I

know it is something more than just muscle, because I use to take

2400mg of muscle relaxer a day and that did not even start to make

the pain go away. Now I am on 800mg doses 2x a day and that is just

like eating candy.Has anyone out there gone through this similar to

me? My pain and swelling and tenderness did basically all come about

symmetric.ly on boths sides at once, except for the left knee and my

elbows hurt one one day or so and then the other and sometimes both

together. That is also how my shoulders do as well. My lower back

all the time and my neck all the time. And around my shoulder blades

have started to get worse, usually on one side for a while and then

later the other one starts. I feel so ashamed and I feel no one

believes me. After all I do not work outside of the home so

therefore I should not have all this pain as some have told

me. " Plus " , they say, " you are too young " Sometimes I feel like I

could be crazy, but I am not stupid. The pain is real and it does

hurt and interfers with my daily life. And the part I miss most is

playing with my kids and spending time with my husband doing the

activities we (all) enjoy! Sorry this is so long. I have not gotten

to talk to anyone about this and how I feel. Thank-you so much for

taking the time to listen to me. My email address is

coolcat1022@....

Anita ez