Stan
Hi, first, I wish you luck in finding relief from your chronic pain. There are some similarities between your story and mine, though your problems started much earlier in life. My suggestion is to look at your diet. Do you eat a lot of dairy, meat, and fatty foods? When I was in my late 20's my right knee started to ache and swell anytime it was bent. Through serendipitous events I discovered that if I removed one food source from my diet -- milk -- the pain and swelling stopped. I'm almost 50 now and, other than a very rare milk shake, have not used milk since. Fruit juices are a terrific substitute on breakfast cereals. Throughout much of the last 20 years I've had bouts with back and neck pain and stiffness. Not as severe as what you describe, but significant enough to knock me out of work for days at a time occasionally. Early this year I was diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis (AS), a degenerative form of arthritis. This came while in the throes of 2 1/2 months of a painful hell that had me at wits end. My joints were stiff and back and neck muscles were spasming. Everything ached. Your symptoms sound quite a bit like classic symptoms of AS -- the onset age as well as the joint pain. Have you been screened by your doctor for this? The key for diagnosis is a genetic marker called the HLA-B27 antigen. If you also have regular problems with a chronic eye inflammation called iritis, which I've had for 12 years, you almost certainly have AS, too. You might want to check the info on this website: www.spondylitis.org. After the diagnosis and the prognosis of western medicine: "manage the pain (with drugs), stay active, and watch your posture so your spine doesn't fuse in an 'undesirable position,' I decided to look elsewhere. Trust me, it's easy to lay off all those culinary pleasures when the reward is being able to sleep in comfort, to sit and read or use the computer without pain, and to pick up some of the physical activities again that I've dropped through the years.I hope this helps. Let me know if it does, OK? Good luck!