I'm a 23 year old female, and have been experiencing terrible chronic pain for quite a few years. It has gotten to the point lately where new areas are starting to hurt, and it's becoming unbearable to do my day-to-day tasks.
I have plague Psoriasis and had blood work done by my dermatologist quite a few years back (maybe 7 yrs?). He explained that I was positive for ANA, and that he wanted to take a sample of a lesion on my skin to be sure it wasn't Lupus. The test came back negative, but he said he wanted to keep an eye on it. I lost my insurance about a year later, and didn't really think anything of it (I was young and didn't even know what ANA was, or that psoriasis had anything to do with the autoimmune system).
A couple years later, when someone told me psoriasis was much more than a simple skin condition, I started to do research. It was then that I learned what it, and ANA were all about. I had chronic joint pain in my knees (and sometimes my shoulders) at the time, and never thought that RA was even an option for me. Now, over the past several years, it has progressed into my wrists, upper/lower back, shoulders into my collar bone, and still in my knees. The pain is excruciating at times, and I am having a difficult time doing simple tasks. It doesn't just hurt at the joints, but shoots up or across my body in terrible pain.
About 3 years ago (before it was even this bad), I got a referral to a Rheumatologist to try and get some answers. They looked at my wrists and knees (about 5 seconds each) and said I didn't have it, then ordered some blood work (really not sure what). I got a call saying I was "fine".
Still, here I sit... In frequent pain every day. Fingers, toes, ribs, everyting just hurts. I am constantly exhausted, and have zero motivation to get up and do anything. I just want to sleep all day, but hurt when I lay in one spot for more than a few minutes. I have no clue where to begin. I feel like I should start anew and from square one again. But with who? Anybody have any suggestions? I'm 23 and feel like a 90 year old. I'm scared to death of how I will feel at 30. Am I going to be in a wheelchair before I even have kids?? HELP.