I am 19 years old, I woke up in pain 6 months ago... and it's still here.

[Rachel508]

I have never broken any bones or suffered any significant injury and yet I have had achy pain in my spine, elbows, hips, knees and other joints for six months as well as suffering from headaches.

My GP thinks the pain is psychological and so gave me anti-inflammatory pills (Naproxen) which have had little effect, he recently prescribed me Topiramate an epileptic medication which really helped the headaches but my body pain is still present.

I have had blood tests, a head MRI, and a full spinal MRI but all came back clear.

The pain I feel changes intensity and location on my body depending on what I do, (e.g. Work, walk, sit). So am I not right in thinking that there is more to my pain than what they think?

Does anyone know of someone suffering from something similar?

[SusieJo1948]

Your right go after Dr's push them until they figure out what is going on. You could have fibromyalgia it causes the pain you have. I have it and it took a long time to figure it out. Are you tired all the time,achy can,t do the things you did before. You need to see a rheumatologist. They push in certain places called pressure points.You have to hurt in at least 11 points or more. Doon,t let them push you around and say there's nothing wrong. Gremlin3

[Rachel508 in reply to SusieJo1948]

Thank you ill ask to be referred, the Dr did mention fibromyalgia initially but it hasn't been mentioned since, I am just fed up with feeling like I am making a fuss over nothing

[Madlegs1 in reply to Rachel508]

Also google Lupus and Lyme disease- just to see if any common features.

Good luck.

[manjusri]

Hi, actually you are too young to have any kind aches.

Now u are done with your MRI's the doctor had diagnosed that you are good in condition. But now if u are still having the pain perhaps, you will have to consult a specialist with the MRI reports.

[cyberbarn]

"My GP thinks the pain is psychological and so gave me anti-inflammatory pills (Naproxen) which have had little effect,"

If your pain was caused by inflammation, then the Naproxen would have worked.

Did your GP use the word psychological or did he say the pain was all in your brain? Because pain is all in our brains, we don't feel pain as such in our bodies, it is our brains that are interpreting the stimulus from our peripheral bodies and labelling it pain. Sometimes the brain gets the signals mixed up and either thinks that another sensory input is pain when it isn't, or it amplifies the signals so that it seems like they are louder than they really are, a bit like turning the volume up to 11.

So maybe that is what your GP meant, not that you were imagining it, but that your brain has got things mixed up. This is what they think is happening in many people with conditions like fibromyalgia.

It is good that you MRI and blood tests are coming back clear, but at the same time medicine is frustrating. It is just as much an art as a science, and it is a process of elimination quite often too. So it is good that lots of things have already been eliminated.

[Jenles]

A rheumatologist appointment would definitely be a good idea, if your GP can be persuaded to refer you. I find it nearly impossible to get an appointment with my GP much less referrals... hopefully it's easier where you live!

I do hope you get it sorted soon.

God bless you

[suzie2shoes]

Hi rachel508. Could be Fibromyalgia. I know I seem obsessed with diagnosing this illness, but there does seem to be an awful lot of people with unexplained widespread pain. Which is what Fibromyalgia is. Ask your GP to refer you to a rheumatologist and ask if he can do the pressure test for this. You have 18 pressure points around your body and if you get sensitivity when any pressure is asserted on most of these points then the forgone conclusion is Fibromyalgia. They will try to tell you that your pain is because of depression. That is rubbish. It is actually the other way around. You are depressed because of your pain. Hope you get some answersX