Hello Everyone,
My name is Dawn and I live in Pittsburgh, PA - USA. I have read through some of the posts and what a wonderful and supportive site this is!
I am 36 years old and have been experiencing some unusual things over the last few months, and by themselves the symptoms aren't too concerning but put together are worrying me a bit.
Since September I have lost 10 lbs. (from 115 lbs to 105 lbs) without any effort (this by itself seemed like a good thing to me!). This has never happened in my life and I am at an age where I really thought I'd be putting on weight unintentionally, not losing it.
Then, in late November I woke up in the middle of the night with sharp, left-sided chest pain that was really bad anytime I increased the pressure in my chest (yawning, taking a deep breath). I hadn't been sick with an upper respiratory infection, fever or any other problems - it just came out of nowhere. It lasted about a week and a half and went away. I thought maybe I had pleurisy (never had it before) or maybe pericarditis. And since I didn't feel poorly otherwise, I didn't see my doctor. Just as I was beginning to get concerned about it and thought that maybe I should get it checked, it went away on its own.
Then, a little more than a week before Christmas I had what I think was the flu or some other nasty upper respiratory virus (fever, stuffy nose, sore throat, headaches, etc). The viral (malaise,f ever, etc) symptoms subsided after about 4-5 days but I had awful sinus pain and congestion. I called my MD and they prescribed Zithromax (an antibiotic). About 3-4 days on the Zithromax and I felt great! My nose wasn't stuffy and my sinus pain was gone. One morning (about 12 days after my initial flu symptoms and on my 5th day of the Zithromax), I went out to breakfast and shopping with my family. While we were shopping I started to feel terrible pains in my leg muscles, knees, ankles, the top of my feet and in my wrists/hands. My skin actully felt painful to touch. This was out of nowhere. I went home and took Tylenol and Motrin and parked myself on the sofa. As the night wore on, the pain increased. I went to bed and when I woke up the next morning, I could hardly walk. My ankles and the top of my feet hurt so badly, I actually cried. I am an ER nurse and was working an overnight 12 hour shift that night, so I tried to take it easy that day, which wasn't hard because I felt so very tired. I went to work at 7 pm that evening and the pain got worse and worse throughout my shift. My hands hurt so badly that I could hardly open any equiment. It hurt to even sit down on the commode (my legs were so painful). Then, around 5:00 am, I got terrible chills and took my temperature and it was 100.8. I went home at 7 am, took Tylenol and climbed in bed. All I could think is how did I get sick again?!? I slept on and off until 6 pm and made myself get out of bed and onto the sofa. I was still in so much pain - no medicine in my cabinet (Tylenol, Motrin) was taking the pain away. On Tuesday I went to see my MD who thinks that it is a complication from the virus I had before Christmas. He had me get some blood tests to see if I had the flu (those will be back on Monday), gave me Celebrex (anti-inflammatory) and told me to take it twice a day (the normal dose is once per day) and to return in one week. I took the first dose as soon as I left the office and it took the edge off of the pain. But when I took the second dose that evening, I felt like a new person. That medication really worked. I was so excited to be able to move and walk without pain. Then, when I woke up on Wenesday, the pain was back. I took the Celebrex again and had the same results throughout the day. Then, when I woke up this morning, pain - again. I just find it so hard to believe that almost two weeks later, I would still have the flu or another virus wreaking such havoc on my system. Also, when I add up the weight loss, sharp chest pain and now this muscle and joint pain, I can't help but wonder if I should have my doctor do some further tests if the pain is still there when I go back on Tuesday. By the way, I have had no rashes or skin lesions of any sort. I am an otherwise healthy person. Up until the Celebrex, I was taking no medication and have no other health problems (non-smoker, no alcohol, etc.).
My mom's cousin had Lupus (she passed away this past spring at 52 years old) and my mom has multiple sclerosis. So, autoimmune diseases do tend to "run" in my family.
I guess I am just wondering if I am overreacting or if this is something I should ask my doctor to explore.
Thank you to all who read this post. I appreciate and welcome your opinion.
I wish you all well and hope that this post finds everyone feeling well.
Take care,
Dawn
My name is Dawn and I live in Pittsburgh, PA - USA. I have read through some of the posts and what a wonderful and supportive site this is!
I am 36 years old and have been experiencing some unusual things over the last few months, and by themselves the symptoms aren't too concerning but put together are worrying me a bit.
Since September I have lost 10 lbs. (from 115 lbs to 105 lbs) without any effort (this by itself seemed like a good thing to me!). This has never happened in my life and I am at an age where I really thought I'd be putting on weight unintentionally, not losing it.
Then, in late November I woke up in the middle of the night with sharp, left-sided chest pain that was really bad anytime I increased the pressure in my chest (yawning, taking a deep breath). I hadn't been sick with an upper respiratory infection, fever or any other problems - it just came out of nowhere. It lasted about a week and a half and went away. I thought maybe I had pleurisy (never had it before) or maybe pericarditis. And since I didn't feel poorly otherwise, I didn't see my doctor. Just as I was beginning to get concerned about it and thought that maybe I should get it checked, it went away on its own.
Then, a little more than a week before Christmas I had what I think was the flu or some other nasty upper respiratory virus (fever, stuffy nose, sore throat, headaches, etc). The viral (malaise,f ever, etc) symptoms subsided after about 4-5 days but I had awful sinus pain and congestion. I called my MD and they prescribed Zithromax (an antibiotic). About 3-4 days on the Zithromax and I felt great! My nose wasn't stuffy and my sinus pain was gone. One morning (about 12 days after my initial flu symptoms and on my 5th day of the Zithromax), I went out to breakfast and shopping with my family. While we were shopping I started to feel terrible pains in my leg muscles, knees, ankles, the top of my feet and in my wrists/hands. My skin actully felt painful to touch. This was out of nowhere. I went home and took Tylenol and Motrin and parked myself on the sofa. As the night wore on, the pain increased. I went to bed and when I woke up the next morning, I could hardly walk. My ankles and the top of my feet hurt so badly, I actually cried. I am an ER nurse and was working an overnight 12 hour shift that night, so I tried to take it easy that day, which wasn't hard because I felt so very tired. I went to work at 7 pm that evening and the pain got worse and worse throughout my shift. My hands hurt so badly that I could hardly open any equiment. It hurt to even sit down on the commode (my legs were so painful). Then, around 5:00 am, I got terrible chills and took my temperature and it was 100.8. I went home at 7 am, took Tylenol and climbed in bed. All I could think is how did I get sick again?!? I slept on and off until 6 pm and made myself get out of bed and onto the sofa. I was still in so much pain - no medicine in my cabinet (Tylenol, Motrin) was taking the pain away. On Tuesday I went to see my MD who thinks that it is a complication from the virus I had before Christmas. He had me get some blood tests to see if I had the flu (those will be back on Monday), gave me Celebrex (anti-inflammatory) and told me to take it twice a day (the normal dose is once per day) and to return in one week. I took the first dose as soon as I left the office and it took the edge off of the pain. But when I took the second dose that evening, I felt like a new person. That medication really worked. I was so excited to be able to move and walk without pain. Then, when I woke up on Wenesday, the pain was back. I took the Celebrex again and had the same results throughout the day. Then, when I woke up this morning, pain - again. I just find it so hard to believe that almost two weeks later, I would still have the flu or another virus wreaking such havoc on my system. Also, when I add up the weight loss, sharp chest pain and now this muscle and joint pain, I can't help but wonder if I should have my doctor do some further tests if the pain is still there when I go back on Tuesday. By the way, I have had no rashes or skin lesions of any sort. I am an otherwise healthy person. Up until the Celebrex, I was taking no medication and have no other health problems (non-smoker, no alcohol, etc.).
My mom's cousin had Lupus (she passed away this past spring at 52 years old) and my mom has multiple sclerosis. So, autoimmune diseases do tend to "run" in my family.
I guess I am just wondering if I am overreacting or if this is something I should ask my doctor to explore.
Thank you to all who read this post. I appreciate and welcome your opinion.
I wish you all well and hope that this post finds everyone feeling well.
Take care,
Dawn
