I'm so sorry for the difficulties you are having. I hope you find the resaon and the cure, soon.
I had something sort-of like it a few years ago. No pain, but about the same time every aft. noon, I would get the chills and shake uncontrollably. This would go on for about 1-1 1/2 hrs, the subside. This went on for over a week, then I finally went to the Dr. he put me in the hosp, and they ran all kinds of tests, even taking blood during the time I had the shakes. Then after 2 days in the local Hospital. they sent me down to a MPLS, hospital by ambulance. I had a whole lot more tests including a bone marrow test. They finally determined I had cytomegalavirus CMV for short. It is a form of Mononucleosis. I had a couple treatments of anti-biotics and went home after a week. Dottie

I've had severe chills like that after drinking mint tea. I have problems with many salicylates and each one has diferent reactions. One effects my breatthing, some cause rashes, some cause severe bruising, but mint causes severe chills.

I'm sorry to hear you are in such pain. I wonder if this has anything to do with the Shingles you had a while back?

Any chance you could have Lyme disease?
Lyme disease symptoms include a fever, fatigue, chills, body aches and a headache can accompany the rash. Migratory joint pain is also among lyme disease symptoms. If the infection is not treated, one can develop bouts of severe joint pain and swelling many weeks to months after he/she is infected. Knees are especially likely to be affected, but the pain may shift from one joint to another.

I hope you can find a doctor that can figure all this out and that you will be feeling better soon!

I don't think it has anything to do with the shingles, but I have been wondering about Lyme disease. I pulled two ticks off my pets over the past couple of weeks, and my first thought was the possibility that I could have a tick on me somewhere.

I called the doctor this morning, but they didn't return my call. They're probably closed for Christmas.

This is so weird. I was fine yesterday.

I have the same type pain when I get overly tired or stressed and I am told.....it is "probably" nerve damage from the chemo....

It could be as simple as a 24 hour virus. I had an episode while I was on the cruise and had the same type pain for 24 hours and then it gradually got better.

If you do think Lyme is a possibility make sure you go to a Lyme Literate MD. The link below can help.

Here is a link that might be useful: Finding a LLMD

Doesn't your doctor have an emergency number? Nobody 'on call'? Can one of your (cancelled party) guests drive you to the ER?

Your body could be sustaining damage while you *wait and see*.

I think you are too meek! DH and I use a medical practice where most of the MD's are Jewish and many of the patients are, too. I've learned some good lessons on the need to be *assertive* if I expect to get help.

This is how my daughter felt when she had swine flu. She came home from school feeling fine, took a nap, and an hour later woke up feeling like she was dying. Her body ached EVERYWHERE, she couldn't even raise her arms to hold her glass of water, and I had to help her to the bathroom because it hurt to walk. Her entire body ached, and she laid in bed crying. Her doctor prescribed her Tamiflu and corticozone and she felt better in 24 hours. Oh, she also was running a high fever, too.
Hope you are feeling better soon, and that is is nothing serious.
Hugs,
Tammy

Other than the flu or an allergic reaction to something I can't imagine what could have caused a sudden onset like that. That is really worrisome. Have you checked your temperature?

I hope you've called the doctor again. Did you speak with anyone when you called this morning or did you get a recording? Does he have an answering service that takes calls after hours? I don't care if he's a solo practitioner - someone should call you back.

I get terrible bone aching chills. In my case this last time I suspected my thyroid was low again so I went by the lab last week. Sure enough my numbers are high again so today I start on a higher dose of meds.

Hi All,

Well, my doctor is out this week, but his nurse called me back. Then she spoke with the doctor on call and called me again, saying I should take Advil every four hours around the clock, and if I'm no better in the morning they'll fit me in. They'll be there only in the morning.

After that call, I discovered that Advil is ibuprofen, which I'm not supposed to take. So I took more aspirin.

Tammy, when I first woke up with pain all over, I was sure I was coming down with the flu. I don't think that's it, though. No fever, and no sore throat.

The nurse said I'd know it if I'd been bitten by a tick. I don't agree. One of the problems with living alone is I could have a tick on my back right now, and I wouldn't know it. When I was bitten on the stomach by a deer tick some time ago, I discovered it when I felt it in the shower.

Thanks, everyone, for your concern and advice.

alisande..if you're not supposed to take advil, asprin can be just as bad. they're both anti-inflamitory...

see if someone can get you tynenol, and follow the "exact" dosage, 2 tablets every 4-6 hours and no more than 8 in 24 hours. with my kidney problems, and all the chemo, it was the only thing i could take. thanks be i havn't had to take it very often.

it might be as soothing to rely on a warm shower, and snuggle under the covers...(if you can sit in the shower..i put a folding chair in there)

Not a shred of advice here. But, I'm sorry you're feeling so lousy and hope you recover quickly.

Ron

Another doctor told me a long time ago that I shouldn't take ibuprofen because I react badly to naproxyn (or however it's spelled). I guess they're in the same family or something.

I do have Tylenol. Does that do anything for inflammation? My knees certainly seem to be inflamed. (They're warm to the touch.)

I can report significant progress. I've been on my feet for a while this evening, and even made myself some chicken soup. Comfort food! There's no way I could have even attempted that earlier in the day, so this is good.

No advice, but sending good thoughts for you!

Hope you are on the mend. My teenager had bad chills and horrible body aches about 6 weeks ago. The chills left after a day, but the body aches lasted for 5 days. It hurt so bad she would wake up. DR didn't test her for flu since she had no congestion or cough. I have since read on the other message boards of people testing positive for flu with just those symptoms.

I hope you're feeling better today...I can't wait to hear what you find out...in the meantime...stay snuggled and warm!

Thanks, guys. By the time I went to bed last night (10:30) I could barely walk. I was afraid I wouldn't be able to get up the stairs, but I just made it. I could only lie on my back, but nevertheless I got a good night's sleep. The "overnight cure" I hoped for didn't occur, though, and I'm about to call the doctor. My granddaughter is standing by to drive me.

I'll report back.

Hoping to hear you've got a clear diagnosis and some pain relief. (((Susan)))

Hope you feel better soon Susan. That sounds awful! You may be able to take ibuprofen even if you have a problem with naproxen. They are different. Naproxen is what is in Aleve, but ibuprofen doesn't contain naproxen. They are however in the same class of drugs.

I was told yesterday that the doctor would be there till noon, but when I called they said no, I'd have to get there before 11:00. That didn't allow enough time for my DGD to drive me, so my future DIL (love that girl!) picked me up. We made it there at 10:59!

The doctor was honest to say he didn't know what could have caused such sudden, acute-onset pain. He said if it had been related to the brief bout of cystitis I had Monday night, I would not have felt so well on Tuesday. He said Lyme was a possibility, although he didn't think it would present in quite that way. He gave me a prescription for a Lyme test, and said I should have it done on Monday if I was no better by then.

He felt he couldn't prescribe an anti-inflammatory, since I can't take Naproxen, so he gave me two tubes of a prescription topical anti-inflammatory. I don't know how long the cream takes to work, but I put it on a few minutes ago and don't notice anything yet. I'm going back to bed!

That's great that you made it to the office before it closed although you still don't know what caused the pain. Let's hope some bed rest and the topical do their magic and you're back to better soon.

This is not the time of year to get sick!

Did you take any medication for the cystitis? (Grasping at straws.)

I hope this will leave as fast as it developed, but I wouldn't just write it off without further investigation.

Lydia posted a Lyme disease resource. Maybe you should check to seee the test your MD gave you orders for is adequate.

My mother experienced something similar, years ago. She woke up one day with severe pain in all her joints, but over the next few days it slowly went away, except for her knee joints. She had swollen knee joints that were warm to the touch as well, but also had a low fever.

The doctor diagnosed her with sudden onset Rheumatoid arthritis, which sometimes occurs after a virus, or just out of the blue. For the rest of her life she had bouts of sporadic pain in her neck, fingers and hip joints. However her knees were the only joints that had constant pain and swelling that never resolved. She was able to get fairly good pain relief with anti inflammatory medication.

I have wondered, too, if it could be rheumatoid arthritis. DD had something similar a few years ago after a virus. The doctors had no idea what it was but after she was fine again, one of them decided she'd had something called infectious arthritis.

Susan, I am sorry you are in such pain. Have you been tested for hyperuricemia? That is what I have and you are describing the same symptoms I had before I found out. Hyperuricemia is what causes gout which I haven't had yet but my joints are laden with the crystals. I also can't take naproxyn because I break out in hives but I can take Motrin which doesn't bother me. There is some ingredient in naproxyn which isn't in Motrin Ibruprofin.

On a side note just to say how our bodies may fail us my friend's husband came home from work one night 3 weeks ago with a high fever, incredible joint pain and a terrible feeling of unwellness. He was felt fine when he went to work but around noon he was quite ill. They went to the ER and was given an antibiotic. Two days later his fever was 105 and back to the ER again where they admitted him. They tested for H1NI but that test takes 10 days to get results and he just kept getting worse and worse. You could be dead fefore the results come in. The Doctors who came in to see him asked my friend how long had she been taking care of Bill and did he ever get out of bed and walk. She looked at them and said he was a healthy man, he went to work and came home sick. They thought Bill was an invalid! They did many cultures and it was found he had a blood infection that went into his heart - they were still waiting the results of the H1N1. They also found he had "vegetation" growing on his aortic valve. All the skin sloughed off his hands and feet because of the edema. After a week in hospital he was released with the antibiotic line still going into his heart. Cultures came back and it wasn't H1N1 but a staph infection that infected his blood. I guess we all carry the staph bug which can infect us.

Bill went home for almost a week and he was scheduled to come back for an EKG and when they saw the results they admitted him again to the hospital. They sent him by ambulance on Monday to London, Ontario University Hospital for a test and they ended up keeping him. My friend called me last night and said they her husband had open heart surgery. His aortic valve was ravaged by the infection, the surrounding heart tissue was eaten by the infection. Doctors said they cut most of the infection out, installed a temp pacemake until he heals and then will put in a permanent one. They said he will be on antibiotics for along time because they said threads of the bacteria may still remain in his heart tissue and the "vegetation" may still grow. They found no blockages which was excellent. This was a 50 year old man who came home from work in extreme pain and a high fever who felt fine when got up and went to work. We just never know until we start feeling unwell. I am glad you went to see the Doctor.

I feel sad for you that you will be unwell over the holidays.

Anne

Did you take any medication for the cystitis? (Grasping at straws.)

Nope, no meds. I don't get cystits very often, but when I do I follow the treatment I read about years ago in a book by an Englishwoman. She said to drink large quantities of water with baking soda in it. The water flushes out the bacteria, and the baking soda turns the urine alkaline, taking away the pain. It really works.

Boy, Pickyshopper, your mother's experience sounds like mine, except for the fever. I sure hope it isn't rheumatoid arthritis, but I was thinking about it earlier this month when the small joints of my right hand swelled up and became painful. It didn't last long, but I remember saying to someone, "I hope I'm not looking at rheumatoid arthritis down the road."

I was thinking RA too, but didn't know it could have sudden onset. And, I guess I thought you got it younger or it resurfaced in people who'd had rheumatic fever as kids.

Keep us posted, Susan.

I ache when it's cold, and when I get cold. No worries here, even so we have a blizzard (in Oklahoma) cause dd is here and the temps are way higher than normal. Otherwise, I might be hurting.

I wear a lot of wool. It keeps me nice and warm. Right now, I sleep with elbow warmers (hand knitted by me, for me), to keep my elbows from hurting. Most times I wear my fingertipless gloves while sitting here at the puter. Well, in the Winter time that is.

I hope you can get nice and warm, and over this.

Moni

I see you mentioned being bit by a deer tick. Be sure they test you for lyme disease as the deer tick is one of the most likely to cause lyme and you don't necessarily get it right after being bit. It could be weeks or months later. RA is also not out of the question. Both of these have tests to confirm so be sure they run those tests. I have RA and to the best of my knowledge I don't remember running a fever with flare ups and the only heat I would feel would be in smaller joints until my knees got so bad that the flare up lasted longer. They would hurt so badly I couldn't walk but you could not see anything wrong. No redness or swelling, just extreme pain. Also, aspirin is not the same as ibuprofen or tylenol. If you could take it before you can take it now. I don't know why you can't take naproxen but I can't take it either but can take motrin or advil or other brands of ibuprofen. Naproxen causes bleeding for me but the others don't. You might check the differences in ingredients in the various ibuprofens and see if there is something in naproxen the others don't have. I know that years of experience has taught me that ibuprofen works better for flare ups than either aspirin or tylenol as far as OTC drugs are concerned. Of course the doctor can prescribe something that will probably work a lot better.

I sincerely hope your doing better and this doesn't completely ruin your holiday. I'd give you a big hug but know that would hurt so sending cyber pats instead.

I'm sorry, Alisande! I hope the Docs can help your pain.

wishing you a very nice Christmas

I hope you get some relief, Susan. My RA happened pretty much that way, fine one day and WHAM! Pain the next, excrutiating pain. I so hope that it is something else, something curable.

(((Susan))) I am so sorry you are in pain and feeling miserable. Not good this time of year...or anytime of year for that matter. Take care of you and I hope there is a diagnosis soon!

I'm glad you got to see the doctor and he is doing what he can. I hope you get some relief and are able to enjoy your Christmas.

I find cranberry juice and high dosage cranberry pills are good for cystitis.

May your holiday be a painful free Christmas.

If it is RA maybe potassium supplements would help for the time being. Wouldn't hurt to try. See the link for more info.

Also you might want to look at this home remedy site. I've found help there many times!
http://www.earthclinic.com/CURES/rheumatoid_arthritis.html

I hope you are feeling better tomorrow and can enjoy the day.

Here is a link that might be useful: More on RA and Potassium

I came home from celebrating Christmas Eve with my daughter and her family to find all these nice messages waiting for me. Thank you!

My DD told me that she gets the same reaction to naproxen (extreme tachycardia), but she can take Advil or any store brand of ibuprofen without a problem. So I plan to try it (starting with one pill) and see what happens. Meanwhile, aspirin is making a big difference for me. With it, I'm still in pain, but not to the point of tears (when I'm alone).

My cousin highly recommends castor oil packs. This is an Edgar Cayce remedy, and I'm an Edgar Cayce fan, so I'll look into this.

Lydia, I appreciate those links! I hadn't heard of Earthclinic, but it's just my kind of thing.

Merry Christmas, everyone!!

Susan

I sure hope Santa brought you a restful night's sleep. Merry Christmas!

yes, I also think RA.thats how mine started.
hope you get better.

"he gave me a prescription for a Lyme test,"

I've never heard of a "prescription" for a test, but I do hope you mean its a blood test. The RF (rheumatiod factor)reading will tell you if it's RA or not for sure. Or maybe indicate something else. Then they can help you get relief.

So sorry about that awful pain. Hope you feel better soon.

Did you perchance encounter food poisoning? Maybe sammonella (sp?) or bad shell fish?

However, you 'chills' might indicate an infecious disease such as typhoid or lyme's disease.

I've never heard of a "prescription" for a test, but I do hope you mean its a blood test. The RF (rheumatiod factor)reading will tell you if it's RA or not for sure. Or maybe indicate something else. Then they can help you get relief.

He called it a "script," which I took to be short for prescription. Yes, it's for blood work, but only for Lyme and my sed rate. He said this particular Lyme test is more accurate for chronic Lyme than Lyme which has just struck. He felt, given my symptoms, that if I do have Lyme I've had it for a while.

I'm thinking RA is more likely, though. I woke up with pain in my wrists this morning, and I learned that the weird taste I've had in my mouth on and off for weeks could be an RA symptom, too. I hope I'm wrong.

Reason I wrote was cause this sounds like my first bout with RA. Mine started with wrists too. And then, because I waited to go to doctor, it got amazingly bad before I could get it under control.

Just for your info, my RF (normal is 0-30) was 89. CRP (normal 0.0-8.0) was 52.6. Instant diagnosis. And in spite of all that inflamation, my sed rate remained normal at 17 (normal (0-30), meaning don't pin all your hopes on that one.

Hi Susan,

I hope that you were able to rescue some of the Christmas celebration that you'd planned and to get some enjoyment through it all.

I'm sorry, but I have no suggestions to offer.

I hope that your pains and other difficulties have reduced substantially.

Plus that you've made some progress toward a diagnosis.

Sending some good thoughts ... and some prayers on your behalf.

Good wishes for regaining your health, and that right soon.

And I hope that you and yours have a really fine New Year ... that brings the fulfillment of some of your dreams.

ole joyful

My daughter had a "script" for a test this year too. Her pediatrician called it an "order". Anyhoo, I hope you are feeling better and you are able to get to the bottom of what caused your pain.

don't they just draw your blood at your doctor's office?

Nope, Kat. I think years ago they used to, but now I have to get it done at a lab. There are a couple nearby, and the doctors inform the patients that they have a financial interest in one of them.

Joyful, that was downright poetic. Thank you!

I'm thinking RA is more likely, though. I woke up with pain in my wrists this morning, and I learned that the weird taste I've had in my mouth on and off for weeks could be an RA symptom, too

I never had any taste symptoms, only bouts of extreme pain and stiffness, accompanied by severe swelling. The swelling comes from the immune system attacking the joint.
Never chills with a flare.
RA flares are so painful, it overwhelms.
My first flares were in the shoulder....family Dr said it was probably Bursitis.

This went on for years.

When I finally got a DR to order a test for RF, it came back at 2300. Any idiot can diagnose that one, and I finally got treatment.

I had a bad flare while out of town...wrist swelled up so bad, ER first thought it was broken. In fact, had a flare a couple of months ago, and even though I said it was a flare...insisted on an Xray.

Only thing that can calm a bad flare for me is a shot of Demerol, and these days they are years apart.

Now, with RA, morning joint stiffness is normal. When I get up in the morning, I have to pull myself on my feet by holding onto bureau, and the first few steps are excruciating. And my RA is under control :)

(((Susan)))
I hope your better now.