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Severe lower back and upper right abdominal pain?

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Ulcerative Colitis
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Posted 9/2/2016 12:45 AM (GMT 0)
Hi all,

I've been on Imuran for over 6 months now, and it seemed to help - not that it got me back to normal, more that I switched from D to extreme constipation. I was taking 3 doses of Miralax nightly and was bloated constantly, but otherwise okay. Then I had an abdominal MRI. I knew that drinking the radioactive MRI shake would mess up my stomach, but it threw me straight into a flare. I had bleeding within a week. My doctor put my on Entocort for 2 weeks. It didn't help, and when the script ran out, I went from bad to way worse. My doctor has since given me a 6 day script of Medrol, but 4 days into it, I can tell it's not going to be enough.
The worst part is that I'm experiencing extreme pain in my lower back and upper-right abdomen. 3 days ago, I could barely walk. I don't have a fever and no vomiting, but I'm wondering if the pain is related to the Imuran? I haven't had blood work done in 4 months.

My doctor basically said to go to the ER if my symptoms persist, but every time I go to the ER, they just shoot me up with pain meds and tell me to call my GI. Any advice for how to proceed? Has anyone every experienced pain like this?
Posted 9/2/2016 4:15 AM (GMT 0)
Has your blood work been normal when you've gone to the hospital with this kind of pain? I remember I had to be taken off of Imuran. I went into the hospital with GI pain (not back pain though) and my blood work was off. I think I had leukopenia. Also, is there a reason why you haven't had blood work done in 4 months? I remember having to do blood work every single month when I was on Imuran. Whenever I go into the ER with pain they shoot me up with pain meds too and then tell me to see my GI. It's so frustrating. I really hope your GI can sort this out for you soon!

PS - It might be helpful to put Imuran in the title of this post so the people that are on it will be more inclined to open it up.
Posted 9/2/2016 11:23 AM (GMT 0)
Are the pains from a joint, muscle, or something else? Are they radiating pains or point pains? Joint pains are a common extra-intestinal complaint of uc patients, as we can get various types of arthritis (joint inflammation, also autoimmune). www.ccfa.org/assets/pdfs/arthritiscomplications.pdf

We can get pains from our intestine, mostly just when flaring badly. We can also get pains from our kidneys, get pancreatitis, get gallstones, have uterine cysts, and other sources within our abdomen where many organs are closely packed. It's important to know exactly what is causing the pain as some of those (like pancreatitis) require treatment. If there's any question about the source of the pains then I'd see a doctor or nurse.

Bloodwork should be done at least every three months while on Imuran.

Good luck, I hope you get the pain resolved soon, that totally sucks!
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