Unknown Arthritic Nightmare

Hi all,

I've been reading this forum for a while but decided to submit a post - finally. Sorry if it's long winded, i just want to get most of the key points down.

I'm 24, male, 6'3", and 170 pounds. I have scoliosis. (sounds like an intro to AA) _

When I was 19 (2005) I woke up one morning and both hips were incredibly sore, I rolled out of bed and I couldn't physically stand so crawled around for the first 3 hours of the day. Every time I sat down (was at uni at the time) it was fine but getting back up almost reset the pain meter. I've never broken a bone or had any major medical problems, and I generally tolerate pain quite well. It just came overnight.

I went to the doctors after 2 weeks of self-diagnosis and pain and he gave some anti-inflamatories, which from memory must have worked. I then took glucosamine/condroiten for a month because everything was fine. (i understand it takes 2-3 months for effects to show)

I had an x-ray taken and the results said 'early osteo-arthritis'... Even though that may be the case I still feel that it was somewhat inconclusive. Arthritis doesn't stop you walking, especially overnight, and especially if the x-ray only showed 'early' signs. I was tested for septic and rheumatoid which were both negative. All my iron and other relevenant blood tests were perfect. I'm in good health. A couple of tablets and the problem is fixed? I doubt it. Geriatrics here we come!

Ever since that time it would flair up on certain activities. Doing situps for instance would cause my hips to cramp, once they were cramped the pain would stay for 3-4 days. I would only have to do 5 for the cramping to appear. I'd go for a drive to the shops and my hips would cramp because of the pedal, so I don't drive - haven't even bothered to get my licence. These examples are all muscle based I would imagine, but the pain is hard to figure, hence why it feels like bone. I don't know if it's due to my back, whether it is directly due to the hips, or because of muscle surround hips/flexors?...

Walking down the street and getting stuck behind old people would make me take smaller steps, which in turn would cramp my legs. After 20 minutes I would want to sit down. It makes me feel older than the people who were slowing me down to begin with. :D

It's now 2010. In july i decided to stop drinking for 6 months (I just felt like setting myself a goal), I am not a big drinker at all, have never been and most of the time i drink it will be a small amount. However I do sometimes binge, just no in excess.

I went 2 months sober. :o It wasn't until I started drinking again - every 2nd weekend that I realised that during my abstinance my hips didn't hurt AS much, I slept better and I just felt better. Sometimes i wake up after 6-7 hours of sleep and my lower back hurts and this also went away briefly. I hadn't at this point associated alcohol to the symptoms...

I drank one weekend and for 6 days afterwards my hips hurt, I would slowly get out of bed, if I turned in my sleep i would have to lift my legs a bit with my hands. At this point I started looking online for arthristis/hips/alcohol and the only one which came up was gout, or dehydration... (but it isn't sore to touch, no swelling, bruising etc). I kept drinking as a tester for gout and sure enough i was limping for a whole month, restless nights etc. Same as 2005.

I had pretty much convinced myself it must be alcohol, (drank a bit in 2005 comparitively) even if the symptoms don't add up. Problem is now it's gone again and i'm still drinking, but i have no answers. My 2 brothers also suffer from other ailments of similar mystical nature but to various parts of their bodies. One is currently going down the road of Tension myositis syndrome, I've looked at Psychosomaticism, and my other brother has used hypnotherapy, acupuncture, even a 'witch' because conventional medicine didn't seem to help... MRI's, Xrays, and probably an MRI, i don't know.

Could this be due to scoliosis (my brothers don't have it). One of them has the HLAB-27 gene which is somewhat related to ankylosing spondylitis, maybe fybromyalgia and a couple of other things (can't remember)...
Sometimes while walking i'll get that feeling in my knee that i need to pop it, or reposition the knee cap, so i wiggle it around and then continue walking. Much like the feeling when you move your arm a certain way and you think your elbow is going to crack but you don't know what way to move it to prevent any unknow pain. hehe

Does this sound like a:

1. brain problem
2. muscle problem
3. or bone problem
4. knee problem.
5. Sciatica?

it must be genetic, given my brothers have strains of whatever it is (shoulders, chest, back, wrists, ankles, jaw). With the combined plethora of tests and studies we have all had nothing has shown up other than my early-osteoarthritis. One of my brothers was diagnosed as a Celiac, and then 3 weeks later they told him he wasn't... All different doctors.

Can anyone shed some light on this? I hope this all makes sense.

Best,

Andrew Hawk.

I sometimes have nightmares that my legs are torn off, or i end up with robotic legs (which i wouldn't mind actually) or i end up in a wheelchair like Professor X from X-men. When the doctor told me i had arthritis I went home and cried. (HEY, no laughing... lol) only time in the past 12 years. I don't want whatever this is but a solution would be nice.

i should really learn to use bullet points... i wouldn't want to read that.

The specific examples you gave when your pain was aggrivated all involved you back in flexion. I would suggest a spinal examination be done to check out the symptoms aren't from the Lx spine. It maybe less likely but it's a hell of a lot easier to treat than arthritus so would be worth a shot.