extremely heavy periods and sharp right sided hip and abdominal pain

hi guys! this is my first time posting here. i am 22f, and was diagnosed with ra, secondary sjogrens and thyroid in september 2025. recently i have been to the er multiple times for heavy bleeding, right sided abdominal pain and extreme hip pain. i saw my gyn today, and btw this is the 11th doctor i have seen regarding this, she simply told me to eat ibuprofen or get on birth control.

here is a gist of my history with my period and ra, and this is what i told the doctor too:

period has always been fairly painful, in 2024 started to become debilitating pain, to the point where 36 hours a month i can’t get up, walk, or do anything, only thing that helped was ibuprofen (2 pills a day). after those two days, i would be ok. very regular cycle, never missed a period, would range from 4-5 days of flow, and 28-32 days of a cycle

aug to nov 2024- sleepy, weak, fatigue, not motivated, something is not right. appetite reduced. went from 122lbs to 115lbs. 

november 2024 - locked shoulder, missed period, low grade fever for a month, low back pain starts. it was equally intense on both sides

december 2024 - fever wanes, weakness stays, HbA1c elevated @ 6.1% (makes no sense because i don't eat sugar), back pain insane on right side, nothing helps. no amount of stretching, pain killers, or exercise helped.

jan to mar 2025 - napping all the time, painful period, stopped responding to ibuprofen in march, insane side face acne, right sided back pain still there, quite consistent and worse during my period, but otherwise fever is gone, and HbA1c reduces to 5.9% by end of march (i made dietary changes like cutting out dairy and increasing fibre)

apr to june 2025 - weakness persists. started bloating like crazy, got mistaken for being pregnant all the time, very uncomfortable bloating too, period ***pain*** increased from 2 days to 4 days; experienced a locked jaw, and another locked shoulder, and started to experience hand and foot pain, went to gyn and she said i might have pcod (no tests, no screening, no ultrasound), started taking metformin and had one pill a day for 1 month, and it didn’t help. HbA1c constant at 5.8%, back pain is same is worse during period and manageable other times.

july to august 2025 - unbearable pain in the morning, can’t walk for an hour because of muscle stiffness, finger joints hurting, however acne began to go away, still extremely weak, jaw locked again, unable to sit for long periods of time, back pain picks up a lot on my period.

september 2025 - got diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, secondary sjogrens, and had thyroid autoantibodies in my blood. started HCQ and stayed on for 4 weeks. didn't help ra pain at all. period pain was at its height, and i started to have blood when i wiped after going number 2 (reasonable amount of blood, not just a little), back pain starts to radiate down to my butt, asshole, si joint and thighs

oct to nov 2025 - switched from HCQ to MTX and folic acid. started to experience a very specific heavy feeling in my lower right quadrant of my stomach, and that would pain all the time. **this right sided pain was continuous with my right sided back pain, and** ***it got worse when i peed***. i went to the er twice, got a ct, 3 ultrasounds, blood work. nothing looked suspicious. i had a yeast infection, for which i got a pill. appetite went down, but weight has been consistent at 112-115lbs. i also started experiencing chest pain which i'm told is an ra symptom.

on october 22nd took prednisone for the first time because i was flaring (10 mg per day, 5 days), took kenalog right before thanksgiving (80mg intra muscular shot) because ra pain did not subside, had the worst period of my life (12 day long period in november, 20 day long period in december). lost vision in my left eye for a few hours in november (i thought it was floaters because of the steroids but never went to the er because i had gone there twice for abdominal pain and they sent me back with ibuprofen). went to my pcp, she told me to eat ibuprofen. did a calmodulin test, negative for ibs. the chest pain got worse as well, not unbearable, but still noticeable.

dec 2025- visited 9 different doctors: GI, gyn, rheumy, naturopath, er, homeopath, spine specialist, orthopedic doctor, everyone, literally every single person and my bills racked up. got an two mris, and a lot of blood work and xrays. worst RA flare ever. GI said it is not anything related to my GI system: had a rectal exam, stool test and blood work and everything looked normal. i had a ventro thecal sac contusion in between L4 and L5, i had a bony island on my right femur head, and a twisted (?) coccygeal bone according to my mris. one doctor told me its ra, the other said its sacro-ilitis (sp?), and another told me it is pcod. spine specialists agreed that it has nothing to do with my spinal cord, but the pain remained radiating down from my lower right back to my upper thigh. i didn’t get a consistent answer from anyone. my gyn said my ca-125 looked good so it wasn't anything serious and that i should get on birth control (ca-125 level was 14 i think). he said the mri didn't show anything serious either, other than multiple cysts (all doctors i met agreed on the fact that my ovaries were ‘impressively cystic and one of them said my uterus looks ‘heavy’; whatever that means lol). gyn suggested diagnostic laparoscopy if i continue to show these symptoms with no explanation. HbA1c is the lowest its ever been at 5.5%, but im eating sugar more now than ever, appetite very low (1-2 meals a day), bloating stays consistent. i start noticing that the chest pain coincides with my period.

jan 2026 to now - same right sided pain when peeing, but my ra has gotten sooo much better. joint pain is slowly starting to go away (not completely gone). however, the back pain never really goes away, it is still at the same intensity, and the ra medications do not effect it at all, i cannot sit for a long time for my butt starts to hurt, when i have physiotherapy and my physiotherapist puts the TEMS machine on my lower back, the same spot in my front right side hurts, the same one that hurts when i pee (i think this was very strange). my tailbone hurts. my right side of my abdomen hurts. my back hurts. all the time. the bloating never goes away, and it makes it very uncomfortable for me to sit, wear clothes, or walk around. rectal bleeding has gotten very scarce (hasn't happened in over a month now). i sleep all the time, i am so tired all the time, and i eat next to nothing. one day i ate one yogurt bowl and 6 pieces of sushi all day and still felt extremely full. **i have had my period since jan 13th and it hasn’t stopped (barring three days in the middle). on march 2nd i bled out over 60 ml of blood in 12 hours, and i had to change my menstrual cup every 3 hours. i pass clots the size of my palm, and i am in a lot of pain. and my chest hurts.** i am told to start humira soon because my rheumatologist says that MTX should have more of an effect given that i have been taking since october, but i wanted to get some clarity on this before starting anything new. i haven’t had any medicine other than the methotrexate (pills from oct-dec (15 mg a week), then switched to im injections from dec-jan (20 mg a week) now im back on the same pills but a little higher dosage (20mg a week), had prednisone only twice (10mg per day pills for 5 days in october and 80mg injection in novemebr). i have not changed my diet, or medication schedule. i don’t know what is wrong with me.

do you think this is all ra related? or should i get more scans and push for more because i think this is gynecological. this is also horrible because i have seen this film before. the medical gaslighting is exactly what delayed my ra diagnosis. they kept telling me the pain is in my head, and it turned out to be ra.

i don't have health anxiety, and i'm very articulate with my symptoms. but i feel like i'm losing my mind after the gyn apt today morning, she made me feel like this is normal? is it normal?