Q. How can chronic body pain associated with movement be tested?
Hello doctor, I am a 44-year-old man with undiagnosed chronic body pain associated with movement. Sed rate and CRP in normal range, uric acid level tested after a bout of kidney stones last year, but that was also in normal range. Is there any tests you could suggest to my attending? Please advise.
Hello. The normal ESR and CRP essentially rules out inflammatory conditions. Uric acid levels, if high, can lead to joint pains, not body pains. Based on you height and weight, your body mass index is 37.3. This is considered morbid obesity. People with high BMIs can have issues like obstructive sleep apnea, impaired glucose tolerance and high blood pressure. Obstructive sleep apnea can present with manifestations like chronic fatigue and chronic body pains among others. If you are known to snore, have apneic spells (spells during sleep where your breathing stops for several seconds intermittently), feel fatigued and sleepy during the daytime, have frequent headaches and irritability, ask your doctor to screen you for obstructive sleep apnea. If present, that may explain your chronic body pains. Even if you do not have symptoms of OSA, losing weight can improve your overall health and prevent development of metabolic diseases like diabetes. If you want to lose weight, I suggest cutting down on carbohydrates and consuming healthy fats. This is a low carbohydrate, high and healthy fat diet (otherwise called ketogenic diet).