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severe pain in lower back/tailbone, hips, and legs

Hello. I'm a 28 yo female. For the past 5 yrs or so I've been experiencing severe pain in my joints. This pain comes on quickly and usually lasts for a few days. it has affected both arms and both legs but never at the same time. It's always one arm at a time or one leg at a time. it's always in the 3 major joints of that appendage... for example, if it's my leg that hurts, the pain is in my hip, knee, and ankle. If it's my arm that hurts, it's my shoulder, elbow, wrist. the best way i can describe the pain is it feels like i fell off a bike and slapped my hand on the ground. the way that hand would feel, severly achy, is how my joints feel... only much more intense. recently my lower back started hurting. the pain came out of nowhere. it felt like a sciatic issue... pain in lower back that radiated down right leg. since then the right side of my tailbone has really been hurting. sitting and laying down make it a lot worse. standing and walking alleviate the pain slightly. i do not have health insurance so i have not seen a doctor about this. i would like to see a doctor but would like some ideas on what to ask him/her first. any advice or info would be greatly appreciated.

a little history

i'm 5'10"  175lbs
no major illnesses and the only operations were to remove my tonsils (age 21) and gallbladder (age 24)
3 children, all normal healthy deliveries, no c-sections
i have broken 8 bones, was tested for brittle bone disease, negative
used to be a moderate smoker and drinker but i quit a few months ago
2 Responses
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Avatar universal
Hi Sidda,

First I want to welcome you to the Pain Management Forum and let you know that we are glad that you have found this Forum. I do wnat you to understand that there are NO Doctors on this Forum ONLY CP (Chronic Pain) Patients that help each other with their Expertise and experiences with their own CP conditions.

I, too, want to apologize for not responding to your post. I have NO idea how we missed it BUT I'm so very sorry.

My dear, as a Grandmother, I'm so terribly distressed to see a lovely young Mother like you in SUCH terrible distress form you pain and your symptoms.

Now let's discuss the insurance problem. Is there any way that you can get any type of help from the government or state where you live. There are so many tests that you should have to help diagnosis this and it would be VERY expensive without any insurance. I hope that yo can see a Dr. and I agree with Tuck that you should probably start if possible with a Rheumatologist. You might go to an Urgent Care and see what they might say and get a referral from them to the Rheumatologist IF you need a referral.

The way that you have described your pain is the way that Arthritis feels. Now that said it DOESN'T mean that it IS arthritis, it's just that I have arthritis in all of my joints and that is what it feels like. You described the pain VERY well!!

Everything that Tuck told you and every suggestion that she made is exactly correct. This is something that can ONLY be diagnosed by a Dr. and as I said there are NO Doctors on here.

I'm curious if these pains began AFTER your first pregnancy or DURING the first pregnancy or BEFORE the first Pregnancy.

I hope that you will consult a Dr. and get a diagnosis as quickly as you can.

I just had a thought, does your town where yo live have a free clinic at the Health Department that might be able to help you since you have no insurance.

Also, I was wondering is there any arthritis in your Family History? If there is that might be a hint of what MIGHT be causing some of this, BUT without an examination it's IMPOSSIBLE to know and remember that NONE of us are Dr.s.

I hope that you will give us an update on what you find out and stay in touch so that we will know what it going on as we ARE VERY concerned about you....Sherry
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547368 tn?1440541785
Hello Sidda,

Please excuse my tardy welcome to our Pain Mangement Forum. I cannot explain how your post slide to the bottom and was missed until now but I am truly sorry for not seeing it sooner.

Your pain must be very difficult to live with when it comes on.  I am sorry that you do not have health insurance. That certainly complicates the medical diagnosing. The tests may be many and costly. Are you near a larger city that has free clinics or health care based on a sliding scale. I would certainly look into the possibility. Have you checked with your local county human services office? They may be able to offer some type of state insurance based on your income.

But that aside I think your symptoms are a bit puzzling, especially as they are so sporadic. Is there anything that triggers your pain? The fact that you have eight fractures in the past along with these symptoms may have some meaning in the overall scheme of things. I would be sure to make your physician aware of your past history.

If I had to select one physician for a consult it would be a rheumatologist. Other's may suggest an orthopedic consult. I'll be honest and admit that maybe it doesn't matter as you could end up having to see both if one cannot come up with a solution.

I don't know what I would ask the physicians other than what she/he thought was going on. I might want to know how and if this all related? Is it possible that it is an osteoarthritis, osteoporosis or a RA? Is the pain in these various joints due to bone thinning and possibly the reasons for the eight fractures? Or do the fractures have nothing to do with the new symptoms?

Have you been bitten by a tick? Could this be Lyme's Disease? I beleive that is why I would begin with a rheumatologist. It just sounds more like an inflammatory process to me but I am far from an expert.

Again I apologize for this tardy response. I sincerely hope that you will let us know how you are doing. I will look forward to your updates with great interest. Please don't ignore this. Get to the bottom of your pain.

Best of Luck
and
Take Care,
~Tuck
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