Joint Pain?

I'm sure this has been discussed to death, I know I have read some topics on this in my short time here, but can't seem to find specific help by searching.

I'm on Asacol 800 4x a day, and Priloces 10mg. I just recently went down on Asacol from 6x a day, and I read that this med can cause joint pain, as well as just by having Crohn's.

Seems from about 2-3 weeks ago my shoulders started getting sore like I was working out, when I wasn't. I figured I was just sleeping on them weird or something. But now my fingers as well as my knees are starting to suffer and its getting stiffer each day and more painful.

I looked it up and read a lot about it, I ended up getting Cod Liver Oil and started that today. Anyone else try this, or what other ways do you deal with joint pain? How long should it take to relieve the pain if its gonna work, and should I be telling my Dr. this sooner than later?

I read conflicting stories of Joint Pain being caused by Crohn's and it being brought on by the Asacol itself. I then read on it, and saw a few posts about Asacol bringing on headaches, joint pain, and abdominal pain, all of which I am struggling with lately.

I am pretty tired of waking up in pain every night and having to take Vicodin to get any relief to be able to sleep. Plus the vicodin tends to keep me awake rather than make me drowsy, so I end up being awake a lot earlier then everyone else.

I then figured I would try going a week without Asacol and see if my joints/headaches/cramps improve or worsen to at least rule out the Asacol as a culprit. I am on the second day and don't feel any worse or better, just the same, I assume I would know within a week which way it was headed. After this I would then talk to mr Dr's about it and request a referral to a joint Dr.

Has anyone else had experience with Asacol/mesalamine increasing their joint pain?

I would like to chime in and say that I had excruciating localized pain in my body for a few months this summer, and once I decided to get serious about following a rigid Gluten Free diet, as well as taking the supplement Zyflamend, I was relieved of my joint pains. I should also add that I looked to my faith in that time of need as well.

Fish Oil is definitely a plus! I also take InflaGuard (turmeric, boswellia, devils claw) all highly anti-inflammatory.

It's now the third Day morning without Asacol, and I went to bed last night pain free, then woke up in very noticeable less pain!! My large joints all feel much better, my smaller ones like my fingers and wrosts are still pretty stiff and hurty, but not as bad as it was.

I feel much better, Physically. Mentally, not so much. I am wondering about what med I will be on if Asacol isn't working out, pretty much everything I read about comes with 'other' side effects.

My GI did say that after a year we would try coming off Asacol if my scope came back clean, he mentioned that I might not have Crohn's and the inflamed flare up could possibly be just an 'incident.' Maybe I could be off it it all now, lts pray about it and see!!!!

The joint pain came back even off the Asacol. Also I was having extreme urgency issues and felt really crappy (pun intended) most of the time.

I started the Asacol again and made an appointment Friday with my primary to get a rheumatologist referral. Let's hope this goes well.

So I probably should have just tried to get to my GI, my primary Dr was very frustrating today.

Long story short, I don't think he was the smart choice to see, but he did order some blood work and gave me a RX for Voltaren Gel to see if that helps any for spcific pains, and for Trazodone to see if that helps me sleep easier on rough nights. He said he would forward this all to my GI as well to make sure he knows, and see if he has a lead on some help since my Dr really seemed a but slueless about Crohn's and the related joint effect.

I doubt I'll try the sleeping pill, I have a newborn and a 4 year old and can't be out for 8 hours, I'd prefer just a Vicodin to take the edge off and still be fine since it doesn't make me the least bit drowsy.

Anyone have experience good or bad with the Voltaren Gel? I took a Tramodol today to give it another shot before I dismissed it altogether and it seems to take the edge of during the day when I am up and about, I will try the gel tomorrow and see.

sangwuine said...
Voltaren gel is a beautiful thing. It is an NSAID, and since it is topical if your joints are inflamed it won't bother your digestive tract. I've been using it for about a year and I love it. It also comes as a patch (flector patches).

Yea, the NSAID factor definitely has me hesitant to use it, all the 'warnings' of bleeding and whatnot, its hard to ignore.

[quote]Have either of you tried cutting out gluten?

No, I am in a tough situation at the moment outside of the disease and gluten free would be tough to jumble right now, I wouldn't mind trying it.

[quote]how were you doing without the asacol?

Pretty bad, the joint pain cleared but I developed the feeling of having to go all day. Although I only went maybe 5 at the most which is a lot for me, the urgency feeling never went away. I also developed intolerance to milk and I got a few pretty bad stomach/lower abdomen cramps that put my out for half a day. I at least know now that I need to be on something, or it will affect me.

You can try NSAIDs, but keep it very limited. I find that I can take one dose of Aleve but not two. Alternating ice and heat might help on the joints.

When I was struggling with joint pain my rheumatologist pushed my GI to get me on Entocort, which he did. I also cringed at the pharmacy bill but I was only on it for 3 months. While the entocort was doing its thing, my GI had me start sulfasalazine. It takes a while to build up to a therapeutic dose, but I was there after a month and then I took bot meds concurrently (and stayed on my Pentasa as well). I weaned off the entocort and my joint pain has been mostly gone since that time. Sulfazine is a cheap and effective med that helps with both colitis and joint pain.

You should get a rheumatologist to help with this. Your GI is smart to be concerned about side effects, because no drug is without them, but shoot, he's telling you to use NSAIDs. That's pretty weird by itself.

Sulfazine can cause low platelets. I don't think there's an anemia risk with this med. It also causes sun sensitivity and can give you headaches. There is more follow-up required to make sure your doing alright, but otherwise it has been a godsend for me.

My platelets have gotten to the low end of normal, but I'm not at risk of bleeding out. My bruises last longer than they used to, that's it.