Crohns arthritis

I thought I would run this question by you all.  I am waking up every morning with my hands and feet really swollen and the skin feeling tender and tight.  I know that I have osteoarthritis and Fibro, but this seems a bit different.  My hands when I wake up in the morning almost feel like they are asleep, like I laid on them, but I don't think I am.  I have been up for a few hours now and they still feel tight.

Anybody have any ideas whats going on?

Hugs

Gail *Nanners*

Nanners have you ever been checked for corpul tunnel ? Your hands sound like they are doing what my wifes did before she had the surgery. I have arthritis in my hands and wake up with them stiff but not swollen or any skin tightness. I get them under the hot water in the shower and work out the pain. Thats how I start each day. Hope you feel better soon..

I had this exact same problem when I was in the middle of a terrible flare up in January. My ankles were incredibly swollen, my elbows and knees hurt too. I was walking like I was 80 because the pain was so bad. I was afraid that it might be RA. I told my doctor and he said that its just the Crohn's disease. Apparently this is one of the ways it manifests itself systemically. He put me on Relafen, which is an arthritis med, for a month, and It worked wonders!

Nanners,
A few years back when I was flaring I also had strange swelling - each morning I woke up thinking 'ok, what will swell today, knee, foot, hand, leg or all of them. I was always told that if my CD was under control then I would have the swellings under control. Now it's the AS that flares when CD flares, so I cant win :).
Hope you find relief soon.
Jo

When I'm getting ready to flare, my ankles swell on me first...it's a like a warning sign for me. They usually swell to the point that I cannot walk or drive. It usually takes 2 weeks for the swelling to go down enough to hobble around without the aid of crutches. Sometimes I get lucky and it only takes a week.

My GI had NO idea why my ankles would be swelling until I mentioned Crohn's Arthritis and asked that he refer me to a Rheumy. The Rheumy immediately picked up on the fact that it was Crohn's Arthritis and wanted to immediately put me on Remicade or Humira. I said "No thanks - not until my INTESTINES really need it or I go a year without being able to walk." I can handle swollen feet for 2 weeks...

She said it wasn't my joints swelling...it was the tendons connected to the joints. So an X-ray of my feet wouldn't do any good as it wouldn't show anything. An MRI would show swelling of the tendons. I thought that was interesting as I just assumed it was my joints swelling.

I, too, feel like an 80-90 year old when I get this. The swelling ankles are bad enough but usually an all-over body aches comes along with it.