Many joints clicking in last few months

I’m a 41-year-old male and about four months ago some of my joints started to click audibly. Although it was not very painful, it was uncomfortable. Then after a few weeks my right elbow became quite sore and I suspected tennis elbow. However I had not been placing any particular stress on that joint.

After a few more weeks my left elbow became equally sore followed by my right knee joint.  Then I started to notice that many other joints in my body were also clicking, e.g. neck, wrists, forearm, ankles rib cage and shoulders.  About three weeks ago I visited my doctor to try and get to the bottom of it all. He consequently carried out a blood test.  Now I’m not sure specifically what the test was meant to identify (he mentioned something about diseases), but apparently it came back negative. My doctor concluded that the clicking is just a symptom of old age and inactivity.  Perhaps he is right however the frequency of the current clicking and how fast it has spread has surprised me.

Currently I would estimate that the total number of clicks (across all joints) that I 'notice' is upwards of 200 times a day. Also I can make some of the joints click continuously by repeating the same movement, e.g. twisting forearm arm or moving leg back and forth.  In contrast six months ago there was only an occasional click from my knees if I bent down and that was pretty much it.  

Here's some other background info that may be relevant. My employment circumstances changed about 18 months ago.  Previously I was in a job where I would walk between 2 to 3 miles per day and be constantly getting up and down.  My current employment involves sitting at a desk about 90% of the time.  I weigh 103 kg and do not exercise that regularly (I realise I am overweight and do want to address this).  Apart from the excessive clicking and my 3 sore joints (both elbows and right knee) I feel as normal as I ever did.

Finally some days the clicking and the sore joints are worse than others.  Unfortunately it does appear to be getting worse as the weeks roll by.  My doctor instructed me to go back to him if it all became too painful and he would give me some pain relief.  However I find it hard to accept that this is the only option and I still wonder if he came to his conclusion too quickly.

Where do I go from here? If anyone thinks it could be a particular disorder I'd like to know so I can research it further.

Thank in advance for any advice/replies.

[dr_simran]

Hello notfeelingsogood,

You are most likely having some minor joint problems for which the first thing you need to do is to loose weight. Start exercise like brisk walking and jogging. Take ibuprofen for the symptomatic relief of pain.

Best