Pain Helped with Antibiotics Only

[Anita226]

I need help in getting my symptoms diagnosed.  Beginning in late December 2006, I began having what I thought was bad arthritis pain.  I had arthritis but the pain was never this bad.  It begins in my right shoulder and radiates up through my neck and jaw.  At the same time my right flank begins hurting so bad that I have to limp.  Eventually, it jumps to my left shoulder, and my right shoulder stops hurting.  I ran to the doctor when my left side started hurting. The doctors gave me NSAIDs but that did not stop the pain which becomes more severe as the days go by. I returned to the doctor 2 more times seeking relief because within 2 weeks, it is unbearable.  I was in so much pain I could not sleep at night.  The only thing that stops it cold is antibiotics.  After I start taking antibiotics, the pain lessens very quickly and within a few days, the pain goes completely away.  But reappears in about 2-3 months.  This time my right shoulder, elbow and flank are hurting.  The doctors tested me for rheumatiod arthritis but it came back negative.  They gave me stronger antibiotics in October when I told them that antibiotics make it stop, but it always reappears.  Now in January it is back again.  The doctors never gave me a diagnosis.  I am frightened and cannot tolerate the pain.  In October the doctor put my arm in a sling and gave me Tramadol, which did absolutely nothing but make my arm so sore, I wanted to scream when I took it out of the sling.  I left work early the next day, went back to the doctor and demanded antiobiotics and they gave them to me.  I finished taking all of them in October.  The pain left and I was okay.  Now in January it is and the pain is back.  I had some leftover antibiotics that the doctor told me to stop using because she was giving me something stronger.  I am taking them now, but I know I do not h ave enough to cure it.  I am frightened and embarrased to keep going back with the same thing, but I cannot tolerate the pain.  I need a permanent cure.  Please give me any suggestions you might have.  Thank you.

[tartmom]

A related discussion, Does Lyme Disease Reoccur was started.

[Trisha983]

I'm having the same symptoms  - 2 years now. My pain is on the left - left shoulder radiating up my neck to my occipital bone.  Left flank, too.  Lately my left elbow. My bilirubin is slightly elevated, but other than that, my blood tests are normal.  My pain goes away with antibiotics, but comes back after going off them.  The doctors can't/won't find out what's causing it, and they keep saying there's no way antibiotics can treat the pain, and yet, they do. It's obvious at this point that it has something to do with a low grade infection of some sort, but I don't know enough to self-diagnose.  Could it be Lyme disease?  

[spade22]

I am not a doctor but what I do know is that antibiotics treat bacterial infections.  It is possible you have a recurring infection that the antibiotics are treating but not getting rid of entirely.  Have the doctors taken any blood work to check for signs of infection?  Since this doctor is not diagnosing you, I suggest you seek a 2nd opinion.