Hello!
My name is Dana, I am 23 and from NJ. I am a registered nurse and work in an emergency department. I am currently going through the process of being diagnosed for AS.
As for my looong story (that I'll try my best to keep short
) I have suffered many years with endometriosis, with several flare ups through the years of "arthritis" (no one ever told me what form). Over the past 6 months or so my fatigue has become out of control, I constantly feel like I have had the flu & my low back pain (that I always attributed to endometriosis) has become intolerable. Then about 2 months ago I began to have what I believed was sciatica, but with severe numbness. I mentioned this to one of the physicians I work with who told me it wasn't classic sciatica, but that I needed an MRI anyway. In the days I waited to get an MRI my pain began to flare out of control,and kept popping up in different areas, including my hip, to the point where I could not walk at work & was dragging my leg along. At this point the physician I work with suggested that I be admitted to the hospital as he thought I may be displaying some early signs of MS. I agreed to be admitted and spent 4 days in the hospital - during which I could not walk a majority of the time because my leg just would work properly. As I spent all this time in bed my low back and hips became so incredibly stiff I could not even describe it. Well, I ended up going through the work up for MS in the hospital, and when they found nothing I was told by a neurologist that this was "all in (my) head". No one however could explain to me why I still could not walk, and I was sent home with pain meds and a walker.
Thank God that one of the doctors who admitted me to the hosptial was a friend of mine & decided to follow my case once I was discharged. As I followed up with him, he began to notice that I was running a fever every time I went to the office. He started me on doxycycline, believing that I may have lyme's disease. When I finished the 2 week course of abx and still had a fever, and had now developed peripheral joint pains along with my back and hip pain, he referred my to an infectious disease specialist. That doctor told me he believed I had RA and then referred me to the rheumatologist (finally!).
The rheumy was great on my first visit, and did about 16 blood tests, sent me home on celebrex (which did nothing but cause me to break out in hives), and recommended a bone scan.
The next time I saw him he informed me that "interestingly enough", my HLA B27 test came back positive, and that my bone scan showed inflammation in the shoulders, cervical, thoracic and lumbar spine, the hips, si joints, wrists, fingers, ankles, knees and feet. It was only after these tests that I felt he really took me seriously. My meds were switched to mobic and he also ordered enbrel. My insurance company has refused to pay for enbrel, but as luck would have it, I just got married and my husband's insurance supposedly will cover the medication. Imagine that - I care for sick people all day and my insurance won't cover the med I need!
ahhh - sorry this post is so long. It just feels so good to get my whole story out to people who understand. I am so sick of being in pain, feeling sick and having no one understand why I just don't feel better "yet". I actually had a security guard at work ask me why I walk like I "just fell out of a tree"...nice huh?
ok...well, I'll stop babbling now. I promise I'm not always this long winded.
I hope to get to know all of you.
Thanks for your time,
Dana
