Help identifying a condition that involves joint pain & swelling along w/ a raised rash only over the joints?
Starting when I was about 12 years old, I have occasionally had bouts with a strange, unidentified illness. It starts with a little bit of stiffness in the mornings, and progresses over a period of days until the joints are VERY swollen and aching in the mornings, along with a raised, reddish colored rash over each of the affected joints. The raised welts fade down as the day progresses, but the redness and itchiness over the joints remains, along with stiffness and joint pain. Each morning, the joint pain, stiffness, and rash over the joints is worse than the day before.
It usually starts with the knuckles and wrists of both hands, and progresses to include the elbows, ankles, toes, knees, and even the jaw. Each time the illness has presented, I have seen a doctor who has been completely mystified. I am usually prescribed an anti-inflammatory medicine of some variety to alleviate the symptoms. Once I take a few doses, all symptoms disappear. After the first onset, the length of time between symptoms has been longer each time. As a teenager, it would be a few months apart, and as I got older, more and more years pass between symptoms appearing. The only symptoms are the joint pain and raised welts over the joints – no fever or pain anywhere else.
Due to the fact that the symptoms are the worst when I first wake up and fade some during the day, along with the fact that all symptoms disappear once I take any medications to alleviate the pain and itching, no one has been able to diagnose it. When there are no symptoms, doctors can’t find a thing wrong with me. Does anyone have any idea what this could be?
(I am familiar with lupus, lyme disease, rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, etc. Doctors have all told me that my symptoms are atypical for those diseases.)
A point of clarification – I haven’t had a flare up with this in years, so I’m not looking for a way to treat it. I just want to know what it could be, or if anyone else has experienced the same symptoms. A number of doctors and specialists have told me they’ve never seen anything like it.
Tagged with: ankles • anti inflammatory medicine • arthritis psoriatic • bouts • doctor who • flare • itchiness • joint pain • joints • knuckles • length of time • lupus • lyme • lyme disease • Psoriatic Arthritis • rash • Rheumatoid Arthritis • stiffness • unidentified illness • welts
Filed under: Psoriatic Arthritis
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time to call House.. and if he won’t see you, whip out yer gun.
aids?
You’ve had some funny answers to this one haven’t you ?!
I understand what you are saying, this ‘illness’ has happened to you in the past but not recently, no readily available doctors or posts on the internet describe it, however you are interested in knowing what it was.
Well interestingly enough my daughter, when she was between 6 months and 18 months presented a few times with such a condition as well. She would have a slightly raised temperature (37.5 degrees Celsius), stiffness and swelling in her joints and a large red rash over her hips, knees, elbows and shoulders. This would last a few days. I would take her to the doctors each time, they would examine her and say she would be fine and to continue with fluids and paracetamol as directed.
I think one time the doctor said it was viral, otherwise they couldn’t explain it but to bring her in again, or off to hospital if it got worse.
It always cleared up within 3 – 5 days, with no exacerbations.
I myself have autoimmune disorders and I wonder if it is just some autoimmune thing of really no importance. But it really worried me at the time.
Sorry I couldn’t help you any further.
A good mystery. Could very well be a recurrent flare of a virus that affects the joints. Also possible that it Could be a subspecies of Lyme- as my own Lyme symptoms cleared up for the most part when I was under treatment for the acute stage of the disease, but I still had local joint inflammation & numbness in the knuckles & wrist, with a red rash over the affected joints, that was worst in the morning upon rising but cleared up within a couple hours (at most).
Have you ever been on a high level of antibiotic, such as amoxicillun or Biaxin to see if it caused the symptoms to at first flare, and then slowly fade over a couple/ few weeks? That would indicate bacterial involvement such as Lyme spirochetes.
You can’t rule out a auto-immune disorder either.
I would go see a rheumatologist whose known to be highly knowledgable, if it ever does flare up again for you.