Ahhgh, back pain

I recommend you go have an MRI of your neck. I had the exact same symptoms as you. It felt like a knife jabbing me in between the shoulder blades and I also had that band like feeling around my ribs in the back. It turned out that I have 1 bulging disc and 1 slight herniated disc in my C5/C6 and C6/C7 vertebrae. If you do have disc problems, inflammation can press on the nerves which in turn can cause the muscles to contract. Muscles are a tricky thing to get out of spasms and usually requires one, two,three or four of the following: rest, heat or cold, muscle relaxers and exercise. Breathing also aggravated mine. I'm not sure if this is what you have but it's an idea to persue. It took my doctors 4 years to finally diagnose my problems. I went thru the whole gamet of testing including physical therapy, muscle relaxers, pain managment, rheumatologists, EMG's, MRI's (but at the time, not of my neck), bloodwork, xrays and finally a neurologist. It was the neurologist that was able to find my disc problems.

Edited to add:  I now have had a serious of 3 epidural injections in my neck and the relief is astounding.  I am also on a nerve pain medication as well as a muscle relaxer.  I still have periods of sharp shooting pain but not nearly as bad as it was.  I would wake up in the mornings only to feel like I got hit and ran over 10 times by a semi truck before the epidural injections.

But you need to persue this matter - no need to be in pain when you don't have to.

Thanks. I'll try to get a referral from my doc to get my back X-rayed and take it from there. It's frustrating that here in Ireland you have long waiting lists for healthcare, even though one has private health insurance.... Especially if you have to get any type of scans done. Last time I was ona waiting list for 6 months to get my gallstones diagnosed...

Hi Guys,

Just a quick update and another rant! Had my appointment with the GP on Friday. First of all he was trying to dismiss me again with poor posture & standard muscle pain and was trying to send me off with again more painkillers and suggested I start swimming! This time I totally broke down, I mean totally. Ended up sobbing my heart out, how embarrassing, but I suppose it was worthwhile, as he finally took me seriously.

He ordered blood tests for the Arthritis level (can’t remember what that is called, HB something) and referral to the rheumatologist once the blood test results are back. Also, once I showed him the rash which I have on my both shins (red itchy rash) and the dry flaky skin under my hairline, he admitted that I’m pre-disposed to Arthritis because of UC and the rash could be another symptom. So I left the surgery with more painkillers, cream for my rash and shampoo for my hairline 

Does anyone have Arthritis alongside with the UC and what the symptoms are? Also, what are the treatments options?

Thanks again, I don’t know what I’d do without this board…

If you were to be diagnosed with arthritis, it depends on which type you have as to what the treatment would be. I believe your doc tested you for HBLA-27 (I THINK this is the right combo of letters! lol) which if it comes out positive, it can mean that you have AS which is a common form of arthritis with UC. It affects mostly the back. I was tested for that but mine came back negative. I HOPE this is not what you have because I have heard that it can get very painful. But at least the doc is taking you seriously now and I hope you find some answers soon but don't give up. YOU know that something is wrong and sometimes it is up to YOU to find the cause of it.

I had a very good doc like that. He was great but he couldn't see outside the box of Uc. So I switched to another doctor and I am glad I did. The doc I am with now, her mother had UC (she had a colostomy) so she knows what other little goodies come with having UC. She is gem that I will not be giving up anytime soon! Sometimes yes we do have to fight for what we feel is wrong with us. Doctors don't know it all and sometimes it's up to us to help them connect the dots.