Hi all, I was diagnosed with patellofemoral arthritis at 23. I’m extremely active, but despite stopping running and anything else that is hard on them when I was diagnosed 4 years ago, they have gotten much worse and I know they will continue to get worse.

I’m trying to push off any invasive surgery as long as possible and have read some good things about PRP/Stem cell injections. Has anyone had any luck with them? If so, how did you find the right spot to get it done? It sounds like people do have success with it, but it can really depend on the clinic that you go to for the injections. I know it isn’t cheap, so I want to make sure I find a reputable spot if I do invest in it. Thanks in advance!

I'm regularly updates on my experience with a full wrist fusion surgery. I have seronegative rheumatoid arthritis. Hopefully this helps someone!

Hi Team Thritis,

Been struggling with back and chest pain for a while. Finally got to the bottom of it. Effectively every T from 1-12 has thoracic costovertebral osteoarthritis. And all the facets have arthropathy.

Weirdly, I really can’t find all that much research on this type of Arthritis. Which makes me feel special in not a great way.

Was wondering if there are others out there and if they would be willing to share their experiences? Mine has been me losing my mind convinced that I’m having heart and lung issues.

Any direction to some research or personal experiences would be greatly appreciated.

so i got an mri on my back in 2023 when i was asymptomatic, and they noticed early facet arthritis. flash to summer 2026 and im having really bad back pain and need another mri. this recent report says “no significant arthropathy.” has anyone experienced conflicting reports like that? should i ask for a second opinion from another radiologist?

I'm 21 now , diagnosed very late because lack of attention and facilities

So my doctor has prescribed me a folitrax (mtx)10 mg for once a week

And folvite 5mg twice a week

For eg. Mtx - Sunday

Folvite - Friday, Saturday

Which should we start first ?

I'm anaemic person tho

PS- not able to contact doctor online because of his leave .

I went to a rheumatologist few days ago for pain in my hands and he wrote down some tests and pelvis X-ray (i don’t know why) . Today saw him again with all reports he looked at the x ray and said i have very mild arthritis in my back which was confusing . I asked him what does this have to do with my hands and he didn’t say much said it was my hyper mobility. I have been asked to take an injection weekly 1ml corticosteroid and then do more tests after a month . I looked up the injection and even people with severe pain are not given it weekly . Its making me anxious. My family wants me to take all of them . I don’t understand the treatment plan its making me really anxious.

24f. Had mild lower back pain since childhood and couldn’t stand for long stretches of time. I have hypermobility too. Family history of psoriasis and alopecia. ANA, ACA, etc negative when tested a few years back.

Joint pain progressed slowly and now my elbows, knees, ankles, wrists hurt daily. My joints keep cracking 24/7 with minor movements too. I can “feel” and hear my joints grinding with movement? Neck and wrist.

It’s bad right after waking up and gets better with some movement. I have learned to live with it but it becomes debilitating around my periods and I genuinely can’t get off the bed for a week. The joint pain became very bad in the last two months and I’ve been having GI issues too for some time.

Recent tests: CRP 30(range 0-5), ESR 19. No infections, HLA-B27 pcr positive. I was taking a load of NSAIDs daily before the test.

Most doctors dismissed me for years until the new one. A rheumatologist said it’s fibromyalgia without any tests and others said that’s its anxiety and the combination of hypermobility with limited physical activity. No one seemed to think that this could be a real thing even with the inflammatory markers. I was told that it was likely due to something else.

New doctor clocked it immediately. He did a physical exam and said that my back is stiff and it shouldn’t be(I thought that it’s due to less activity and being underweight?). That and other stuff like hla b27, high CRP, family history etc. He immediately ordered a MRI of my lower back and said that this looks exactly like Ankylosing Spondylitis(?)(waiting for results to confirm) or something similar and we need to investigate it immediately.

Soooo, on one hand, I want to cry because I am so relieved that this is NOT in my head and I am not crazy and there’s finally a doctor who is looking into it.

On the other hand- what the f*ck. No one else in my family has such a complicated mess of medical issues. One of the doctors taking my history this time was fascinated by what’s on my record lol. I have Asperger’s, ADHD, a bicornuate uterus, strange unexplained reactive lymph node issues, hypermobile joints, GI issues(no celiac), etc. This feels like a sick joke at this point. My grandma had HLA-B27 positive too and psoriasis but that’s it. It’s like I got the mixed bag of goodies from the genetic bullshit lottery. My health was great till the age of 18-19 and then these things started stacking up one by one. I used to be great at a lot of things before this started and now I am lagging behind.

I used to be able to do a wheel pose in high school for fun but I haven’t done it in a couple of years now. After being told that it’s most likely AS, I am tempted to try it. Of course I won’t but I really want to.

So I want to know what to expect. What even is this and has anyone else experienced all this at once?

More than that, is it possible that my chronic joint pain, stiffness, etc is just due to hypermobility and lack of regular exercise? It gets DEBILITATING only during periods. I always had lower back mild pain growing up but it progressed with age so I am somewhat dubious. Is it possible that AS started when I was a kid? Is the stiffness normal due to limited activity (it’s kind of an ouroboros situation because I struggle to exercise due to fatigue and pain).

The pain and stiffness got worse in the last few months. I now have some discomfort or pain daily in some joint these days and tend to limp around the house but it’s not bad enough to keep me bed bound unless it’s my period. Then again, is it normal to have such severe joint pain during periods even? My obgyn didn’t seem to think that it was a problem the last time I went to her.

I do tend to sit in weird positions because my back hurts otherwise. Back hurts when I sit up straight and this has been a chronic problem.

I would love any kind of advice or suggestions. I wanted to know if anyone else has had a similar experience. (I am obviously NOT seeking a diagnosis here, I am going through everything as my doctor has instructed. I just want to know what to expect).

Did anyone else experience this? How do I know that this isn’t just due to periods or hypermobility? Like yes I definitely have chronic stiffness, fatigue and pain outside of periods but I can’t accurately tell if it’s bad enough to be a problem because most doctors so far have told me that it’s not significant.

Thanks for reading.

24f. Started getting chronic mild joint pain for a few years but it wasn’t too bad until this year. I went from being okay to staying in bed for two weeks due to bad joint pain.

Knees, lower back, ankles, elbows started hurting a lot, especially after waking up. Sometimes I would get really bad, sharp flares of pain in some particular big joint like my hip or knee. These would last for a few days and I would have trouble moving. In the last few months, I have mostly limped around my house due to joint pain. I believed that it was due to less physical activity but it became unbearable after a while, to the point that I couldn’t get out of bed without taking double doses of pain meds.

My ANA and ANCA was negative when I was tested three years back. I do have family history of seronegative conditions however. ESR has generally stayed 20+ for most of my adult life. My pain has been especially bad lately and CRP came out to be 30. No infections or sickness. I went to a rheum but they did not take me seriously due to my age perhaps? Did not want to test for anything.

Anyways the joint pain kept getting worse by the day and I was having trouble doing basic tasks. I felt like a fraud because the pain was so bad but no one believed me.

Then my HLA-B27 pcr test came back positive. Inflammatory markers in blood are also high. I know that this doesn’t confirm anything but it’s a start and I think that I may be taken seriously FINALLY.

I still feel like an idiot though. What do I do now? How do I bring this up without sounding stupid? I am very nervous about this because I have been dismissed so many times. What is next? How do I go about this? What tests can I ask for to figure out the next steps? I don’t want to be dismissed again.

My pain is in my knees, elbows, neck, ankles (especially ankles). Lower back hurts bad if I stand straight for a while(present since childhood but worse now). Pain starts after waking up, dulls after a bit of movement, and then flares up again if I sit in the same place for too long. My joints crack loudly all day with simple movements. Frequent gi issues too. Joints are also hypermobile but they only started hurting very badly this year onwards. Also have mild genu valgum since childhood.

I still feel like I may be imagining all this because doctors don’t seem to take it seriously when I mention joint pain.

What do I do now? What could this be? I really need to know how to proceed.

I’m 17 years old and ever since last December, I’ve had pain and discomfort in my arms and hands that my GP thinks is arthritis. He set me up with an appointment to see a rheumatologist in December, but I’m worried that it’s too far away from now and that my joints could be permanently damaged by then. Should I be worried about this?

Help! This started happening about a week and a half ago. My right (&dominant) hand was swollen upon waking up. I have had pain at my joints and in between my index and middle finger. I have also had swelling throughout the whole hand. I haven’t been able to wear rings for this time due to it (including my smart ring). This is only occurring on my right hand. Swelling, pain (ache & sharp), redness at times. I have gotten compression gloves and have begun to wear one on this hand when the pain is worse.

I was just diagnosed with Small Fiber Neuropathy and Dysautonomia this year. I do also have arthritis. I was checked for RA and lupus a few years ago but those had come back negative. I’m not sure if that has changed.

I thought I would post something in here as I’m a long time listener first time caller. I’m a 50 year-old male 5’10” tall 170 pounds. I’ve played tennis my entire life and over the last two or three year my right hip had become so sore with arthritis that getting to play tennis was next to impossible. With that said, the doctor said the next step would be to have my hip replaced. To be honest, I had no desire to go through that nightmare. I had read a ton of anecdotal stories about people getting on GLP one and finding a great improvement in their joint pain and overall inflammation. With that said, I started on .25 about three weeks ago and over the last two weeks my pain has gone from an 8 to about a 2 and I’m back to playing tennis, putting on my shoes and socks without pain and frankly living a much more comfortable life than I was prior. I had no need to lose any weight because I’m in pretty good shape, but it’s also really helped me eat a much more healthy diet without having to force myself to stay away from junk. Is it a coincidence? It might possibly be but the change has been so radical that it’s hard not to connect the two things together.

I am finding this is one big barrier to coping with arthritis in my neck. I understand this is a serious condition and I was able to get my levels from age 30 Level 4 to age 34 Level 3.

Now, I am finding it is hard to feel, like the whole numbness in L4 situation and waiting on MRI results. On the plus side, using magnesium and higher dose of Vitamin D3 at 2500 IU very effective.

I just feel like when the weather shifts around like in the dead of winter January to March and that pressure shifts, I am not made to have a lot of stamina. How do you cope? For reference, I am fairly thin and try to be active.

I get joint pains if I eat meat or seafood. I've been managing this by significantly reduce meant/seafood intake. Limiting meat/seafood intake had been working fine for many years.

However, in January 2026 I started to get pain outside my right knee after going down a mountain almost non-stop for 4 hours. The pain lingered for months now. I can no longer go down hills or slopes without pain.

People online suggested that it's ITBS so stretches should help. I tried but it didn't fix it

Worse even I started to feel knee stiffness whenever I walked too longer. It started a couple of weeks after I started to walk 10000 steps a day. It continued even when I reduced my walking steps to 8000 or even 6000.

The pain continues even if I don't eat meat. It sucks.

Does anyone else have similar experiences?

I'm happy to report the below:

The issue is almost gone completely now. Yeh! :D I tried all the physiotherapy tips for 7 months. It helped a little bit but not much. In the end it got worse since my knees started to feel rusty any time I walked too long (up to 1000 steps) or went up or down stairs. Some suggested that magnesium supplement might help. So I started to take it but still the issue persisted.

One day I consulted Gemini about starting to feel dizzy before the end of my 18 hr fasting. Gemini suggested that I might be short of potassium since my kidneys have been releasing potassiums during the fasting. So I started to take a pinch of heart salt in my morning black coffee every day, as suggested by Gemini.

Immediately not only my diziness went away but also my knee discomfort started to improve. Apparently magnesium and potassium work together to strengthen leg muscles which are critical to support knees.

It's been a month now and my knees are totally fine again. I still get a tiny and short pain outside my right knee occassionaly but it's no longer bothering me that much. I can walk downstairs or down slope without pain most of the time, thanks to Gemini AI. It's my go to consultant for health issues now.

Is there any way to help improve this or slow this process down? I feel like my joints are going one by one - and very worried