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
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.
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.
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.
This doesn’t sound normal at all. I’m in my mid 30s and I have never had debilitating pain, unable to open jars pain. Like others have said, seek a second opinion.
p.s. get a new doctor, one that will actually listen to you when you say something is wrong.
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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.
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
I’m in my forties and what you’re describing doesn’t sound normal at all. I beat myself up good in my younger years with sports and still do somewhat regular cardio and weightlifting. I have a bum knee and hip problem, shoulder issues from weightlifting injuries, and my back gets stiff and sore on a good day.
None of that stops me from functionally living, and none of its anything the occasional ibuprofen or toke won’t fix in the short term. I can still exercise, do physical labor, open all the jars, and be generally active, and without pain the majority of the time.
What you’re describing sounds more like an inflammatory disease or auto-immune disorder. 110% get a second opinion from a different doc, or a third is needed.
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.
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.
Nope. Not normal sounding to me. Even your doctor says it’s not normal if you think about it, he thinks it’s early. As everyone else states, second opinion time.
Everything you listed, I get, but at a mere fraction, save for the swelling, nothing here. Beyond seeing another doctor for a second opinion, it sounds like you’re physically fit, which is more troubling. I am kind of fit, and sometimes my back hurts. What makes it go away? Working out my core muscles in a regimen after a few weeks. Staying active.
I am 40 fwiw, and you sound far worse off than I feel. See another physician.
I think you have enough people saying that this isn’t normal, but…
You’re in your mid 20’s and you cannot bend over to tie your shoes!? How old is your GP? Sounds like they need to think about retirement… or a career change.
Also just want to second what someone else in here said: Get tested for celiacs disease
I’ve started having issues recently, too. After a work injury, I finally saw my GP, who recommended Physical Therapy, which has basically just been a guided workout with some yoga moves worked in over the course of an hour.
It hasn’t fixed my pain yet, but it’s made it better, and my pain was explained in a way that makes sense (my shoulders and core weren’t as strong as they should have been, placing undue burden on some of my backmuscles).
If you don’t want to go to PT, I’d strongly recommend just slowly doing 10-15 minutes of simple stretching like what you might have done in Gym as a kid. Stretch to the point of mild discomfort, not pain, doing each stretch 3 tines for 10 seconds. It might be worth looking into some basic yoga poses that target your particular pains (or the ones that you want to target first).
I’ll bet you’ll notice good results after a week. If not, definitely go see your GP again.
Obligatory “I am not a doctor”
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.
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.
