TamiJ and anyone else with joint pain,
I don't want to sound like a broken record on this board about joint pain, but I'm here to raise awareness about the very condition that Judy cautioned you about because early diagnosis is absolutely essential THROUGH MRI, because it will not show up on x-ray.
It is so unfortunate for UC patients because they suffer so much already, but you can get joint pain from the inflammatory disease process itself, from the medications, and from a possible bone disease called Osteonecrosis (ON) (aka Avascular Necrosis). Anyone who has been on high dose steroids should be aware that Prednisone is a high risk factor for this bone disease.
"The steroid exposure threshold is approximately 2000 mg of prednisone administered continuously. However, avascular necrosis has been known to occur after use of lower doses. The risk of AVN is greater risk in patients treated for a short duration (6 wk) with high doses (³ 20 mg). The risk of AVN in association with low-dose steroid therapy is controversial. Some studies link such therapy to the disease, whereas others indicate no such link. High doses of steroids administered within a relatively short period are more of a causative factor than the cumulative dose or the duration of therapy....and "AVN may occur up to 3 years following cessation of therapy. Steroid-induced AVN is more severe than AVN caused by other conditions because underlying demineralization and accelerated osteolysis place the weightbearing surface of the femoral head at increased risk for collapse."
http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/386808-overview
Kudos to Judy for urging you to see an ortho! As you'll see from my signature, my daughter now has this condition after oral and IV treatment that lasted no longer than 4 months. It started with knee pain/swelling/popping and the pain now comes and goes. She says it's worse with the weather which makes sense, but she was diagnosed early and we have hope that we've halted the progression of the disease and prolonged the need for joint replacements.
Thanks for listening!