Scleroderma presenting with tendon rubs?

[HopefullyHealthy1]

About three months ago, I started have pain in my arm muscle. Within the next month, it was very migratory in nature. It would leave one area and travel to the next, leaving the last muscle free of pain. Soon the joints started with the same pattern but it was very transient pain and continued to migrate. However, as soon as the symptoms began, I started getting cracking and grating in the joints. It's intermittent in the knees and ankles, as well as the wrist and spine but the cracking is very loud and pronounced in the shoulders.

I've always thought the crepitus was the key to diagnosis but couldn't find any autoimmune disorders that presented with it. Until, that is, I happened upon scleroderma. I hear that it's very rare in young men but was wondering if this loud cracking is common of scleroderma...

[lotus99]

Friction rubs combined with other autoimmune symptoms could be an indication of very severe and rapidly progressing scleroderma, this is not something to ignore.

[kmil1999]

Crepitus, in joints is associated with wear of the cartilage which leads to osteoarthritis.  In soft tissues, it is associated with gas infiltrating an area where it is not supposed to be.  Most often it is air.  

Hope it helps.

Karen

[karajo]

Have you had any lab work?  They would want to check you ANA for starters.  Usually fatigue goes along with autoimmune disorders.

My policy is not to worry about what "might be".  Live life and enjoy.  Put God first and go forward.  He can pull us through any trial.  

Another possibility is fibromyalgia.  But usually fatigue goes along with that.  Fibro, like lupus and other autoimmune disorders come and go.  The drs. call it wax and wane.  This means one day you can feel horrible and the next, you feel like nothing is wrong with you.  Does this ring a bell?

God bless, Kara

Those that trust in the Lord shall not be disappointed.

[HopefullyHealthy1]

So far, the only symptoms I have are the muscle pains and joint pains. Lately, the joint pains have subsided a bit and it's mainly just muscle pain, especially prevalent in the shoulders. The thing is, I've read that diffuse scleraderma can cause tendon friction rubs but I have them in pretty much every joint. It's said that when these rubs occur, they indicate widespread, explosive skin thickening. But I don't have any outside evidence of that and it's been three months already.

But I guess I'm grasping at straws with this assumption, as diffuse scleroderma is extremely rare in young men. I just hope I haven't had the medical equivalent of getting stuck by lightening...

[karajo]

I'm not real familiar with scleraderma, but there are many other illnesses that can affect joints and muscles.  What other symptoms are you having.  Do you have any rashes, headaches, fever?  Arthritis can make the joints make that crackle sound.  I've been dx with lupus and my joints crackle like that, but I also have many other symptoms that go along with lupus.