My friend Sue brought this up on another community and its a great question. How many of us had aches and pains growing up and we basically to told to shut - up and go outside and play because they were Growing Pains.
I earned one woodshed trip that I remember for sassing a doc (I was pretty disrespectful) with the "then why the hell (not good language in those days for a 10 year old) wasn't I growing I should be over 6 foot by now?"
I know at least one pediatrician got both barrels from me (and later a copy of the Rheumatologists report) holding to the growing pains report even with 2 elevated ESRs amonth apart in front of her
As you know I had a ton of "growing pains" and injuries that were blamed on being a klutz as a child. I have pretty pronounced scoliosis and other malformations of the spine. But I do not think pediatricians were very good at screening for autoimmune or inflammatory arthritis back then. I do think they understood RA but PsA had not been identified yet.
Hopefully with education young children with PsA will be diagnosed earlier now.
I remember being a little kid and crying at night because my wrist hurt or ankle ached. Now sometimes when I’m in pain, I recognize the same pain. I’m pretty sure I’m done growing, although I wouldn’t mind a few more inches of height!
I also had lhangermans cell hitosis when I was a child, my 5th cervical vertabrae was attacked. So many doctors told me to do strengthening excersizes, and this was after looking at my xray with a bright white bone glaring at them. I felt like everyone around me thought I was a hypochondriac (because they did). They were all surprised when I had to go to the big city and see a specialist at sick kids.
I’ve read some places that most kids who get this disease have a family history of autoimmune disease. I really believe the two are connected somehow, either one triggered the other or they were triggered by the same thing.
I’ll will always believe a kids pain is a serious matter, even if it is “just” growing pains!
My Mom said that I had unexplained rashes. When I was 3, I was put under a UV light to get rid of the rash. I also complained all through childhood and teenage years about my legs constantly aching. My first and second finger on my right hand would swell and hurt. My rheumy tells me that the damage has been done to those two fingers. They don't close too well anymore, let alone grip anything. Then there were my fingernails. I was told that I must have pushed something underneath my nails, because fingernails just don't do what mine were doing. It would take many, many years before I would know that I had fingertip psoriasis and that the mystery rashes were also psoriasis. I try not to dismiss my girls aches and pains so readily, but I sometimes think I might over react because I am afraid that I may have passed this onto them.
I don't remember having growing pains, but I always seemed to have soft tissue injuries, especially in my 20's.
My 12 year old daughter, I'm not telling her, but she already has pitting on some of her nails. She doesn't need to know any of this. She did have what may have been a post-viral flare this summer, with joint pain, fever, etc. No testing needed this summer for autoimmune, as it cleared up with prednisone, but it does have me keeping an eye out for future issues.
As a child I was really healthy other than a ruptured appendix at 15 months old which nearly killed me! Got horrible scars on my abdomen and thighs to prove it. As an adult, though, I've had way more pain "symptoms" of things other family members didn't have....bad back, plantar fasciitis, neck pain (although that might have been a whiplash) weird heart problems, asthma, eye problems (vitreous detachment), horrible pain like my skin was being ripped off of my ribs during the 3rd trimester of my pregnancies, IBS, and I'm sure more that don't come to mind right now. This was all while I already had psoriasis, but nobody ever mentioned PsA to me. I have to say, though, the doctor would always examine my fingernails during my physicals--I guess they don't normally do that. Our youngest daughter had a lot of aches and pains growing up. She's 22 now, and is always really tired. I sure hope none if our kids get any disease, but when it's in the genes, they don't have much say in the matter. On top of it, there's psoriasis on my husband's side--his dad and brother both had it.
For some reason, you sassing your doctor at the age of 10 doesn't surprise me! I sassed a doc when I was a teen, but in my little sister's defense. She was so meek and timid, and I took her to an appointment. (She was 12, I, 15). She already had diabetes for 3 years and told him she just didn't feel good. He asked, what hurts, your big toe? I was livid! I said you know it's not her big toe--you don't need to ask her that! She wants you to figure out what's wrong. He was always a horses ass. He was the same doctor that told my parents to take me home I only had the stomach flu when my appendix was ruptured!
Yup, growing pains indeed - matched with incredible fatigue - which eventually culminated in such a strong immune reaction to result in Sepsis.
The surgeon who saw me when I was first admitted to hospital at 11am said I was just panicking and I’d be fine. The nurses pressured him into keeping me overnight. By 11pm, he was back with a half apology to say I had sepsis but he didn’t recognize it because I didn’t look sick!
Story of my life, just the other month was at the doc feeling like death. He said well you look fine so I’m sure its nothing major. I lectured him about the experience from when I was a kid. He ordered bloods, then when I returned for results, HE lectured ME about how sick I was and that I shouldn’t have been at work!! Lol.
But seriously, I do wonder if the growing pains have some significance - the timing was certainly coincidental!
Jen, I have a problem with doctors realizing I’m sick, too! Especially because it’s difficult to go in and say I’m doing awful. That brings to mind the time I called my nurse and told her I had horrible cramps and something didn’t feel right. She said oh it’s probably just a bladder inf. I decided to go to the ER, where a brownish red urine sample with no bacteria indicated something other than infection. Sure enough, a few hours later I passed a 3mm stone.
Jen said:
Yup, growing pains indeed - matched with incredible fatigue - which eventually culminated in such a strong immune reaction to result in Sepsis.
The surgeon who saw me when I was first admitted to hospital at 11am said I was just panicking and I’d be fine. The nurses pressured him into keeping me overnight. By 11pm, he was back with a half apology to say I had sepsis but he didn’t recognize it because I didn’t look sick!
Story of my life, just the other month was at the doc feeling like death. He said well you look fine so I’m sure its nothing major. I lectured him about the experience from when I was a kid. He ordered bloods, then when I returned for results, HE lectured ME about how sick I was and that I shouldn’t have been at work!! Lol.
But seriously, I do wonder if the growing pains have some significance - the timing was certainly coincidental!
I remember lots of skin issues as a child and teenager, from sensitivity to perfumed soaps to out and out itchy rashes and patches of eczema. Psoriasis not "diagnosed" until I was 48 and that was by my rheumy despite having seen several derms over my lifetime!
But I also remember never being as fit and energetic as the other kids, in spite of being active and skinny. I always seemed to be tired and needed lots of sleep. Running, in particular, was always a problem because my ankles felt funny, like they didn't bend/flex fully ..... now got that problem with walking :(
So I don't know but the feeling that this goes back many, many decades sits very comfortably with what I now know/understand this disease to be and how it feels in this body.
Yes, I remember crying at night with leg pains and of course was told they were growing pains. I am 5'4.5" so I too should have been over 6' with all the "growing" pains. Ran lots of fevers as a child and was almost killed with Penicillin and sulfa when I was 6.
I would never never have been disrespectful to one of my doctors...being raised in the Air Force my Daddy would have taken his belt off right there. He always said, "you say yes sir and no sir because you never know their rank and they are all your elders". I made sure not to make my Daddy upset with me. Miss him!
My daughter suffered with the "growing pains" too, of course she kept growing and is 5'10". But, I am hoping that her tiredness and aches now at 37 aren't what I think they are...
Yes, thinking back and I think I mentioned in a previous post, I do remember having pains in my fingers that I couldn't explain. I'm pretty sure I even spoke to my GP about it. After not getting an answer I just ignored the pain. I really have no idea how long ago it was but I'm pretty sure it was at least in my 20's. I wasn't diagnosed until my 40's.
Reading your posts triggered memories. I had the unexplained fevers in the afternoon and through the night but, in the morning the fever would be gone. I didn't like going outside, I'm very fair skinned, because I would always get rashes and lovely itchy splotches all over. Now that everything seems to be under control, the rashes aren't as frequent. I do work outside now and I haven't gotten a single rash all summer! Happy dance! :)
For all the "growing pains" I had, I'm only 5'3"! LOL I was told time and time again that my pain was growing pains. Even when I hadn't grown in over a year. Looking back, my mother and I agree that I was three or four when my PsA first reared its ugly head. It took until I was 36 for a doctor to believe that there was something REALLY wrong with me.
Same here. Growing pains galore! I an 5'1"!!! I remember crying all night with blankets tied around my knees and legs to try and stop the pain, I was 4. I was born with eczema. My mom said I was covered in rashes and bumps. Of course I never saw specialists or dermatologists growing up. My parents didn't trust doctors. In fact, I didn't see a dentist until high school! I think I am remarkably good shape considering. But I wonder if my life would have been "pain less" if we had done something about this sooner.
Last year I met up with an old gf who I hadn’t seen in many years. We talked about my new PsA friend and all that went with it, and she wasn’t at all surprised. She said that she remembered me having pain in my legs “all the time”. I didn’t remember it at all, but she sure did. Since we spent just about every waking minute together, she would know.
Also, I DO remember having stiffness in my knees way back in elementary school. Sometimes I would have difficulty straightening them or moving when I sat too long in one position.
I didn't have growing pains. A few years before full systemic onset of arthritis, I started having "overuse" sports injuries doing the exact same things that my friends did. And my "overuse" injuries would take multiples of the normal amount of time to heal while I did months and months of physical therapy without getting better before they would recover suddenly when they decided to.
Wow, similar experiences. I never thought about all those growing pains I had as a child. My pediatrician made me feel like a chronic complainer. I was diagnosed with weak ankles and loose knee caps. I had lots of pain in my ankles, knees, and hips as a child along with the rashes. Finally a dermatologist diagnosed the psoriasis when I was around 10. No one ever told me about PsA. I never heard about it until last year when I was sent to the rheumy for pain in my dip joint on one finger. When he said psoriatic arthritis, I asked if it was related to psoriasis because it sounds similar. As soon as he heard psoriasis dx, he immediately said I have PsA. Wish I had known about PsA 20 years ago so I could have complained more, hehe. With earlier treatment, I probably wouldn't be suffering as much as I do now.