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The first signs of FMF may start as young as five years old, it could start earlier or even very late in life. Attacks have no pattern of recurrence and vary in the same patient. Attacks could last from a few hours to a few days, in some extreme cases they could last for a week or more. Most patients are very healthy between attacks and could go into spontaneous remission for years.
Fever as high as 40 C(104 F),usually accompanied by peritonitis, is the major manifestation. Abdominal pain (most often starting in one part of the abdomen and spreading to the whole abdomen) occurs in almost all patients and can vary in severity and length with each attack. Decreased bowel sounds,distention,guarding and rebound tenderness are likely to occur at the peak of an attack and is difficult to differentiate from a perforated appendix just by physical examination. Patients may also feel chest pain and a kind of nerve pinch in one or both shoulders. Other symptoms may be acute pleuritic pain, acute arthritis usually involving the larger joints and an erysipeloid rash of the lower leg(usually below the knee). Recurrent pericarditis with chest pain is relatively rare.
Unfortunately laboratory tests cannot diagnose this disease. No specific pathologic changes are found. But now there is a genetic test that can confirm the disease. You should speak to your doctor about that test to confirm the disease. For information about the genetic test you can go to;
http://www.nih.gov/od/ott/0-056217.htm
or
http://www.nih.gov
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