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Hi.

I am Shanna. I am 31 years old and I have been diagnosed with

Degenerative Disk Disease, Fibromyalgia, Raynaud's, and some form of

Arthritis (doc is having trouble narrowing it down); in addition I have

other non-related health issues such as asthma, heaps of allergies,

bipolar disorder, migraines, etc. Translation: life isn't a whole lot

of fun.

So far, I have been sero-negative for RA and have tested negative for

Lupus. My sed rate at last check was running a little high, she (doc)

said and she said my body is " older " than my chronological age. The

only rheumatologist I have seen so far (a few years ago, per my previous

PCP) told me that since I didn't have the RA factor and all my other

tests were relatively normal, barring the Fibro touch-points that my

joint pain must be caused by the Fibro, and that there was no way I

could have RA without having the RA factor (which I know is totally

inaccurate). He spent all of 5 minutes with me. My pain levels have

been increasing since then, with more problems in my hips, knees, and

hands. My current doc is sending me to see my mother's/sister's

rheumatologist to see what he says. She has also retested me for RA

factor, and probably lupus and the rest of the whole shebang (I haven't

gotten the results back yet) and to see how high my sed rate is this time.

As far as family history goes:

Mom has sero-negative jeuvenile-onset RA, Fibro, Degenerative Disk

Disease, Crohn's Disease/Ulcerative Colitis, and a host of

allergies/asthma, etc. She does on very rare occasions test positive

for RA factor.

My middle sister (I'm the oldest) has Degenerative Disk Disease (see a

pattern forming here?), Spinal Stenosis, Fibro, and all of the assorted

allergies Mom has.

My youngest sister has so far gotten off relatively easy in that she has

no known rheumatological or autoimmune diseases. She does have a blood

pressure problem and some minor allergies.

My middle sister and I are also both carriers for the cystic fibrosis

gene, and my daughter has cystic fibrosis. (At this point we are unsure

whether or not this plays a part in our allergy issues or not, since

I've seen one study that linked some allergies to being a carrier for

the gene, however it was a small study, so it isn't definitive proof.)

Anyhow, my mother and I both think that I'm likely sero-negative RA (and

at this point my doc is beginning to connect the dots, too).

Unfortunately, so far nobody's coming up with a good answer as to what's

going on with my joints. (The fibro is what's doing the muscles in, but

that's a totally different type of pain from my joints.)

I'm just really tired of feeling decades older than I should, and being

unable to do things I'd really like to do (it hurts to do much of my

crocheting at this point, and of course lifting my daughter is

particularly painful). I can't stay on my computer too long because my

hands/wrists/elbows/neck/back just kill me. I had to take a step-down

at work because I'm no longer capable of doing the work I was doing. I

have trouble doing laundry at home because bending over to get to the

clothes or the dryer is painful and carrying the basket is out of the

question at this point. My hubby's been really good about the whole

thing, hasn't said anything, but I know it has to frustrate the heck out

of him.

I dunno what to think at this point. I'm just freaking tired and in

pain /all the time/, I can't even sleep without meds because every time

I roll over I wake up because it hurts. I'm on Flexeril and

antidepressant named Tegretol (have to take one anyhow) that let me

sleep without using any sleeping pills, so at least I don't have to

worry about addiction or anything (which is one problem I have

thankfully never had to deal with). I'm also on Nabumetone (highest

dose they can give me) for the pain, but frankly while it does help with

the inflammation and allows me more joint movement than I have without

it, it isn't doing much at all for the pain. In addition, I'm on

Cymbalta (mood stabilizer), Zyrtec (allergies), Singulair (asthma,

allergies), Allegra (allergies), Advair Diskus (asthma), Maxalt

(migraines only - as needed), Phenergan (nausea from the migraines - as

needed), Ultracet (migraines only - as needed), and Albuterol inhaler

(asthma - as needed).

Anyhow, this is kinda what's going on...any advice/suggestions?

Shanna

/ChaosAngel/