Edit: thank you all very much for your time, thoughts and effort to reply to this. I really appreciate it and I try to find a new doctor.
Your questions and encouragement were very helpful and made me realise that my symptoms are too strong, considering my lifestyle. For those who asked questions, here are the answers:
I eat healthy, we cook fresh, colourful food almost every day, only drink water, coffee, tea, no alcohol, no smoking, no fast food.
I walk my dog several times a day and when I’m doing something where I have to sit for an extended period of time, I take a little walk evey hour or so and also use a standing desk attachment to change my position. I sleep on a really good mattress (my partner struggled with our last one so we invested in a good pair of matresses, matching our body type)
I have a healthy weight on the lower end of the scale. I had to cut back my exercise that I was doing for twelve years due to the pain, switched to light Yoga and streching until even that became unbearable.
Thinking about all this together, I think my fear of not being taken serious made me believing my current GP.
I’m in my mid twenties. My body seems struggling, since May/ June, so some time then I went to my GP. His response: “everyone experiences symptoms of their ageing body at a different time, seems like you just experience it earlier…” This was around May/ June, it just tends to get worse. Which leads to the questions featured in the title. My body hurts, like, a lot. Especially my low back/ sacrum. My knees, shoulders, wrists, ankels. My hands are swollen in the morning and they hurt, I can’t unscrew any lids or bottle caps, sometimes can’t even write anymore as my fingers are very stiff. As the rest of my body. I can’t reach for anything on the ground in the morning, it makes everything so difficult. I can’t really bend over to tie my shoes or pick something up. I can’t do my regular activities even though I really want to do my sports like climbing which I really like. I do like being active and want to stay fit. But it just hurts too much. At the same time, resting somehow makes it even worse. I’m exhausted, but need to constantly move around on a low level. How is everyone else doing this if this is what ageing feels like? How am I supposed to have kids or even just live like this, as I always just hear that with an ageing body, everything just gets harder every year? I really do appreciate everyone who reads this. Thank you in advance for answering if you have any tips on how you manage this
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No, this is not normal. I would honestly look for a different general practitioner. I would start by just getting a full blood work panel done if you haven’t had that yet, and hopefully that will provide some insights right off the bat.
I had some chronic shoulder pain for years. Primary physician was like “yeah that sucks”. 2 specialists were like “yeah, old collarbone injury I guess? Take Advil”
Years later, third specialist opinion found a missing ligament and did surgery.
Moral of the story is that you should get a few opinions here, maybe the first isn’t right
Missing ligament? Like because of genetics or something? That’s wild
Actually, missing because of a high-side on a motorcycle years ago. I did break some bones, but also tore through the ligament. Well, I guess it died from lack of being attached or whatever and was gone by the time they got an MRI on it
It allowed the bicep to regularly pop out of the humeral groove, which I assure you was not pleasant
Mid 20s is way too young to be experiencing chronic pain caused by normal aging. That being said, it can be caused by being out of shape. If you’re not eating right, keeping active, and keeping a regular sleep schedule then the pain might be because of your lifestyle. If you dont think you’re out of shape, then you definitely need to talk to different healthcare providers and stress how your chronic pain is interfering with your life.
Nah, I did everything wrong in my 20s and I experienced nothing like OP’s symptoms.
Your body isn’t OP’s body, genetics also play a role.
I think you know this isn’t normal. You know people twice as old who are in less pain.
I’m decades older than you and I’ve only experienced much milder versions of some of what you’ve described. Your dr is a complete asshat. I think drs tend toward being negligent about that sort of thing as people age in general, but to hand that line to someone in their mid-twenties is beyond stupid.
I would definitely get a second or third opinion if I were you
I am a man in my late forties and I can tell my body is running down. But, um, I don’t deal with constant pain. Swelling. I can do everything I want to do.
Seek a second opinion. That doctor is not listening to you. Something other than aging is going on and it should be properly investigated.
Thank you for your answer, I appreciate everyone wo is taking the time and effort. Well, my brother has spondylitis ankylosans. I asked my doc about it (my mother always warned us to have in our mind when something comes up) but he said that this is not related and my symptoms wouldn’t match as I am too young. He also stated that it especially has nothing to do with low back pain. Other than that, no chemicals, no radiation (we live in a area where this actually can be a problem so it is quite common to check for it and we never had any elevated levels) I’m not working in a high stress environment, no heavy lifting or something like that and I move quit regularly during the day
It’s really interesting to me that you have provided this additional clue because ankylosing spondylitis was literally the first thing that popped into my head reading your story. I agree with others that your story sounds much more than typical aging symptoms and you should seek the opinion of another physician.
Yeah well my GP just shoved this aside and I didn’t do any reasearch about it, because I try to avoid reading about symptoms etc. in order not to get ‘biased’, like interpeting too much or influencing my diagnosis (does this make sense?) but as you were asking about it it came back to my mind. Maybe I should check in with a specialist as I just now tried to find some information and it seems to fit really good, it even matches some minor other problems I had earlier (and my GP himself diagnosed me with)
Even if it ends up NOT being ankylosing spondylitis exactly - you should know that there are some hereditary factors that predispose to AS but also to other, similar conditions which are collectively called “inflammatory spondyloarthropathies.” Given your brother’s diagnosis you probably have a higher chance of one of these conditions because of your shared genetics. So yeah absolutely ask another physician until someone investigates your symptoms!
Thank you for this insight. I really don’t want to be sick but if there is something, especially something that could be treated, I’d like to know. My GPs response somehow made me feel like I was overreacting but with so many people reacting so differently, I’ll try to take myself serious and get that checked out!
Up front: I am not a doctor.
Seriously, seek a second opinion, and if you are a woman, and it sounds like the original doctor is a man, find a woman doctor. I know this sounds sexist, and I’m honestly not trying to be, but it has been shown many times how male doctors tend to overlook or not listen to female patients. You must advocate for yourself.
Anecdotally, my spouse has had this happen numerous. And it is extremely frustrating every time because it’s effectively a waste of time and money. And, something could be seriously wrong (not saying anything actually is), so you should make very certain at minimum that certain testing is done such as various tests from blood work and/or urine testing.
Thank you for your encouragement. I didn’t consider gender playing any role in this yet even though I know about gender bias in medicine in general. Definitely something one should consider when finding a new practitioner
Putting aside whether it’s normal for you to be experiencing aging so early*, you should still see another PCP because they didn’t manage your actual concern: “I am experiencing issues functioning day to day life, and would like a plan to manage this”.
It would have been one thing if the doctor had said “yup, just you, so let’s get you into an assisted living arrangement now”, or “I’m fairly certain this is just your shitty genes, but to rule out anything else, let’s send you for X tests and see the Y specialist”.
From your post, it doesn’t sound like that was the case.
*The joke goes that after thirty you don’t get injured, you get permanent disabilities.
What you do for work might be a factor, but i dont think pain to that extent is normal. I would stress to your doctor that basic tasks are painful and that youd like to get checked out anyway. Youve got nothing to lose by getting it checked, only to gain. Im in my mid 20s too and while i get aches in my knees/back occasionally its not debilitating as you describe it.
Agree with everyone else that this isn’t normal for someone your age and get a second opinion.
However addressing your other questions: you’re at an age where lifestyle starts to really matter. Diet, exercise, ergonomics, environmental exposure to pollution/toxins, alcohol/drug use, sleep habits: these are all things that many healthy young adults can avoid having to worry about… until suddenly they can’t anymore. It is common, especially starting around age 30, to find there’s unhealthy behaviors from your teens and 20s that you just can’t do or do to excess anymore. It’s different for everyone; for some people it’s that they can’t sleep on a crappy mattress anymore, or drink certain types of liquor, or pull all nighters, or eat garbage, etc etc.
So while it sounds like you have some personal health issues outside of what’s “normal,” you still are at an age where the cumulative effects of a poor lifestyle can start to catch up to you. I think a lot of people greatly underestimate how sedentary their lifestyles are in particular, and of all the behaviors to change for the better as you age, going from sedentary to active is probably the hardest, given that our world is built to keep us sitting: sitting in our cars, sitting at our desks, sitting on our couches, basically sitting from the moment we wake until we go to sleep. Humans never lived like this until very recently: basically every decade since the personal automobile became the standard mode of transportation it’s steadily gotten worse. So yes, definitely do some doctor shopping, but now is also a great age to take stock in your lifestyle and how you’re treating your body. Because yes, it does get a little harder each year, but the speed of which it gets harder is at least partially up to you.
I’m entering 40s and this doesn’t sound normal to me. Get a second opinion if your doctor is writing it off. Don’t get me wrong, as I got older my joints are sore and pop in the morning. My back can’t handle some sports I used to enjoy. You’re too young to be struggling with jars and shoes in my completely uninformed nonprofessional opinion.
Times a thousand. I’m older and have beat the shit out of my body with drugs (ended early 20s) and alcohol (still) and don’t get enough exercise and I wake up feeling reasonably good. What has been described here is outside of normal aging. Good luck!
Also, give up on that doctor. Reminds me of one that assumed I had a hemorrhoid without checking it and I actually had an abscess of infection. Emergency room doc told me that had I waited any longer for a second opinion I’d have had to get checked in to deal with it. Your current doctor is dangerously unqualified.
Well that sounds rather unpleasant. Maybe I was a little naive in assuming that this doctor for sure won’t tell any bullshit, as he seemed (
old) experienced. I’m glad you had the courage to get a second opinionI work in healthcare. Can confirm that most doctors are full of shit to some degree, and many will default to “no problem” if they don’t know what is wrong with you.
There are good ones out there who will listen though. Keep looking for an answer.
As others have responded, your joint pains are not normal. Yes, I had joint and muscle pains in my 20s, but it was always obvious how I got them and they eventually healed after several days.
When I was 55, my fingers started swelling and I was unable to perform simple tasks. My doctor ordered a series of blood tests, CBC (Complete Blood Count), CMP (Comprehensive Metabolic Panel), Rheumatoid factor, Lyme disease (there are 2 tests for this), plus others that I can’t recall off the top of my head. I was eventually diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis.
You should find a doctor who won’t ignore your symptoms.
Fuck your GP, get another. You’re having an immune system problem. It might be there’s nothing that can be done, but you need to be properly checked. That pain is your body fighting itself and it’s not good.
I’m the mean time, start a regular regiment of naproxen, soak your knuckles in rather warm water to alleviate temporary pain and get into a new GP ASAP.
A guy I used to work with had very similar symptoms just before he was diagnosed with Celiac’s Disease. You can always ask your doc to test for it. Simple blood draw.
Interesting you bring up Celiac Disease, as I found it doing some GoogleMD^tm myself, but had forgotten about pursuing it.
I’m a bit older than OP, but have almost all the same symptoms, and have gotten the same “your just getting old” response from everyone. I still believe mine is tied back to me getting COVID (only tested positive that once), and have hurt basically non-stop to some degree since. I know people have all sorts of long-COVID things from taste, smells, breathing, diabetes, heart issues (blood clots/blood pressure/etc.) and on and on. This woman at work had this wild autoimmune thing with kinda painful rash blots that would randomly popup all over her body not long after she had COVID. I guess it’s possible maybe it triggered Celiac Disease for me.
