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Could UC cause sciatica

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Ulcerative Colitis
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Posted 8/20/2007 3:10 PM (GMT 0)
Having a bit of a disagreement with my employer right now. Over the past 8 to 10 weeks I have been developing a sharp pain running down my leg. It's seems like a classic case of sciatica. When I mentioned it to my employer their response was it has to be related to my UC therefore it's not their problem.

My question is could sciatica be related to UC.
Posted 8/20/2007 4:15 PM (GMT 0)
No way. Never heard that UC can cause sciatica.
Posted 8/20/2007 4:21 PM (GMT 0)
Grrr, sometimes employers really tick me off...........ask them where they went to medical school and specialized in GI!
Posted 8/20/2007 5:02 PM (GMT 0)
Are you in a flare or is your UC under control by meds? I had major involvement of the sacrum during my early months with UC in 1980. It gave me terrible stiffness mid-torso; I felt like I was encased in cement! This gradually went away as the hydrocortisone healed my colon. So I would say that if your UC is in remission & you're taking maintenance meds, you likely have sciatica period. Age is also a factor; the older one gets, the more vulnerable one becomes to nerve pain. Even in remission from UC I sometimes get it down the outside of my thigh. / Old Hat (nearly 30 yrs with left-sided UC; currently on 3 X 3 Colazal daily for July flare in descending colon, which is responding)

Posted 8/20/2007 5:27 PM (GMT 0)
Are you sharing this information with your employer because you think it is worker comp related, or is this just casual office conversation? If you think it is WC you need to let your employer know and they are supposed to send you to a WC doctor. The doctor will determine whether or not it is work related or whether it is related to your UC (not!!).

Sue
Posted 8/20/2007 5:47 PM (GMT 0)
I've definitely had back pain associated with my UC over the last year. It's like clockwork, I'll wake up with UC symptoms one morning and later that day I'll develop back pain, usually on my left lower side. As soon as the flare symptoms heal up, the back pain goes away although I generally need a chiropractic adjustment afterwards. I wouldn't rule out the connection in your case either.
Posted 8/20/2007 7:58 PM (GMT 0)
Impingement on the sciatic nerve will cause sciatica. UC doesn't cause nerve impingement unless you hurt your back while twisting to get toilet paper or while rushing to get to the toilet.

Sciatica is caused by a "mechanical" problem.

quincy
Posted 8/21/2007 1:13 AM (GMT 0)
Gotta agree with the others. I never had sciatic trouble with my Uc. Now throw in a car accident with whiplash and that's another story :)
Posted 1/15/2012 4:17 AM (GMT 0)
The commands from the brain to the bowel (colon) and bladder are sent as electrical impulses and are carried by a system of special fibres called nerves.

These signals start in the brain, go through the spinal cord and continue to the nerves located in the sacral area of the back.



There are 31 pairs of these nerves in the lower back. Some of these sacral nerves go to the rectum, the bladder's detrusor muscle, levator ani muscle, and external sphincter muscles, controlling their activities.

Two important sacral nerves to the functioning of the bladder and bowel are the pudendal nerve and the pelvic splanchnic nerve.
Posted 1/15/2012 4:42 AM (GMT 0)
UC can cause sciatica because UC can cause sacroilietis. Dysfunction of the sacroilial joint is a primary source of sciatic nerve pain. The dysfunctional joint causes muscle spasms all throughout the gluteal muscles and lower back. It is very common IMO to have sciatic nerve pain when you have SI joint problems.
Posted 1/15/2012 8:30 AM (GMT 0)
That would be a secondary problem, but not caused by UC. 
Posted 1/15/2012 4:11 PM (GMT 0)
yes, they are links in a chain. I'm currently focused on putting the chicken and egg in order re: my own SI joint problems. I am sure there are more women with SI joint problems than there are women with IBD. My rheumatologist has been trying for a few years to figure out if my SI joint pain is an inflammatory condition or not. So far it looks like not. So treating my bowel disease effectively has reduced the pain in my hands. Going gluten free has reduced the pain in my knee. Nothing has reduced the pain in my SI.
Posted 1/15/2012 5:35 PM (GMT 0)
I couldn't see my UC causing a mechanical dysfunction in my SI joint. You would never get a MD to say it would cause it. My left hurts at times just because of the way I sit. It's usually easy to fix on others, but hard to do it on myself.

I don't think I would see a rheumy for a SI joint problem? Unless you have horrid arthritis of course. With all the doctors I meet and do lunches with, the patients they hate to see are low back/SI dysfunction people.
Posted 1/15/2012 5:54 PM (GMT 0)
Definitely could be as UC causes extra colonic joint inflammation. Inflammation can cause scatica. However the most likely cause of scatica is disc problems. UC doesn't bulge or rupture discs. Lower back problems from discs is very common. Using the toilet over and over will definitely aggravate disc problems(I know).

A lower back CT and a visit to a specialist should clear up cause. Once you know the cause if you can't lose weight, at least do back exercises. They definitely help. I am about to go on a drastic weight loss mission as my normal methods just don't work at age 52. My back just can't handle the extra 25 lbs anymore. Life no fun. Haven't had scatica in a while but most evenings I can barely walk across the room if I did more than sit around all day.
Posted 1/15/2012 7:27 PM (GMT 0)
Dr-A - those with ankylosing spondylitis linked to their bowel disease would disagree with you when you say that UC can't cause a mechanical dysfunction in the SI joint. Arthritic changes in the SI joint, and other lower back joints, are typical for ankylosing spondylitis, not to mention other inflammatory arthritis conditions. I went to see a rheumy not because of my SI joint pain, but because at one point of my IBD journey I had pain in every major joint, starting with my shoulder and progressing through all limbs to my hands and feet, and into my jaw. He was the MD, not my GI, who got that under control and who spoke at length with my GI about different approaches to managing my IBD.

When I told the rheumatologist a couple of years ago that I had a chronic hamstring injury at the muscle origin, his ears perked up and he tested me for HLA-B27 (is that the gene's name for AS?). I was negative. Which doesn't rule out AS, but it makes it less likely I guess. And then he did an MRI with contrast to check my SIs for inflammatory arthritis - negative. My abdominal CT from this summer showed arthritic changes at L5-S1, which I know is very common, but he still wanted to go back and look for an inflammatory process. So I had my last MRI a few days ago and I guess I'll hear results this week. I think it's not likely to be an inflammatory process, but I'm glad he's checking it thoroughly.

Looking back at the OP, though, I'd have to agree with her that an employer should at a minimum provide an ergonomic study to someone who complains of sciatica. No matter the origin of the muscle spasm, improper positioning at your work station has got to be one of the major sources of lower back pain and sciatica.
Posted 1/15/2012 8:14 PM (GMT 0)
@kazbern

you are right.
UC can cause mechanical dysfunction in SI joints. also lumbar spine for those who also have AS, like in my case. And the SI joints inflammation can trigger sciatica.

but the first thing to rule out is a mechanical disc problem. if there's nothing there, then the sciatica can be caused by the inflammation of SI joints or lumbar spine, with the primary cause being the inflammation of our colon...

P.S.
Your SI pain will be the last to calm down even when you enter remission and most probably the first one to feel when flaring (even before your colon) - it's closest to the rectum and the cartilaje is the first one to be attacked by the immune system (they don't know why, but it happends).
Posted 1/15/2012 8:40 PM (GMT 0)
AS and UC....co-illnesses. Same as eczema and asthma. One doesn't cause the other.

Same as UC and PSC, one doesn't cause the other, but the link can be there.

Not everything is caused by, but can happen together. Related, secondary, extra intestinal. Caused by having it, but not directly caused by.

To add...let's not forget the hereditary connections or the body types or other issues that can also cause sciatica, etc.


q

Posted 1/15/2012 9:45 PM (GMT 0)
80 % of AS'ers have microscopis lesions of their colon that mimic UC, quincy. Related, yes. My point - take care of the colon first and you will see your joint pain diminish. I lived it, some others lived it, and i do believe there's a connection.
Posted 1/17/2012 12:03 AM (GMT 0)

kazbern said...
Dr-A - those with ankylosing spondylitis linked to their bowel disease would disagree with you when you say that UC can't cause a mechanical dysfunction in the SI joint. Arthritic changes in the SI joint, and other lower back joints, are typical for ankylosing spondylitis, not to mention other inflammatory arthritis conditions.

Those with AS wouldn't disagree with me. If you re-read what I wrote you will see I said, "I couldn't see MY UC causing a mechanical dysfunction in my SI joint." I don't have AS, so when my SI joint flares up I don't go to a specialist and make fixing it a huge complicated thing. The OP mentioned nothing of AS so just keeping it simple. If I actually did what I should be doing my left SI joint would not bother me, but I have a bad habit of sitting on that hip, and pushing my weight on that leg when standing.

Also, if I MRI'd everyone initially that had sciatica to rule out a disc, I would get flagged by every insurance company out there.
Posted 1/17/2012 9:30 AM (GMT 0)
ok. so there is AS, and there is sacroileitis, wich is another auto-inflammatory disease and this one is more common in UC'ers.
the principle of the disease is the same as in AS.

anyway, DR-A - you may not have SI mechanical dysfunction - this means if you already have done a MRI scan - there are no modifications in your SI joints. (I have AS and my SI joints are just slightly inflammed, and even not where they use to be in most AS people) but i bet you suffer from the effects of extramanifestations from UC and your pain is not from your bad habit. have you ever wondered why is the left joint? your sigmoid is passing there...

and yes, keep it simple, as long as there is no modification there. strech, walk, run, keep the joints working and that's it. i am sure than when your UC is in remission as a coincidence your joints will hurt less :)

good luck.
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