[20oney]

I have for as long as I can remember, had joint pains. I always have to sort of stretch them in a way. Like I have to move around all the time as they are never at eAse.
My job is very physical, I'm a female working in a trade. I'm always holding heavy things at work and they aggravate the pains in my shoulders and wrists especially.
I went to the doctors, 3 different ones, before any of them actually looked into. He tested me for STD's, rheumatoid arthritis and some of diseases. When they came back all clear, he pretty much told me it was how my body was built.
I'm 20 years old. What is this pain going to be like when I'm 40!? It's not getting any better.
I love my job. And I'm good at my job. I don't ever wish to be pushed out of my job due to this pain.
I'm going to go see a physio therapist in the next couple of months. Though I don't believe they will find anything.
I don't believe I was built like this. It doesn't seem right.
Don't know if I should go see a different doctor or just deal with it. Accept that i will be forever in pain.
Or go see the same doctor, I felt comfortable with him. But he didn't find anything.
I don't know

[gayleggg]

Maybe you should see a pain management doctor. Just because they can't find anything psychically wrong doesn't mean you aren't in pain.

Good luck. I hope you find a solution. I know I was having problems with my knees and they said it was osteoarthritis but after moving to a one story house I haven't had any problems or pain. You may have to look at other work even though it's not what you want to do.

[MotownJohnny]

The physical therapist may be able to show you different ways to move, pickup and carry objects and do other things on the job in ways less stressful to your joints. Also probably can show you exercises to help.

[Derpdog]

Hey. I was in a similar spot to you. If you feel like reading, I'll write a short very long story of what I went through. Otherwise skip to the bottom and I'll just summarize it shortly and restate the important parts.

I remember having joint pains from as far back as 2nd grade. Nothing extreme, every now and then I'd get a pain in my hip or ankle. Doctors always told my parents they were growing pains and not to worry about them. The pains were always really spread out, like less than 5 times a year, so we never really worried about it.
Then around sophomore year in high school I started getting bad pains in my lower back area. I suspected it was my sciatic nerve because my mom always complained about hers and I figured that stuff was genetic. I didn't really worry about it, I would just take a few Advil when it came and ignore it. It was still bearable and still the pain was pretty infrequent.

Junior year I still had the same pains, a little more so than the year before but still not frequent enough to really concern me.
Senior year the pain got a little more frequent and started spreading to other joints. It was just my hip/lower back area, but every now and then I'd feel a similar pain in my shoulders and ankles. I was starting to become concerned about it and told my parents, but it still wasn't that serious. I was still able to work out with weights 4 nights a week, go to karate 4 days a week, and go to wrestling practice everyday after school.

The summer of senior year is when things got bad though. I noticed the pains were becoming more frequent and now had spread to my knees too. I also noticed that my memory and concentration were starting to go. I started going to doctors to see if it was anything to be worried about. I went back and forth between a few, getting answers like "it's just a sprained muscle", or "you're doing too many physical activities, take some days off."

Finally I went to a doctor who gave some useful information. He said he couldn't make a diagnosis because it was out of field of study, but he knows Ankylosing Spondylitis (a form of arthritis) usually starts showing up around that age (I was 17 at the time). He gave me the name of another doctor he felt could help. That doctor didn't really have much to say, but now we had something to look in to.

I visited a rheumatologist, recommended by one of the doctors I had seen before, and he was convinced I had anyklosing spondylitis. He wanted to send me for blood tests and stuff to see if I could begin taking Humira injections.

My parents were completely against Humira because they've heard of all the negative side effects from it. We went to a different rheumatologist hoping she would have something else to offer. She came to the same conclusion, that I had had ankylosing spondylitis and needed to start some form of medication as soon as possible. She understood that we didn't want to take Humira or Embrel (a drug similar to Humira), and she suggested Methotrexate. We still didn't like the side effects from that drug though.

We decided to take one final chance before I started these drugs. A very close family friend of ours with Celiac's disease had been seeing this doctor who specialized in alternative medicine. We didn't really trust it, but figured there was no harm in exploring.

At first I thought this woman was a freak. She did all these odd energy tests and gave me a bunch of herbs and supplements to take. She also did chiropractic work which did temporarily relieve some of the pain, which was pretty extreme by now.

We decided to stick with her because we wanted to put off the other drugs as long as possible. After a while with her she suggested we see another doctor who believed in both alternative and standard (whatever you would call the way "normal" doctors treat people) methods. He didn't think there was much he could do, but he prescribed Doxycycline, which is used mainly for treating Lyme Disease. (He specialized in Lyme.) These pills did greatly relieve my symptoms, but he did not think it was Lyme and after I finished my pills he said there wasn't much else he could do for me and he didn't want to make me keep coming back for nothing because he was out of network and it was costing us a lot to see him.

I went back to the holistic doctor and continued taking supplements and dieting, which did help a lot when I could stick to the diets. (Dairy free, gluten free, taste free type diets.) Seeing the benefits of alternative medicine, we started looking for alternative doctors and rheumatologists.

I visited a few alternative rheumatologists but they all basically said alternative medicine can only go so far and I would eventually need to start either Humira, Embrel, or Methotrexate if I wanted to stop the progression of my arthritis.

Finally, about 5 or 6 months ago (I'm 19 now), I found an integrative doctor. He wasn't a rheumatologist but I really liked what I read about him, and the holistic doctor I had been seeing told me that if he really does what his website says he does, then he was exactly the person I wanted to see.

I made an appointment and went in with all my papers, xrays, MRIs, prescriptions, etc. After reviewing it all and talking to me for a very long time bout my symptoms and everything, he sent me for some blood tests and (eww) sent me home with a do-it-yourself stool test. I got all my tests done and while I was waiting for my next appointment I had an extremely bad flareup. The worst I've ever had up to this point. I lived on my couch for a full week, Wednesday-Wednesday. His office is about an hour and a half drive away, and there was no chance I was making the drive in this condition. So I talked to him on the phone and told him the pain was excruciating and I could not move. I lost over 10 lbs because I literally only got up for the bathroom, my mom had to bring food down to me otherwise I would've starved, and even then I had no appetite at all so I barely ate. I lost like 50% of the muscle I had. (I'm thin and (not to brag) pretty muscular.)
I mentioned to him how I had taken Doxycycline and it really helped my symptoms. He prescribed it for me again and within hours of taking it the pain had been reduced by about 75%. He prescribed another antibiotic (can't remember the name) and some supplements to go with it.

When I went in for my next appointment, he had some extremely good news for me. He Based off of my test results and my reaction to the pills he had put me on, he diagnosed me with Lyme Disease. (Meaning I did not have arthritis and all this could be gone eventually.)
I'm still currently being treated for Lyme, and honestly I haven't had much pain at all. Every now and then my knee will still swell (no pain though it just swells), or I'll get some hip (sacroilliac joint to be exact, if you want to look into that) pain if I twist it in a weird way or make jerky or unexpected movements (like slipping on ice), but those last no longer than a day and don't stop me from doing anything.
I can run again (from summer of senior year until a few months ago I was not able to run and could barely jump, and kind of accepted the fact that I'd never be able to run, jump, or throw any kick other than a front kick again), jumping is no problem either, and I've finally started throwing round kicks and side kicks and all that stuff without too much pain.

My brain is still foggy and messed up but that's either unrelated or another layer of this problem that I haven't gotten to yet. Physically though I'm feeling a lot better. I'm back to working out 4 nights a week, I gained all my weight back and then some (up to 140 lbs now, at 5'8"), and have started getting back in to martial arts.

Sorry for writing such a long post, I got carried away and pretty much typed out my entire story.

Important parts of the story + advice:
1. Though many people don't believe in it, if it wasn't for alternative treatments and an open mind I never would have found my real problem. I can't say that supplements and dieting will completely cure your pain, but hey I've had minor issues like the common cold and infections cured completely by supplements alone.

2. See multiple doctors before starting a serious drug, such as Humira. Had I started Humira or Embrel or any of those types of drugs, I would have greatly intensified my symptoms. I could have become crippled for life, or possibly even died due to it suppressing my immune system, which Lyme Disease does as well.

*If you are certain it is arthritis or something like that, I've heard Humira can really help. I'm not saying to reject these drugs, just make sure you really need them and you've explored all other options first.

**I only briefly mentioned dieting. My mom has also had pain in multiple joints for a long time. She did a cleanse diet, I don't remember the exact one, where basically you stop eating everything and then slowly add things back in. During this diet she felt great, and it also helped her isolate some foods that she was intolerant of, and were causing her pain.
If you can afford it, I suggest talking to a nutritionist. See if there are any special diets you can do to alleviate some of the pain.
Also, if you can sit through it without laughing (it's really weird stuff the first few times you experience it), try a doctor or chiropractor or whatever who practices kinesiology. (Energy flows and stuff.)

Hopefully something I said helps, if even a little.
Again sorry for such a huge post, I got carried away.

Best of luck! If ours pains are anything alike, it can and will get better.