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Does anyone else continuously suffer from tendonitis or bursitis in more than one area of their body?

urbangirl profile image
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Before diagnosis of NCGS I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia which I think I had had for several years. I ached all over and identified with the symptoms of other sufferers on this site. Once I went GF this disappeared - within a month. In addition to having fibromyalgia over the years I had been diagnosed with bursitis in both hips and tendonitis in my left shoulder and rotator cuff in my right shoulder and also because of pain sent for xrays on my knees, feet and hips for arthritis. All clear of arthritis. In the past I have played a lot of tennis, windsurfed, water skied, ran 10 miles 4 x week and swam 1 mile 7 times a week. I didn't do this all in one week! For the last few years the only exercise I have been able to do is swimming,5 - 6 times a week (front crawl - I can't swim breast stroke as this makes my knees hurt), pilates, a bit of urban walking and cycle regularly. Over the last few years I have had a lot of episodes of tendonitis in my shoulders and received physio for this. I understand that tendonitis does wax and wane. However, I have now developed a painful elbow which I think could be tendonitis or something similar. I do rely on a computer for work and aware of the associated occupational problems. I seem to have a weakness in these areas of my body and wonder if this is related to NCGS or coeliac? I have read that there is an association with joints and muscles with coeliac and looked at previous posts on this site. I am seeing the doctor on Thursday so it would be good to know if anyone has any advice or information on this one. This tendonitis and bursitis seems to chase around my body which is such a nuisance. I always do warm up and cooling down exercises for swimming and take regular computer breaks.

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urbangirl
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cott97 profile image
cott97

I don't have tendonitis but have suffered from carpal tunnel, back and knee problems. I have found that if I accidentally eat gluten, even a tiny amount that these joints show the signs before anything else, the same is true if I catch a cold. I now accept that these areas seem to show early signs or symptoms way before my stomach. I believe these have become weaker and are now attacked first and this would fit with tendonitis flaring up but its only a theory and probably makes no sense at all. Hope you find a solution

urbangirl profile image
urbangirl

Thanks Cott97. I think carpal tunnel is also something that I may have and the elbow pain may be referred pain. I will wait for the doctor's diagnosis. Interesting point about effects on your joints when you have accidentally eaten gluten. I hadn't made that connection but it might be relevant. The last time I accidentally ate gluten was late last November. However, I do react to quite a lot of food but this usually manifests itself in the digestive system. Maybe I should keep a look out for what happens in my joints. I don't keep a food diary anymore so I am unable to pinpoint other food that could be responsible. But I am quite careful about introducing new food to my diet and do clock the intolerance by my digestive response which is usually quite quick. I wonder if there is a knock-on effect on joints later? I just seem to be so vulnerable to these conditions and I haven't met anyone else who has so many incidents of tendonitis etc.I know that my knees are dodgy and I avoid putting them under stress in case I get tendonitis in them. The doctors will say that it is because I am overweight but that doesn't affect the shoulders or elbows and my hips were shot away when I was 8 1/2 stone!

urbangirl profile image
urbangirl

Thanks APsnotFab. This is scary for me. I did have thyroid tests but not sure if it was the full profile. The fibromyalgia has disappeared but the tendonitis/bursitis problem remains - but that was there well before the fibro. I have had 3 steroid injections for the hips and shoulders with only immediate relief - I will never have them again. I do respond well to physio. Unfortunately I do not know any of my family medical history. I have a really good GP but because of this she is so popular she is so busy and I have had to wait 8 days for an appointment with her. I think it is important to have consistency of care as this is when the doctor can look outside the box. Sometimes I completely shut down intellectually in the surgery and cannot remember what to say or respond appropriately to her questions. Ridiculous I know but that is what happens! Also I feel like a flippin hypochondriac in her surgery and outside. I mentioned before on this site one of my friends asked me if my problems were psychological. I think this is sometimes the problem with conditions that have symptoms rather than signs which is what I present with. I am overwhelmed by all this and trying to put everything together. How long have you had bursitis for and did/do you have treatment for this? Hip bursitis stops me sleeping and makes walking uncomfortable. I don't always have discomfort from it. Thank you for your reply it is most helpful and makes me feel I need to get more investigation.

urbangirl profile image
urbangirl

AbsnotFab you have such a lot to cope with. No wonder you don't care what people don't think. Thanks for the recommendation about Myofascial Release. I do have regular massage and have done for years - it is a sports massage - deep tissue. She has followed my health problems and adapts treatment accordingly. I do respond well to massage. Once I have seen the GP (I have already written down some notes!) then I will get back to you for the local contacts.

You have really started me thinking about the implications of continuous joint pain which I have always attributed to exercise and poor techniques. Not quite sure if I fit the sero-neg RA profile though except with sacroiliac joint pain. I read that hip bursitis is sometimes classified as greater trochanteric pain syndrome. Will do some more research all this but thank you so much for your time and help.

urbangirl profile image
urbangirl

Hello APsnotFab, went to the doctor yesterday. Very prepared and thought I did a pretty good job of presenting my symptoms. Diagnosed with tennis elbow. I questioned whether an underlying cause influenced my susceptibility to these continuous problems and was reassured that is not the case. So in some ways I am obviously relieved, yet in other ways I am still left wondering if there is something else going on. I did find a website where others have this problem but did not discover anything significant. Thank you for the advice - it really helped me.

Marz profile image
Marz in reply to urbangirl

I would like to support APsnotFab and her concerns about thyroid testing. So often just the TSH is tested when everything needs to tested including your anti-bodies. In my non-medical experience of helping others LOW FT3 is very common in many people. If you have had your thyroid tested - it may be a good idea to ask for copies of your blood tests and their ranges so that someone can help you - maybe on the Thyroid Support forum of HU.

If you have Hashimotos - the most common of thyroid illness - it is auto-immune - so it is VERY important to have the thyroid anti-bodies tested. Anti-TPO and Anti-Tg.

Also what are your levels of VitD B12 Ferritin Folate Iron. All these need testing and to be HIGH in their ranges for you to metabolise thyroid hormones even without a thyroid issue :-)

Hope your tennis elbow soon improves....I play tennis and I do suffer from time to time :-) Vitd is anti-inflammatory as well as being a steroidal pre-hormone - so could be helpful.

Searching the net with - Thyroid and Frozen shoulder - will give you some good links - and most of the ones I have looked at indicate Low Thyroid as making people susceptible....

urbangirl profile image
urbangirl in reply to Marz

Thank you Marz. You certainly have a lot of experience in this area and thank you for passing on this info. I don't know what to think now! I read the stuff about joints/tendons and links with thyroid and I am convinced this fits with my profile. I was sure that my GP was going to do blood tests and consider some alternatives when I saw her yesterday. She thought there was an explanation for my elbow problems. Whilst reassured that she considers I am susceptible to these problems and there is nothing more serious wrong with me I was also a bit disappointed. Reading the info it seems surprising she didn't do anything else. Two thoughts have crossed my mind. Firstly, she is unaware of the links and thinks that my thyroid is okay as I was tested 14 months ago (I don't know what test I had); secondly, is there a financial implication? Our CCG is having some problems and I wonder if this has an impact on investigations? Both of these things are difficult to follow up. I guess I will just have to wait a while and see how things go. Since

going GF the fibromyalgia improved considerably - even disappeared. What I have now is different but was also present with fibromyalgia. I do find it so difficult to lose weight and since being on low carb diet for quite a few weeks have lost about 3 lbs. I think this may be another sign of thyroid problems. My GP knows I am physically very active and struggle with weight loss but doesn't have an answer. Thank you for your time.

Marz profile image
Marz in reply to urbangirl

I think it is more than just money - the thyroid and its workings is very complicated - just too much for GP's. They are often out of their depth. There is a website thyroiduk.org.uk where you will find all the information you will need to help you understand more. Importantly there is a page that informs you that you are entitled to have copies of your test results and ranges - so it would be interesting to know what your reading was all those months ago. probably just the TSH was done.

There is a page on the website explaining fibro and the importance of Vitamins. Again Docs are out of their depth with vitamins as it's not part of their training. That comes under Prevention :-) They are paid for prescribing AD's et al.

May I suggest you spend time looking at the Thyroid Support forum on HU. Click onto Communities on the green bar at the top of this page. Click onto T and Thyroid Support should appear - click and I think you can view the News Feed without having to sign in. May give you some idea of the calibre of knowledge there. All the Administrators are Top Dollar and many others.

After over 50 years of illness - see profile ! - I have found wellness. I have learnt a great deal from the forum and also from people/Docs that think OUTSIDE the box.

Am happy to help if appropriate... I live in Crete and we keep all our own records/scans etc. Easier for testing too - less red tape and the private sector is cheap ! I have helped at least 10 people with results and every time the FT3 was low in the range. Again have a search for Low T3 Syndrome and see what appears !

Sorry to be a pain - but I have been VERY poorly and can appreciate wellness....I want to share it....

Akybraky1 profile image
Akybraky1 in reply to urbangirl

I had this until I quit gluten and since have none for the years I quit gluten.

Micstusmi profile image
Micstusmi

Hi. I’m 42 years old and I battled joint pain (and more) for over 15 years and it turned out I’m sensitive to gluten but no doctor ever suggested any link/s to gluten and my symptoms were all discussed as if they were separate issues. After a month without gluten 90 - 99% of my joint pains had disappeared so it wouldn’t surprise me if there was a link between bursitis and gluten. I tried to find scientific articles on the topic but there weren’t any free papers on google scholar so it’s not an easy one to research unfortunately. 😢

in reply to Micstusmi

Were you actually tested for coeliac, or did you self-diagnose as gluten intolerant?

Arthritis/joint pain is not one of the clinically recognised symptoms/side effects of coeliac in UK despite large number of coeliacs stating this as symptom. It is recognised in other countries. I've contacted Arthritis UK to ask why this is not on their radar as cause of arthritis/joint pain, but they have no research in this area nor have they communicated with coeliac UK on the matter.

Many years ago I was shunted from pillar to post with joint pain. I had digestive issues also, and asked rheumatoid consultant is possible link between GI tract pain and joints and he scoffed and said no. I learned to never trust a consultant after that as turned out gluten was the issue for both. i had to figure it out for myself also.

It's just another in a long list of failings in UK towards coeliac sufferers at all levels. It's medical negligence and no excuse for it other than lazy ill-informed attitudes towards coeliac/gluten intolerance and the true impact foods have on health. Coeliac/gluten intolerance causes inflammation in the body. Inflammation will lead to other aches/pains/challenges.

We need better diagnosis/management of coeliac/gluten intolerance in UK and no reason whatsover that we can't have that other than couldn't care less doctors and a dire coeliac charity failing miserably at every level.

urbangirl profile image
urbangirl

Well I have had a lot of medical attention over the last two years. This was generated by an accident I had and I needed surgery and had some very good post-op physio. Although I recovered well from the surgery the lower limb problems got worse and didn't seem to be improving. I had another MRI and by chance the consultant was away when I went for a follow up appointment I saw a wonderful female junior doctor. I described my symptoms and as there were no post-op complications she thought I had rheumatoid arthritis, polymyalgia rheumatica or Sjorgren's. According to blood tests I don't have any of these. I saw a rheumatologist who diagnosed me with several bilateral tears in my hips and some mild sacroiliac joint damage and said my problems are structural, not systemic. Subsequently I have seen several different doctors who don't seem to be listening to me when I describe my symptoms, which are similar to the ones I have had for years ie joint pain all over. Interestingly my two daughters have been diagnosed as having hypermobility and both have joint problems that are being treated. I have always been very flexible and have very bendy fingers but the consultant does not consider I am hypermobile as I didn't score enough on the test. When I looked up the info on hypermobility it seemed to fit quite well with my profile. Luckily, so far, I don't have any serious arthritis. I am trying to get a second opinion as I am getting so much worse and older, but given the current climate it might be a while. I continue with the physiotherapy which doesn't really make a difference.

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