Question
I have been having severe joint pain all over my body.  The pain can best be described as internal.  This means that it doesn't hurt when I bend at the joint.  I had bloodwork done, and at first, calcium levels came back high, so they did a second test, and it came back normal.  I've had other bloodwork for all kinds of arthritic conditions, and they all came back normal.  I had a total body bone scan, and pretty much all of my joints lit up.  I went to a rheumatologist, and he said it doesn't look like arthritis-b/c it doesn't hurt when I bend at those joints that hurt.  It's not a constant pain, it's more like shooting, and it pops up for a few seconds and then goes away, and then maybe 5 mins later, the pain pops up again.  The pain started in November, and it went away in April.  Now it's back, and I want to know what it could be-since my doctors don't have any answers for me, and I have a really crappy insurance company.  Any ideas on what else I could be tested for?

Answer
Dear Michelle,   If you have NOT had the blood test ANA or RF, then these are 2 that you really need to have done...  The ANA would diagnose a POSSIBLE autoimmune disease and the RF blood test would Possibly help to diagnose Rheumatoid Arthritis.....   The only way to diagnose Osteoarthritis is through x-ray....

Other than this, I really do not have any other suggestions....

thank you,   karen