Hi there everybody! This is my first post here and I am searching for answers to my multiple health problems which are ongoing and have been ruling my life for years. I am a 29 year old male. I will write all of my symptoms, with some background where appropriate, and I will try to make it as coherent and relevant as possible.
Thanks in advance to all who reply!
Normal things which cause me pain:
Sitting cross legged on the floor / pain in hips, ankles, sometimes knees.
Waking up in morning / stiffness, back muscle pain, ankles, standing, walking, shooting leg pain (now intermittent).
Stairs / knee pain (weak and clunky), ankles (painful, tight, especially inside posterior tibial tendon).
Standing on tip toe / ankle, foot pain, toe pain, arches.
Bending from waist / shooting pain in left leg, hip pain, lower back pain, mid back stiffness.
Sitting in chair / back pain, stiffness, shooting leg pain.
More:
Toe Pain / always bent, can't straighten, rub on shoes.
Finger and wrist pain doing normal activities / press ups or yoga, using hands and fingers to give a neck or back rub to partner, applying pressure in any similar way or using hands for a period of time like a screw driver or computer mouse. (not a very long period of time like 6 hours, just more than a few minutes)
Wrist: Sometimes very bad pain in tendon which runs over wrist bone. It clicks/pops over the knobbly bit when I rotate my wrist.
In Bed:
Back Pain / lying in bed, sitting up in bed, difficult to get comfortable ever, lower back pain and mid back (feels like muscle) pain.
Hip and ankle pain when lying or sitting in bed. Ankle pain is often worse (or more irritating) in periods of inactivity (unless bad enough to stop me from walking/jogging)
Tiredness:
Even after 10-12 hours sleep find it difficult to wake and get up. Never feel refreshed. If I get up too early (ie 8am) I need to nap by team time or earlier a lot of the time. If I don't nap and struggle through it rally is a struggle. It makes me feel like I cant keep my eyes open by 8pm. I also end up feeling hungover, headache and feel sick (if I don't nap). Most days I end up sleeping in til late so as I can function mostly normally for the rest of the day.
Difficult to fall asleep at night.
Toilet:
Need to urinate all of the time. Eg. 4 times between getting in bed and falling asleep. And then at least twice per night wake up and go to the toilet. Plus 10 or more visits per day. (For example, today I went out for a coffee. I went to the toilet twice before I went out, twice while at the coffee shop (despite trying to hold it), twice when I got home. All in about 3.5 hours. I got in bed at 9pm tonight. It is now 2230 and have been to the loo for a wee 3 times)
I quite often find I have diarreah and at other times constipation.This has largely subsided in recent weeks but had continued for many months.
Running and Walking: Difficult because of knee and ankle impact when running. Ankles roll in a lot but are partly corrected by custom made orthotic inserts.
Infrequent headaches. Probably a normal amount but I thought I would include in case it is relevant.
Touching chin to chest: Causes a massive amount of pain at times. Not in neck but in mid back area. So much so that I can't hold my chin on my chest for more than a second. This pain comes and goes. It can last for most of a week and then subside for a week. It is a fiery, crawling pain.
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History
Had shoe inserts since about age 12 due to ankles rolling.
Diagnosed with sciatica age 23 after onset of severe back pain after doing sit ups. MRI scan revealed swelling/touching nerve. Eventually given epidural injection. Pain disappeared from right leg but came on fully in left leg after injection. Doctor decided not to go down that route again as he thought it didn't work. Referred to pain management who basically told me to exercise. I feel that the clinic was aimed at people who get a bit of back pain and then stop doing everything. I go jogging, swimming, yoga, stretches every day, sit properly in chairs etc, work on core and so on. I do everything that I can.
I know my back pain is worse if I do too much or too little. Sometimes it gets so painful that it is difficult to carry shopping or get something out of the oven. At these times I do light stretching on a yoga mat.
The pain has been with me non stop in my back for nearly 7 years. It has ruined my life. I left university 3 times purely due to not being able to attend. I have quit various jobs as I can't predict the pain. I am now trying to do football coaching and refereeing but I am being severely held back from progressing as I can only manage a couple of days per week and I need the other days to recover.
My GP and other doctors all seem to have the same reaction. It is as if, because I look healthy and try to keep fit, they see a young ish, healthy man come into the surgery and think "ah well, it can't be that bad then".
I need to do something to fix this as I am still out of work, I struggle to sleep every night, I hobble around every day and I just can't get anyone to listen to my symptoms properly or take it seriously enough to see it through to the end.
Pain Killers:
I still take 4 tramadol per day and Ibuprofen regularly. Have done for years. Probably addicted. Pain is worse when I miss a couple of tramadol.
Family history of arthritis but doctors keep telling me I am too young to worry about that and it must be something else but they never say what it is. Two of my cousins on my mums side, both younger than me, have been diagnosed with arthritis. One of them is in a que for a hip replacement at age 25. The other is in constant pain and is on strong tablets to get relief. My mums brother has had his toes straightened surgically because they became so twisted and bent. And my mums sister is in her fifties now but is crippled with arthritic pain to the point that she wears special shoes and has been suffering for over 15 years. When she was 29 (like I am now) she had barely any symptoms or pain, certainly not enough to significantly affect her life at the time.
I would really appreciate some help or advice on either what to say to my GP, how I can help myself, who I could o should be referred to, if the various symptoms are likely to be related, what you think they could be either individually or collectively, is it normal to have all of these quite painful symptoms in my twenties when I attempt to keep fit and healthy?
Many Thanks.