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What Causes Persistent Severe Joint Pain?

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Posted on Mon, 5 May 2014
Question: My husband has been experiencing severe joint pain for the past 2 years and the Dr's can't figure out what is causing it. At the moment it's in his back, shoulders and knees, but he also gets it in his wrists, glutes, fingers, feet and ankles. He's been tested for rheumatoid arthritis and although he has the markers, none of the medications are working for him and the rheumatolgist suggested it may be tendonitis however the steriods he was given for that aren't making any difference. He has just had blood tests as a routine after a heart valve replacement in Dec and they showed that he is anemic. Could his severe joint pain be associated with anemia? I was looking at the Sickle Cell list of symptoms and it does mention bone and joint pain, often severe. He often gets so bad that he can't even put his trousers on or lift his shoulders.
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Answered by Dr. Karl Logan (48 minutes later)
Brief Answer: Consistent with Inflamamtory arthritis Detailed Answer: Hi, His symptoms are consistent with an inflammatory arthritis such as Rheumatoid arthritis although there are different types even with negative blood work. Usually the treatment for Rheumatoid arthritis type conditions starts with antiinflammatory medication and then escalates to include drugs which we term DMARDS - disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs an example of these would be methotrexate. Patients with inflammatory arthritis can be anaemic. recent heart surgery could also result in anaemia. The blood work that he has had done depending on the results should give and indication of the type of anaemia he has which would guide further investigations to help find a cause. it's unlikely at his age to be sickle cell anaemia. I hope this information is of benefit to you. Best wishes
Note: For further queries, consult a joint and bone specialist, an Orthopaedic surgeon. Book a Call now.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Raju A.T
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Dr. Karl Logan

Orthopaedic Surgeon

Practicing since :1999

Answered : 705 Questions

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What Causes Persistent Severe Joint Pain?

Brief Answer: Consistent with Inflamamtory arthritis Detailed Answer: Hi, His symptoms are consistent with an inflammatory arthritis such as Rheumatoid arthritis although there are different types even with negative blood work. Usually the treatment for Rheumatoid arthritis type conditions starts with antiinflammatory medication and then escalates to include drugs which we term DMARDS - disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs an example of these would be methotrexate. Patients with inflammatory arthritis can be anaemic. recent heart surgery could also result in anaemia. The blood work that he has had done depending on the results should give and indication of the type of anaemia he has which would guide further investigations to help find a cause. it's unlikely at his age to be sickle cell anaemia. I hope this information is of benefit to you. Best wishes