Babeinthewoods said...
One of my extraintestinal IBD symptoms was crippling rheumatoid arthritis to the point where I could barely make a fist or climb stairs. But when my flare ended the RA symptoms in my hands, elbows, and knees all disappeared, along with eye inflammation and everything else.
However I also have a separate issue of severely degenerated spinal discs. I believe it is from 40 years of heavy weight lifting and hitting thousands of golf balls. (I never realized how warped my golf swing truly was until I saw a video in slow motion. No wonder it wrecked my back! LOL.) I don't take NSAIDS but manage the problem in three ways.
1. I visit the chiropractor to adjust my spine every 2-5 months. She is surprised that I don't have to come more often considering how badly damaged my discs are. The muscles and ligaments supporting my spine are very strong. Each session brings on relief and as long as I maintain good posture and stop slouching on chairs, I find that I only need to get my vertebrae separated every few months or so.
2. Look up the relationship between solanine and arthritis. I had the classic symptoms which was pain first early in the morning that gradually dissipates during the day. The major sources of solanine are the nightshade foods such as tomatoes, potatoes, eggplant, etc., and chocolate. (My major source was chocolate lol). Cutting back on solanine foods really helped me. This isn't like gluten sensitivity, you can eat some nightshades but just not pig out on them.
3. Supplements. I regularly take fish oil, glucosamine, chondroitin, and MSM which helps. At one time I had a problem with glucosamine since it is usually derived from shellfish which triggers IBD symptoms for me. But I switched to a formula that excluded shellfish.
I also experimented with boswellia and curcumin to help with my IBD. It helps a little but not as much as probiotics and psyllium seed. However I did wonder why my back pain seemed to be getting better when it dawned on me that boswellia and curcumin are anti-inflammatories. DUH!
I can manage my back pain for now but I have even more hope for the future. Researchers are very confident that stem cell therapy will regenerate cartilage and reverse osteoarthritis (along with my degenerative discs) in the very near future, 5-7 years or so. So have your children think twice before enrolling in chiropractor school. My niece became an optometrist just before LASIK became popular.
Flaring causes back pain for me, more severe than normal (which is daily, especially after waking up in the morning)This is my earlier post on another thread dealing with back pain. Item 2 talks about
solanine with its classic symptoms of back pain early in the morning that gradually dissipates during the day. I know it sounds like a stretch but cutting back on solanine foods really helped me.