Unilateral Joint Pain

[aja12]

I'm not sure if this is under the right topic, but  I have unilateral joint pain on one side of my body (left). My knee, my elbow and recently within the last couple of days, my wrist, are all painful. I have noticed that my knees and elbows started hurting intermittently a year ago, but it's gotten progressively worse in the past month or so. I have started taking Schiff Move Free, but it only helped somewhat, and only when I took double the dosage amount. I am always feeling tired, and in pain, I don't know what's wrong!!

[Lymesufferer34]

I had some of the same symptoms: I got a "bullseye rash" in May. Thought it was a spider bite that eventually went away. Most people with Lyme never even see this. I live in a state the CDC says is completely clear of Lyme. I am in an urban area and never traveled, camped or was around deer. I got sick with fever. Thought it was flu and it cleared after a couple days. A few weeks later, I had joint pain in right thumb. Thought it was carpal tunnel. Then my right hip started hurting and popping. This seemed out of the blue. Thought it was arthritis, I'm in my mid 40s and am otherwise very healthy. Then everything hurt on my right side. My symptoms changed week to week. Then my neck was so stiff and painful I couldn't turn it. Headaches that no pain reliever would touch. Lab tests didn't even reveal high white blood cell count. Finally I saw a pic of bullseye rash on internet. Went to 4 Drs until I found one who ordered a test for Lyme. Western Blot test. Plus one to reveal other related infections ticks carry. In treatment now. I was told by different Drs I had RA, lupus, hemochromatosis, or toxic mold poisoning. In my case it turned out to be Lyme.

[aja12]

Thank you for your reply, Dr. Kaul, I appreciate your input!

[S. Kaul, MD]

Hi there!

Well, without a clinical evaluation it would be difficult to determine the cause of your symptoms. Possibilities that may need to be considered include infections, inflammations, degeneration, micronutrient deficiencies, neuro-muscular causes, auto-immune/ related conditions, injuries/ trauma etc. I would suggest getting this evaluated by a primary care physician initially and depending on the cause diagnosed/ suspected, it can be managed accordingly or specialist care may be sought.
Hope this helps.

Take care!