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does ulcerative colitis cause painful wrists???

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Ulcerative Colitis
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Posted 4/12/2008 3:03 PM (GMT 0)
I saw my physician for a check-up yesterday and he was very pleased with my progress.  He did, however, mention that ulcerative colitis might cause painful wrists and joints and also affect your lungs and other parts of your body....is this true?  who has experienced this?  I was diagnosed with Ulcerative colitis in September 2006 when I had 90 odd percent of my colon removed in an emergency operation. 

 I was very, very ill during this time and many people thought I wasn't going to make it.  I have now, however, recovered and people see me a miracle...I am up to my normal weight, am able to do things that I have previously done...have taken on new hobbies and this after I have been ill for almost a year. 

I am currently wearing a colostomy bag still...I have had two flare-ups, one in May 2007 and another one in February 2008.  During this time I have not had any problems with painful joints or backache or any of the things my physician mentioned.  What are the things that are commonly affected by UC?

I am only going for another check-up with him in a years time and a check-up with my surgeon in Sept / Oct of this year.

Bianca

2XAsacol tablets per day

2xAsacol Suppositories per day

 

Posted 4/12/2008 3:40 PM (GMT 0)
UC has a whole grab bag of effects outside the GI system. Some of us get some of them, others don't. The effect in your lungs is very rare, but there was a thread about it here recently. Do a search for "UC lungs" and you may be able to find it. A lot of us have joint pains, as UC-related arthritis is much more common. Mine started quite a while before the digestive symptoms did.

For more information, check here under "extra-intestinal symptoms":

https://www.healingwell.com/ibd/

At this point, I'd suggest relaxing and enjoying your regained health. It may be that some of these symptoms will visit you at some point, but it's equally likely that they won't.

Welcome to HealingWell, Bianca.
Posted 4/12/2008 4:19 PM (GMT 0)
I am experiencing similar pain but in my right hand. It hurts a lot to grip anything or close it to make a fist is that arthritis? I am 23 and not sure about this any ideas. You all know better than I do. I do have good news to report I am going back into remission. Thanks to Quincy's methods of double treating from oral and rectal meds. Probiotics helped a great deal too. But now my hand hurts. How do i figure out if its just joint pain or arthritis?
Posted 4/12/2008 5:18 PM (GMT 0)
Joint pains are quite common in IBD'ers. I get most of my joint pains in my knees. But regarding the wrists - there can be so many factors as to why they hurt. If you do repetitive work with your hands, this can cause discomfort. Sleep wrong on them, twist them the wrong way etc. If your wrists continue to hurt then you should bring it up to the doc because yes, we can be prone to arthritis.
Posted 4/12/2008 6:54 PM (GMT 0)

Thanks for the welcome and for the very useful insight....I am very grateful that I have come across this website.

Posted 4/12/2008 8:03 PM (GMT 0)
I'm not trying to scare anyone, but when you're experiencing pain in a joint, another thing you have to be concerned about, especially if you've taken steroids is osteonecrosis aka avascular necrosis....meaning bone death.

I'm telling you all this because my daughter (21) who had developed UC (and subsequent colectomy and jpouch) had a vicious attack and was on steroids for approx 4 months.  Not even a year later, she devoloped knee pain and after seeing a rheumatologist because we suspected an extraintestinal manifestation of arthritis, she had an MRI done just to make sure there wasn't anything mechanically wrong with her knee.  That's when we found AVN...now she's been diagnosed with it in both knees, her right elbow, possibly left ankle and is being evaluted by MRI of all of the rest of her joints.  She had the MRI of her hips last week and by the reaction of the tech, she thinks it's in her hips too.  This is a devastating bone disease caused by steroids and alot of people don't know they have it and put it off as "arthritis" caused by UC...until the bone collapses and then the docs say that you've developed osteoarthritis!  Can you tell I'm a little bitter???  This disease lays silent while the bones deteriorate and you suddenly develop pain...by then it's usually too late for early intervention and then you're told you need joint replacement. 

I'm speaking up because I firmly believe there are alot of people out there who've been on steroids that don't know they are walking around with this.  Be sure and ask your doctors about it...ours didn't tell us this could happen!

Posted 4/12/2008 11:23 PM (GMT 0)
hhm, interesting... I too have terrrible wrist pain- it started after my first pred course, about a year & a half ago. The wrists, knees, elbows were mainly the joints causing me the most pain. Now, it's mostly just the wrists. I finished my 3rd (& darn well better be last!) course of pred in February. But god, do they hurt... the bones, really, right at the base of my palm on the outside edge of my hand, that little bone spur. I have my first bone density scan this coming week & I am curious to see if anything shows up. I was probably on pred for about 14-16 months total, 3 different courses of it.

Posted 4/13/2008 1:36 AM (GMT 0)
My wrists bother me from time to time. I wouldn't actually say it's very painful, just mostly uncomfortable. I get this strange feeling in them and they kind of click. They feel almost like I have to crack them, like cracking your knuckles.........And I want to just let my wrist hang loose and shake the heck out of them. But, I don't, I'm afraid it will do something worse to them. This comes and goes, not constant. I can normally almost touch the inside of my wrist with my thumb on the same hand. When this is bothering me, I'm only about 50% as flexible with my thumb to my wrist. It can last days and then it will just be gone. My first GI always used to check my wrists (of course it wasn't happening back them). I do get alot of hip joint pain, especially in the damp weather. If I overdo the walking, I pay for it.........
Posted 4/13/2008 1:39 AM (GMT 0)
I had moderate wrist pain and sometimes pain specifically on my thumbs before I was diagnosed w/ UC but definitely had the symptoms. But since I started medication, I haven't had any of that.
Posted 4/13/2008 10:31 AM (GMT 0)
Yeah - wrist pain, knee pain, back pain, inflamed lungs... the whole kit and caboodle here.
Posted 4/13/2008 11:56 AM (GMT 0)
Something else to keep in mind is that Prednisone masks the symptoms. I started another thread titled "Please read..Joint Pain?? Taken Prednisone" and Judy replied to differentiate between the pain of IBD related arthritic pain and AVN pain.
Posted 9/3/2011 8:27 AM (GMT 0)
I have UC and I had terrible pain in my wrists after my 1st flare up. 7 years later I am having pain again. Just getting over a flare up. Seen a rheumatologist and they found no cause. I think it's linked to UC. I don't lift heavy things or work with my hands either.
Posted 9/4/2011 2:20 PM (GMT 0)
I get joint pain. It is usually in my wrists, knees, and ankles.  It comes and goes.   I went to see a RA and I'm not inflammed and don't have arthritis but see said she thinks my uc is causing this.  It is worse in the morning.  Oh, my elbows also hurt.  I will be fine for awhile(a couple days) and then it comes back.  One day it is my wrists, then my ankles, etc.  It usually isn't all together.
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