Someone please help me!

[MANDYO7O6]

I am an 18 year old female who is suffering from debilating pain.  In the past five months I have been diagnosed with polycsytic ovarian disease, severe insulin resistance, and chondromalacia in both knees.  I was also told through the results of a bone scan that I have DJD of bilateral SI joints, lumbar spine, both knees, sternoclavicular joints, AC joints, and right hip. I did have surgery six years ago on my right hip for slipped capital femoral epiphysis.  For more than a month I have been experiencing extreme amounts of pain.  My physical therapist noticed that the pain began to worsen in my knees and then move upward.  As of right now the pain is in my neck, wraps around my shoulders, shoots down my arms and into my fingers.  It is also in my back and down my legs and ends at the knees.  Along with this my arms have become very weak and even writing has become difficult.  I have also had a constant headache for the past six weeks.  They did an MRI of the brain and everything came back normal.  The doctor doesn't feel that these symptoms are the result of the DJD.  I have been on Vioxx and 1800 mg. a day of Motrin and neither did a thing.  Right now I am on nothing for the pain.  I have had a ton of bloodwork done.  Some of the results are as follows. I tested negative for lupus and leukemia.  RA factor = 7.5   Sed Rate= 57
My sedrate was 37 two months ago.  On Friday they tested my sedrate again and my CPK level.  Hoping to get results today. Please if anyone can help me I would greatly appreciate it. I am so desperate for an answer so any advise would be a blessing.

[MANDYO7O6]

Thanks for your response but i never had dental work done.  I am finally starting to get some answers though.  It seems that my hip, back, and knee pain is coming from an abnormality still in my right hip.  I am going out of town to an orthopedic surgeon to see what is wrong and what can be done.  The neck, shoulders, and headaches are possibly muscle contraction problems and then pressing on nerves.  The neurologist said that my headaches are 25% migraine component and 75% muscle problem.  The muscle problems can be a result of the hormonal and chemical imbalance because of my polycystic ovarian disease.  I am resuming heat,electric stimulation, and massage therapy at physical therapy because the aquatic therapy seems to cause more discomfort.  I just hope that I get some confirmation on these answers and some relief in the very near future.  Thank you to everyone who responded and anymore imput will be gladly welcomed.

[troubleshooter]

mandy,
my guess is your hip pain of six years ago was caused by dental work (eg. gold bridge, root canal, large amalgam...)gone bad.
the operation just complicated matters.
since most pain is bacterial, try this experiment;
fast for four days drinking nothing but distilled water.
if pain begins to subside chances are the pain is bacterial and help can be gotten.
the next step is to get dental work done;( remove bridges, large amalgams, large plastic fillings)
i have spinal cancer and HAD extreme back pain until i had a gold bridge and two large amalgams removed.
try the experiment first. its painless and cheap.
dan

[The Crusader]

DANGERS / DEPO-MEDROL EPIDURAL INJECTIONS

Have you ever had epidural steroid nerve block injections?  There are new studies that link severe chronic pain syndromes with complications of this non FDA approved procedure. (Arachnoiditis)  Using the Freedom of Information act, we have discovered that there have been well over 15,000 adverse event reports and 356 deaths attributed to Depo-Medrol between 1998 and 2002.  (A very high number despite that fact that only 1.5% of all adverse events get reported to the FDA!)

Pfizer Inc. recently purchased Pharmacia/Upjohn, the manufacturer of the most commonly used injectable steroid, Depo-Medrol!  They have recently issued a new WARNING on the use of this non-FDA approved drug for epidural administration.  They say that Depo-Medrol is "NO LONGER RECOMMENDED" for epidural administration in a newly published Pfizer document titled: "Depo-Medrol / Reformulation-Epidural Use"  The warning covers BOTH formulations!  (Another misconception is that Pfizer makes a preservative-free formulation of the drug, which supposedly is safer in the opinion of the doctors who use it!  These doctors are not only wrong about this, it's downright incompetent!

Both formulations, the single dose and the multi-dose formulation, have preservatives added, MGPC and Benzyl Alcohol respectively... both are neurotoxic and potentially damaging to nerves.  Besides, both formulations contain huge amounts of Polyethylene Glycol, a chemical cousin of automobile antifreeze and a major ingredient in DOT-3 Brake Fluid!  If this isn't bad enough, they then mix Depo-Medrol with other chemicals, such as anesthetics, like Marcaine, and ionic dyes, such as Isovue, AGAINST THE RECOMMENDATION OF PFIZER AGAIN!  PFIZER CLAIMS THAT THIS PRACTICE CAN INCREASE THE TOXIC RISKS BECAUSE OF CHEMICAL INCOMPATIBILITIES, THEREFORE THEY HAVE WARNED DOCTORS NOT TO DO IT!

Any doctor that may be reading this should call Pfizer immediately and ask for a written copy of their newly posted Warning.

All patients should be advised that they will not be told this information unless they specifically ask their doctors for it.  Even then, there is no guarantee that their doctor will even know this latest update.

Kindest regards,
Dennis J. Capolongo / EDNC
Center for Pharmaceutical Safety
Washington, DC

[Fastfred]

I read your symptoms, and I can't help but wonder why you left out the most important aspect of your history. Your symptoms are all suggestive of obesity. Your weight is the single most important contributor to your state of pain.

I think you may want to consider bariatric surgery to help you reach a healthy weight, and you'll find all these pain symptoms will disappear.

[CCF-Neuro-M.D.-CS]

Given the systemic nature of your symptoms and your many other diagnoses, I think a rheumatologic diagnosis should be excluded. If you have not had a consult with a rheumatologist, it would be recommended. The pain you are experiencing in your arms, spine, and legs could be due to nerve or spinal compression. A consult with a neurologist and an MRI of your spine may also be helpful. Good luck.