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[Guest guest]

Hey there I'm 37 and live in Las Vegas.

My Still's story begins in 1988 when I'd get high 103+ fevers,

night sweats and chills headaches and body aches, the whole deal. This would

last a few

hours then just stop. The next day I'd feel like hell but a little better until

everything would

start over again that night. This would last a couple of weeks and then stop

sometimes

with large gaps. Quick Care would tell me I had the flu or mild infection and

give me an

aspirin for the fever a cold compress some antibiotics and send me home when the

fever

broke. After a while I quit going altogether and would just ride it out.

I got married in 1995 and my wife named it " that weird flu thing " until it

stopped

happening around 1998 and we sort of forgot about it.

In late 2005 my knees began getting swollen and stiff. They made so much noise

my wife

said it sounded like I stepped on a box of crackers when I got out of bed in the

morning.

I'm a skateboarder and attributed it to that until the summer of 2006 when my

hands and

wrists started bothering me. It started off small with a dull ache and some

stiffness but by

November my fingers would get swollen and stiff my knuckles would be bright red

and

my fingers would curl in like I was making a fist. My hands were so weak I

couldn't tie my

shoes or open doors. I'd soak my hands and wrists in the kitchen sink in hot

water which

helped but most days it hurt so bad I would lay in bed with my hands jammed in

my

armpits and cry.

My PCP took one look at me and ordered x-rays, blood work and put me on Mobic

for the

inflammation. He thought it was RA and I think he was stunned when the tests

came back

negative with everything else normal.

We kept at it with more tests, blood work, x-rays, MRIs even a visit to an

orthopedic

surgeon who was amazed at the amount of fluid in my knees but still no luck on a

cause.

The joint pain and swelling spread to my feet and ankles then hips, after more

tests my

PCP referred me to a Rheumatologist in August 2007.

A few weeks before my RD appointment out of the blue that weird flu came back

and by

the time I went in for my first appointment I'd lost about 15 pounds.

The Rheumatologist explained that my PCP was stumped and that's why I was there

and

even with all my blood work and films he couldn't see anything obvious, but I

had a lot of

joint problems and lost a lot of weight, was there anything new we needed to

talk about.

I told him about the unexplained flu I used to get and how it would come and go

but had

disappeared around 1998 and had just returned.

After hearing all that his questions changed and he started poking around my

stomach

and chest and asked if I got a rash. I was allergic to my cat and described the

rash I got.

He took me into his office and showed me pictures of a rash just like mine and

told me it

wasn't the cat and he thought it was Still's Disease.

He asked me to take pictures of the rash to help him confirm the diagnosis and

since I

was still having some night sweats and a little fever at night he put me on 10mg

of

Prednisone a day and ran a few more tests that my PCP didn't. The Prednisone got

rid of

those really nasty symptoms pretty much immediately.

My RD only puts me on Prednisone when the fevers flare up which so far was

August and

the last one in January. I am tapering off again down to 2.5mg every other day.

Between

flare-ups my RD keeps me on Mobic for the inflammation and Vicodin for when the

pain

is really bad and in my way.

Day to day I have body wide muscle aches and pains and joint stiffness,

headaches a

few days a week and a sore throat that comes and goes. The rash pops up if I'm

stressed

or if I don't get enough rest.

This is getting long and since you all know what's up I'll stop there.

Chris