I am nineteen years old.
Recently, I've been having severe joint pain and swelling, accompanied by chronic fatigue, headaches, limited range in movement, and occasional fever and/or nausea. I also have a very hard time sleeping, and have and extremely bad, deep, non stop cough. I had been to the doctor for this around the time when it all started which was when i was graduating high-school. I was in and out of the children's hospital non stop, and numerous rounds of bloodwork had been done. I had viral meningitis probably about 6 years ago, and many extremely bad cases of strep throat. i saw a rheumotologist for several months and never got any exact answers or solutions. In feb 06, i had my tonsils removed, and since then was never really sick UNTIL this past february, where i came down with either the flu or something like that and was on the z pack for a week. SINCE that sickness, i;ve had non stop flares of pain which worsen daily, just like a couple yrs ago when i was going through this. Getting dressed or undressed is a struggle, sleeping is impossible, and the pain is constantly so bad, that i break into tears just thinking or talking about it whenever. it is making me an unhappy person because it is so bad, i'm usually extremely upbeat and energetic. I am in extreme discomfort, and am very tired no matter how much sleep i give myself.I now live in LA where i go to school but all my family is in CT. So, dealing with this again, with no one here is just miserable and im wondering if anyone has any ideas, answers, suggestions, etc. im desperate to feel good again. This constant discomfort is getting unbearable. I'm 19 and my body feels like a 90 yr olds dying body- seriously.
Does anyone have any ideas on what this might be? Does bloodwork for diseases like Lupus and Lyme often come back negative when in fact a person has the disease? I would really appreciate some input, as the doctors seem to have no idea what's going on.