Has anyone experienced pain in the back and shoulders?

@dbianchi Welcome to Mayo Connect - Many of us come here because we are dealing with pain, and it can come from a surprising variety of sources.
You are wise to have asked for bloodwork, and to be addressing your high inflammatory markers.
One thing that caught my eye was your remark "The continued pain that has radiated concerned me..."
Something to consider is that radiating pain may be "referred pain" or what we call in our home "pain buddies". When one joint or muscle hurts, we try (even unconsciously) to protect it by tensing up muscles in the surrounding area and beyond. Pretty soon, we can become just one big ball of pain.
That is something that has happened to me. After pain management evaluation, it was determined that while I had plenty of arthritis, and some torn muscles, I have spent 3 years, off and on, having specific, targeted physical therapy with myofascial and trigger point release.
Now, quite a bit of my pain can be managed by PT visits, stretching, exercise, minimal (non-opioid) medication, deep breathing and guided imagery exercise. After 2+ years, my partially torn rotator cuff is nearly healed - at 73 I will not be digging ditches or hauling straw bales & bags of manure, but I can do nearly everything I need to - as long as I maintain my health regimen.
So, if the final result of all your testing is "inconclusive" you might consider something similar.
Have you had a PT evaluation to see if there is anything they can do to help?

Yes, I had a PT evaluation in May and thought it could help until the MRI was completed on my right shoulder. The orthopedic surgeon then informed me that it was bone on bone and that was what was causing my pain. He said that PT wouldn’t help at this point, only a shoulder replacement. I have gone along with his recommendations but because my left began to hurt also, I decided to request more bloodwork. This past Monday I received my results. I have had cancer prior and am concerned that the high inflammation numbers can point to that. My ANA was negative which seems to suggest it is not an autoimmune disease. Rheumatologists are 3 to 4 months out. I’m looking for answers now and am hoping Mayo Clinic can help me. Thank you for responding. It is helpful information. You must know first hand how debilitating pain can be. My life went from a 10 to a 1.

Yes, I have pain in the neck, shoulders & lumbar area. I am having cervical neck surgery 7/30 and will end up having lumbar surgery. My neurosurgeon says my back looks awful, worse than my neck. I am told that the shoulders hurt, especially the left, because of my neck & that I will feel relief from the pressure in my neck. I have spinal stenosis in both areas.

mine started in the lower back and left leg, now it is my neck and shoulder also. Mine they feel was from the covid vaccine and have 44 IVIG and 4 Rituxan infusions and that seems to be working

I doubt I can help you much, but I will share my own experience with you about my shoulder problems and an observation I made. I was a very active and still working 65-year-old when I got home from work one evening and could barely move my arm to open my car door. I saw an orthopedist for the first time and had an MRI done on my shoulder. My rotator cuff was torn. He gave me a steroid pack to get me through the next few months until I could have surgery. It just wasn’t possible at that time. Three months later after the steroid wore off and he could effectively operate on my shoulder, the repair was done. I had a rough three months of physical therapy, but that shoulder is 100% useful now and I have had zero problems since then. Five years ago my other shoulder started having pain and I went back to the doctor for an MRI. It looked like another torn rotator cuff. I was able to go ahead with surgery right away that time so a few weeks later, I went under the knife again. This surgery was tricky because when he went in for the repair, he found the cuff to be not completely torn. The option for that is cut it and do a full repair, or debride it and supposedly make the recovery and PT time a lot easier. WRONG!! I am now suffering a totally weak shoulder and arm on my left side and really wish he had cut it and done a full repair. I still had to undergo three months of painful PT for the debridement. I’m finally going to get to the point I wanted to make… There was a gentleman undergoing therapy at the same time I was. He had a full shoulder replacement and within a month was able to move more easily than he had in years. He said his recovery had been super simple and he was totally surprised at the ease of the surgery. It doesn’t seem to be a surgery to be afraid of based on the recoveries I have noticed around me. Also, don’t discount what your shoulder could feel like down the road when you are less able to go through any physical therapy easily. I’m sorry if I’m overstepping. I just really wish my doctor had made that little snip and done a full repair or I soon become eligible for a replacement. My arm is fairly useless to me, unless I have steroid injections. My doctor can’t/won’t do that as often as mine are needed. I had blood work done yesterday testing for autoimmune disorders as well. I’m just waiting for the results. I had a diagnosis of RA almost 6 years ago. The rheumatologist I saw was kind of useless. She didn’t do much else but bloodwork and write prescriptions. My regular GP can do that and he is a lot more helpful. Two years later, my blood work came up clear for auto immune. Very odd. We’ll see what the recent tests show. I wish you luck in your journey and comfort in your days. Not knowing what’s going on or the real source of your pain is really hard. I am thankful I have at least one doctor who believes what I say and really works at trying to find solutions.

Thank you. Your reply was very helpful and pretty spot on to my current situation. I’m sorry you are having problems with the arm. I have heard that rotator cuff surgery is worse than shoulder replacement. I had a lengthy discussion with my GP yesterday who sent me to the hospital for more tests to rule out some things. She’s pretty sure I have RA but in the early stages. She told me not to cancel my shoulder replacement because once I see a rheumatologist, they will most likely prescribe medication that will compromise my immune system. I’m in so much pain everyday on my right and left shoulder that I’m actually looking forward to surgery. I have recently purchased a recliner and bidet to help the recovery process. I have heard many accolades as to how PT is pivotal in getting the shoulder back to strength. Again, thank you for your response and I wish you better health ahead. Hugs!

I have had quite the ordeal with 2 total (or complete ) reverse shoulder replacements!!! The operations were a breeze! The pt was not quite a breeze. But I can sleep all night now without having any pain at night while I sleep! I can raise my right arm up over my head and I can change my clothes ,and I can almost cut up my food when I eat my lunch or dinner!! My problems started almost 2 years ago. I started falling on super hard surfaces ( concrete and concrete floors covered in vinyl flooring) I have already found out why I was falling ! A story for another day ! Anyway What I want you to know is You should listen to your GP! I hurt like heck for the last 6 months because I did not want to take any steroids as it would put surgery off for another 3 months or more! Hugs and prayers and much good luck ! By the way My husband and I drove for 10 hours to get home after surgery at The Mayo clinic in Rochester ,Mn. I would recommend that you go there as they have world class Doctors and nurses, everyone that works there are so kind and caring !

thx a bunch for the hugs!

Did you put eyes on your own lab results? Do you know the actual numbers and which tests were run?

I have found that doctors will say that everything looks normal when you have several labs that are high or low.

I have a portal and was able to pull up my results as soon as they became available. They come directly from the lab so I have a printout of every test that was run. Then I get on Google and look up each test. At least that helps me stay a little more informed on what the tests are. I do have to trust my doctor with what we do with those results.