Sero-negative arthritis or traveling arthritis

[BellaNancy]

Hello,
My question is for anyone that may have similar symptoms for what my doctor now believes could be sero-negative arthritis.  Here is a brief synopsis of my story.  I am a 52 year old woman, have been physically active since I was about 25.  I walk about 16-20 miles a week, I go to the gym and do a spin class for an hour 2-4 times a week and have done weight training along with other cardio classes at the gym.  My problem started I think after my son was born and i developed iritis in my right eye, the dr was treating it with cortisone drops for years and it would not go away.  He ordered labs and discovered I have the RA factor and I was sent to a Rheumatologist.  They never diagnosed me with RA though and I saw the Dr on and off for a few years, she finally told me at about 45 years old that there were no significant signs of me having RA.  When I was about 42 I found out I had a low thyroid once they treated me for this condition my iritis went away.  I have been on synthroid for about 10 years now.  I started doing pilates on the machines about 6 years ago, i loved it but seemed like when I did it my muscles felt like they were coiled up (like a telephone cord) and I would get a burning pain on the outside of my knee, then it moved to the hip.  I went to the chiropractor for this and it seemed to help for awhile but would come back.  I gave up pilates last year after my hysterectomy and started going to the gym where I have taken up spin classes and love getting the cardio workouts.  When I would get unexplained pain I would head to my chiropractor which always seems to help until recently.  A year ago I got pain in my right shoulder, I waited for a few months and when it didn't go away I called my doc, he had me get an xray and gave me a cortisone shot thinking it could be bursitis, the pain did not go away immediately it took a few weeks and seemed to move to the other shoulder.  I thought it was my pillow, as my neck also hurt, so I changed my pillow, that seemed to help but it never completely went away.  I continued to see my chiro, the shoulder pain became alot worse this past summer so my chiro thought I had a rotator cuff injury, he continued to try and help but finally sent me to physical therapy.  I have been going to pt for about a month and the pain got better one week and worse the next.  A different pt worked on me and told me that my muscles were very tight, so he did this technique where you put pressure on the muscle and hold it for awhile to relieve the tightness, it worked like a charm and my neck and shoulders felt like 5 lbs had been lifted off.  Then I continued with my original pt and she had me try to strenthen my shoulder muscles and get the rotator cuff strong again and she had me do exercises at home and ice.  After the 4th week I got tired of feeling the pain and it started to go down my arm and into my hand.  That is when I called my GP, he ordered an MRI and it did not show any injury to my rotator cuff although there was significant inflammation that could not be explained.  Since I have had pain in my body before when my doc decreased my thyroid medication and I had intense pain in my whole body so the doc ordered a bone scan, that came back fine, it showed nothing, so we upped my thyroid medication and the pain subsided.  Now after this latest bout of pain and the MRI confirming that there is no injury and no explanation for the inflammation he now thinks that i have what is called sero-negative arthritis because my sed rate is fine and all other labs for arthritis have come back negative.  Has anyone else out there had any of these symptoms, I am tired of being a healthy 52 year old that watches her weight and diet and exercises regularly feel so crummy!!!  Any help would be appreciated.  Thank YOU!

[mamamystere]

I have had the same problem for a few years.  After numerous tests that showed nothing wrong, I saw a female doctor who diagnosed me with fibromyalgia.  I now take Wellbutrin and feel 80% better.

[BellaNancy]

Hi, I have seen an RA before, they actually moved me from active to inactive since I have had NO symptoms of RA even though I have the factor.  Yes, in June my GP ran a whole panel, the SED rate came back fine (that is why he thinks I have seronegative RA) and he also did a bone scan since I had so much pain in my body.  I am very confused by all of this too.  My muscles feel very strange, almost like they are wound up and need to be released.  I wonder if any of this has anything to do with my exercise routine, I started do spin classes a year ago, but didn't develop alot of these problems until April/May of this year.  June was really bad, once my GP put my thyroid medication back to 125 mcg from 112 mcg then the pain went away that I had in June.  He just put me on prednisone 21 pills in 6 days, and i can't believe how much better I feel, the pain is about 99% gone, I only have some pain in my left shoulder which is where this whole thing started a few months ago.  My GP is going to send me to a new Rheumatologist after he sees how I respond to the steroids.  

[txsilver]

I am confused by that diagnosis because you are positive for RA factor therefore you would not be seronegative.  Is he a rheumatologist?  If not, it is time to go see one again.  It could be that you have developed RA or it could be something completely different.  Have they run lab work on you lately?  If so, were there signs of inflammation (elevated SED rate or CRP?)