Hi All,

I am not sure if this is the correct place to post this so please feel free to tell me and please direct me to the correct forum.

For years I have had pain in my neck and all throughout my back upper and lower . I also have had pain in my knees but when I went to the doctor he just told me that I need to lose weight ( I had gained about 40 pounds) and there was nothing wrong with my knees that losing weight would not fix. I had also pain in my right elbow, which I was told was tennis elbow.

So about three years ago I started having pain in my left hip along with the buttocks and lower back after slipping on water and doing unemotional splits. I had an MRI and the doctor told me that the last disk in my back was bulging but that it was due to age and that I had Bursitis. He gave me flexural, anti-inflammatories and told me to go to PT. My insurance did not cover PT so I could not afford it, so I did what i could at home and lived with the pain.

In 2013 I was knocked down a flight of 12 stairs while carrying a bike. After this happened I started having pain throughout my body which became excruciating. I had no insurance to cover PT and at this point was unemployed. I finally received Insurance (thanks to the new insurance laws) and so was able to get to the doctor, but had to get new doctors as none of the old ones took my insurance.

By this time I really thought I was dying. The Rheumatologist put me on Meloxicam which worked, for a bit on the overall pain, I mean I hurt from head to toe by this time.The Meloxicam worked but after about 2 months although I did not have the pain in every muscle, I had extreme pain in the back, neck, shoulders, hips, knees, wrist (i have a tear in the wrist tendon) elbows, ankles.....

The Rheumatologist thought that it might be Fybromialgia along with bursitis, tendonitis, the bulging disk and she also said she believed that I have arthritis in my knees. She left me on the meloxicam, added gabapentene and also flexeril as I could not sleep for the pain. She ordered x-rays which showed that I had Osteo Arthritis, stenosis, throughout the back. I had to stop taking the Gabapente as it caused memory loss and did not help the pain. I am now on Meloxicam, Flexural and Tramadol and I still have horrid pain which still causes sleep loss.

My insurance covered the PT for a bit until they said that they had not gotten approval so i had to stop coming until they received approvals.

I am in constant pain and so depressed, they are "treating the symptoms" as they do not know what is causing the bursitis and my doctor says it may not be Fybromalgia, just the other things, bursitis, arthritis, etc. at this time I have:

1. Dizziness for 7 years or so (comes and goes, they do not know what causes it and have given me meclizine for this)

2. Bulging disk

3. Osteo Arthritis

4. Bursitis

5. Tendonitis

I do not know what to do, I am constantly in pain and I am only 53 years old. I used to walk at least 3 miles a day and could ride my bike up to 10 miles at a time. I just feel like I am dying....

Welcome gotoeden.

Hi Gotoeden,
Have you gone to a pain mgmt doctor, someone who specializes in treating chronic pain?
I was going to a rheumatologist for my issues but he admitted my pain was getting to be more than he was comfortable treating and referred me to a pain doc. Perhaps if you do it that way, your insurance will cover it.

I know when I was first dealing with the pain, it was an overwhelming feeling of helplessness and often panic. And adding insomnia to the mix sure doesn't help. I strongly recommend a pain mgmt doc, he changed my life and made it manageable again.
All my best, Diandra

Hi Gotoeden,
First I agree with Diandra, you should be under a Pain Consultant.
Many of us on here, myself included, are dealing with the pains of multiple serious conditions or injuries - or both. You will always find a sympathetic ear and the likelihood is someone will have had similar experiences as yourself.
Among my problems I have severe Neurological Hypersensitivity and arthritis in my hands, knees and right elbow. For the arthritis I take 60mg Arcoxia, a cox-2 inhibitor as the cox-1s are far less effective. It reduces the swelling and inflammation by 50-60%.
Anything you think I can help with, just yell,

Dave.