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Chronic lower back pain and Crohn's disease

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Chronic Pain
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Posted 9/13/2014 10:48 AM (GMT 0)
Hi I am new to this site and am looking for some support. I've had Crohn's disease for about 9 yrs and have arthritis due to the disease and now I'm noticing severe lower back pain. This has been happening for the past month and it's so painful that it hurts to walk and nothing alleviates the pain. I talked to my Gi doc about it and she just blew me off stating it's probably because the inflammation from my crohns flare that's causing my pain. Has anyone else ever had this problem? I'm starting to get concerned just for the fact that it's extremely uncomfortable and I wonder if it's due to something else. I have percocet 5-325 for my pain assoc with crohns but it does not come close to helping. Which obtaining pain medicine is a whole headache in itself because my GI doc refuses to perscribe pain meds to anyone, so I have to see another specialist just for that. Is there something else I should suggest that's stronger than what I'm taking? I know the 5 mg is the lowest dose, but lately I've been in so much pain that I am taking two which still is not helping.

Any advice would be much appreciated! Thank you!
Posted 9/13/2014 12:41 PM (GMT 0)
Hi Kell & welcome to the forum. Sorry to read what you are dealing with but more than likely your gi could be right. A lot of crohns patients have what is called crohns arthritis. I have crohns & no the gi's will not rx pain meds. I will caution you on taking the 2 percocet, if you run out early your odds of getting an early refill are going to be slim to none & then where will you be, without anything. Asking for an early refill is also considered drug seeking by the drs & it will get you a bunch of grief you don't need or want. If the script says take 1 & you take 2 a pain mgt dr would kick you out of pain mgt.. Tough rules but a person can survive it, we do it every day.

The rules & guidelines drs have to go by now concerning pain mgt & medications are extremely rigid. There is no room for error on the patients part either. PCP's have pretty much stopped rxing pain meds because of the new guidelines. What I suggest is getting an appt with your PCP tell him/her what is going on & ask what him/her can do to help you. Do not ask for a particular medication by name as that will raise a red flag & the dr may very well think you are a drug seeker. They are the dr they will know what to try you on. You may need a short course of something to get this settled down & be done with it. What are you taking for the crohns disease? Are you on any of the biologics?

Also, Healing Well has a great crohns forum you need to check out. They are really an informative & a supportive group too. Take care.
Posted 9/13/2014 1:20 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks for the input Susie!
I completely agree with the pain medicine, as taking the two pills hasn't started till very recently because the pain has been so bad. But I've never requested pain medicine early, and I really do try and use it sparingly. It's a shame that it is so difficult to obtain the meds due to all the drug seekers that have ruined it. I have tried everything for my crohns, all the pills and all the biological except for Humira. Right now I take remicade and methotrexate which is not helping at all. I've been on remicade for about 4 yrs and I just don't think it's doing the job anymore. So my GI is having me get another dose of remicade next week and if I do not feel better she said I need to come in for Humira training. I'm a little nervous about Humira bc I've heard that it's painful and doesn't work well for most.
Posted 9/13/2014 1:53 PM (GMT 0)
Hi Kell.

Have you had any testing to see where the back pain might be coming from? It's not necessarily from the Chron's.

If you think the pain might be coming from the spine, or even just to get more expertise on relieving the pain, I'd ask the PCP to refer you to a pain doctor or clinic. A referral will get you in easier and taken more seriously than just going on your own.

Look over some of the posts on pain clinics - see the search box at the top of the page. It's a good idea to see a doctor who uses several modes of treatment. Some only use meds, some only injections. I see a group that uses everything and does testing like MRI and CT to find the problem.
Posted 9/13/2014 2:43 PM (GMT 0)
Kell, the Humira does sting temporarily. I found that it did not sting near as much if I pinched up the skin between my fingers rather than just sticking my leg. I had the prefilled syringes & it was great. I am terrified of needles, lol. I also let it set out & let it warm up because it injects much easier that way. I was on Remicade for a long time, every 4 weeks & built up antibodies to it which is common. It sounds like you have ran the gambit with it too.

I would not consider going the pain mgt route unless the pain was not taken care of in a reasonable amount of time by my PCP. Your PCP can order any testing such as an MRI if needed. One month of back pain could very well be from the crohns & the Remicade not keeping joint pain at bay. It worked well for my joint pain until it stopped helping the crohns symptoms. Have you been doing anything out of the ordinary to have caused the back pain, a fall, lifting something or twisting the wrong way?

Take care.
Posted 9/13/2014 11:55 PM (GMT 0)
Thank you all for your input,

I have not had specific testing on my back, but I have noticed that it tends to also flare when my crohns flares. But it just seems out of the ordinary to have such severe pain in my back, then again it's crohns and there's all kinds of things that go wrong. I just wish my GI doc paid more attention to my concern instead of just blow me off, and I understand they are called specialist for a reason, but I feel every time something goes wrong (which about 95% of the time it's crohns related) she just passes me on to someone else. I've been hospitalized many times before and am considering going this week if I do not feel better. Nothing is working for pain and I currently cannot attend classes at college due to being so sick. If it wasn't for the PICC line I know id have to get, I'd be all for going right now. I just hate having to be sent home with the PICC line and trying to go to class.
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