Crohns and Colitis Exchange

I thought I was having arthritis type symptoms but it turned out to be high arches and since I got insoles for that most of my achyness has gone away (and the little that remains can be chalked up as 'getting older'). Have you seen this? http://www.ccfa.org/info/about/complications/arthritis

Thank you, that article was really helpful!

I have not experienced this but I do know that my doc ask me if I have had any joint pain everytime I have a flare up. I also know that Rheumatoid Arthritis and Crohn's are closely related auto-immune diseases. I actually inherited the Crohn's from one side of my family that primarily suffers from Rheumatoid Arthritis.

I've had arthritis for years, and I have to say that it is much worse the past couple of years. Last xrays of my right hip (left hip replaced 8 years ago) showed some arthritis, but not enough to warrant surgery. My orthopedic doctor then said that joint pain is quite common with ulcerative colitis. There ya go.

Hi,

Ive been diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis too plus I have colitis as well. Still trying to find out if they are related, but doctors so far have given me sulfalazine, which helps with both.

May be you can discuss it with your doctor.

I have Rheumatoid Arthritis and also in the past have been told by various different doctors that I had; Colitis, Pelvic inflammation, and finally diverticulitis...so now the lower abdominal pain is really bad.Seeing a new doc today. Yeah! How do I find out what is really going on? The doc that did the colonoscopy a couple of years ago said that diverticulitis usually causes pain on the right side and that is probably why I was misdiagnosed so many times. It doesn't necessarily only hurt on the right side! I need a good dose of Cipro I guess.

I've had crohn's 4 30 years now and also have psorisis 4 about 20 years, and yes arthritis as well, although my joints have only really been bothering enough to take meds 4 about the last 6-7 years. Against my doctors reccomendation, I take alieve and find it extremely helpful 4 joint pain. I don't have any active disease[and never had bleeding problems>, and don't need any meds 4 my gut, so make sure you do talk to your doc to make sure you don't have interactions with your current meds

I was diagnosed with Crohns 37 years ago when I was 18 and it was done pretty much by ruling everything else in the world out. Diagnosed with Reumatoid arthritis about 12 years ago when suddenly my knees blew up like ballons and were very painful. I went to an orthopedist my internist recommended to me who drained them. He shared a practice with a Rhuematoid Arthritis specialist and sent me "down the hall" to him with my history of Crohns. It comes and goes in one joint or another and about the time I"ve had enough and ready to call the doctor it stops hurting. I have had to have steriod shots periodically in one joint or another and 8 or 9 years ago had remacaid infusions for awhile - but that's another story in itself. I hope you find the answersoon and it's something simple!

Hi Miss Emma, I'm sorry you're not feeling well.

I have crohn's and have experienced joint pain as well. Usually in my low back and in my left thumb. Recently I had a large joint effusion of my left knee--very painful and I was unable to bear weight on it for about a week. Always for me, joint pain has been a precursor to a severe flare.

If you are not having a crohn's flare right now, it could be an indication of increased inflammation markers within your body that could be signaling disease. You had a flare 6mos ago that maybe is not completely resolved. I wish your doctor had done some blood work for you that could look for increased inflammation. Maybe a c-reactive protien.

Something else that I'm concerned about for you...you are having some severe symptoms. It doesn't sound like your GI dr is neccessarily taking you seriously enough. Perhaps you could have a second opinion or ask him/her to review your labs and medications to see if you could possibly try something else that could control your symptoms better.

Crohn's is a GI disease and so we see GI doctors. Here's the rub with that sometimes: Crohn's can/does affect other areas of our bodies and often our GI doctors think that if it's not a part of the GI tract, it doesn't concern them. I can somewhat see where they're coming from...but it can also be frustrating for us, because if our crohn's was better controlled, we wouldn't be having these ancillary symptoms. If you can not get an appropriate response from your GI doctor, I would first recommend getting a new one...and then perhaps also consulting with an orthopedist may be helpful. You deserve a physician that will hear you when you say that you have debilitating pain and care about getting you the help you need.

I hope you feel better soon!