Reiters Syndome Symptoms & more

[mustang03]

Hey everyone.  I am going In 2 weeks to a Rheumatoid Dr. about these symptoms but thought I would post on here.  For the past 1 going on 2 years I have slowly been going down hill.  I am 21 year old male  It started with some wrist pain which has gone away but now my elbows forearms are bothering me a lot.  I thought it was due to working, playing guitar, typing on the computer, and other stuff but I cut all those activites out and I am still in pain.  I had anti-inflamatory and cortisone shot which did not help.  I also have had urninary problems off and on.  It started last summer I would urinate and finish and it would burn and feel like I would have to go again but couldnt.  This would happen once every month or two.  Not very often but very uncomfortable when it did occur.  I have been sick a lot the last couple years and also had pink eye a couple months ago when I had a cold.  All of these match reiters syndrome but I have been tested for STD and UTI and they were negative.  Also the last two weeks I have been getting headace, light headed, and my ears have had tinnutus in my ears.  Was wondering if this was related to other symptoms or what?  Any knowledge of what I have been going through or people with the same symptoms I would like to hear from you.

[smittygirl]

As someone who has Reactive Arthritis ( same as Reiters) I can tell you that symptoms usually present within 2 weeks of having either a UTI or STD.  The disease usually effects males in your age group.  I am a woman and was 46 when I got sick from a UTI, I also tested positive for the HLA-B27 gene.   I had been a triathlete/runner and woke up one day and could not move a muscle or bone in my body.  My sed rate was 110.  It happened 2 weeks after the UTI.  I never had the eye problems, it was in my toes, feet, wrists, knees, elbows, shoulders etc .  I wouldn't have wished the pain on my worst enemy.  It has been four years and now I also have AS ( Ankoylosing Spondylitis)  I take Enbrel injections now which help some but I am still not the person I was 4 years ago.    I will tell you that in 2 out of 3 people the disease can go away when the infection is gone.  If you had a UTI and it cleared up that doesn't mean you don't have ReA it just means your test was done after the infection was gone.  When you go to the rheumy ask him to run the test to see if you carry the HLA-B27 gene.   Don't give up in your pursuit of getting answers, I  sooo did not fit the profile for either of these diseases but I have them  I went through 3 doc's and a ton of my own research before I had my answer.  Please let me know how you make out and feel free to ask me anything.  Best of luck to you.

Sue
smittygirl  

[mustang03]

Thanks for sharing your story and knowledge with me.  Sounds like you had it bad.  Hope you continue to get better.  I will definetly get him to test for that when I go.  I did research online and found that the infection can be in the urinary tract or also the digestive system?  I will let you know how my dr. visit goes, Thanks again!

[smittygirl]

You are very welcome!   Sorry I forgot to mention the digestive thing,  The bacteria found in my UTI was e-coli of all things, go figure!   At 46 it was the first UTI I ever had and never had another after.   Salmonella can cause it too.  Glad you did some research, the two sites I used most were the Arthritis Foundations and the Mayo Clinic.  Look forward to hearing how you make out. Take care till then.

Sue