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Posted 2/29/2012 7:52 PM (GMT 0)
Hello.  Experiencing really bad joint pain lately.  Doctor diagnosed me with enterothapic arthritis a couple months ago.  Have had UC for 3 years now.  Learning to eat right and keep my mild UC in check.  However, my neck, back, feet and other joints have been experiencing lots of stiffness and pain.  Am I alone or has anyone who has had UC feel like I do everyday???  I actually look back and remember feeling joint pain before I was ever diagnosed with UC.  What's funny is it started with my ankles years ago, which made me beleive it was just years of working on my feet and old sports injuries.  But as of now, since I don't play basketball and football anymore my ankles hurt everyday, neck and back too. 

Currently taking 9 pills of colazol, fish oil and probiotics...

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!,

Ian

Posted 2/29/2012 8:03 PM (GMT 0)
Hey Ian. For years my primary complaint was the joint pain - mostly hands/wrists/elbows for me, but I have had the feet thing, and some shoulder pain, and awful jaw pain. NOT FUN, not any of it.

I ended up going to see a rheumatologist and he was very helpful in getting my GI to focus on helping me achieve a better quality of life. My GI ultimately put me on sulfazine, which is an old arthritis med that also treats inflammation in the colon. You can see in my signature how much of that I'm taking. Thankfully, since adding that med in my hands/wrists/elbows have been really fine. My knee was continually achy until about 6 months after I eliminated gluten from my diet.

I hope you feel better soon.
Posted 2/29/2012 8:29 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks for your kind words. I am seriously considering a GF diet. My wife is a nurse and wanting to get on a new health kick with me and is very supportive of eating right. My downfall is beer lol. That will be the hardest thing to give up. However, feeling better overall will be better than going out and drinking. I will look into switching over to adding sulfa to my daily pill ritual. I'll talk to ym GI about it. I did hear that taking Sulfa lowers sperm count and my wife and I are planning on having kids in the next year or so... I'll look into the long-term affect of it. Thanks!!!
Posted 2/29/2012 8:33 PM (GMT 0)
You might want to try Glucosamine. It's a joint supplement. I take it and it's helped me alot.
Posted 2/29/2012 9:42 PM (GMT 0)
Ian:
Joint pain is what one of my major issues is, along with my UC and Chronic Pancreatitis and sphincter of Odi dysfunction.
Pain is a big part of my life and it SUCKS.
I use epsom salt tubs, slow exercise, rest, rest, rest. I use a medication called Tramadol which is non-addicting.
When the pain is super bad I take a Percocet and go to bed.

I went Gluten Free a year ago. I saw immediate (within a few weeks of being totally gluten free) positive results. Its not as easy as it sounds in the beginning. I got glutened a lot in the first 6 weeks because I kept forgetting to check labels.
But now, my headaches are all but gone, my brain fog is gone, my joint pain comes and goes but not near what it was before the GF diet. I say give it a try and be true to the diet. Its not hard at all now, but I do have to plan ahead a bit more.
I hear there is a GF beer!!
Posted 2/29/2012 11:56 PM (GMT 0)
I've also been having major joint pain, but I've also had a UC flare that has been out of control due to medications no longer working along with other complications. I am starting Remicade to deal with the UC and joint issues. My doctors are convinced I don't have arthritis but the joint pain is simply caused by my flare.

While I was taking Sulfasalazine I didn't seem to have any joint problems but since it wasn't helping me control my flares any longer I was switched off of it, no idea if it was still managing the joint problems though, I have a feeling it was though and my colon was just out of control instead of my joints.
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