WHAT'S THIS ABOUT JOINT PAIN?

Question:
I have had UC for several years. I've read about people with CD and UC having joint pain. I have had joint pain all over my body but have never been told it is associated with UC. Could someone explain this to me?

Answer:
You're immune system is probably attacking your joints. It's called an extra-intestinal complication, and it is arthritis; inflammation of the joints. Most people with Crohn's seem to have such complications, but I’m not sure about Colitis. I'd assume it's the same. I am not a doctor and cannot diagnose you with arthritis. It probably wasn't pointed out to you because most doctors seem ignorant to anything that occurs outside of the intestines. I had been telling my doctors for MANY YEARS that I was experiencing joint pains, and they didn't do anything about it. They become more painful as time passed, and now I'm just-about crippled without heavy steroid dosing. You can’t really call it all arthritis, it's an inflammation of the joint, yes, but if it's connected to the intestine, it's not really as treatable as arthritis...and it can’t be treated (according to my doctor) with anything else than the normal medicine for colitis or Crohn’s.... I’ve had it too, but there was nothing my doc could do about it, other than treat my colitis...that is, until I had my colon removed and got my J-pouch.... since then I haven’t had any joint problems what so ever... As far as I know it can be tricky to diagnose, but a good pointer is if the pain goes away on its own when the illness is in remission... I have it too...but some of u say the docs don’t tell u...I was actually partly diagnosed because of this...back in 80(I h ad uc in 78 and it seemed to go away so they weren’t so sure)...I was asked by my internist if I had flu like symptoms including joint pain...which I did...THEN I was sent in for a colonoscopy...I was told right then and there when I got the dx of Crohn’s colitis that joint pain and other types of body pain were often a part of ibd...in fact I was also told that the genetic factor for ibd is similar or related to the one for arthritis...my granddaughter was dx at age 2 for juvenile rheumatoid arthrtis...of course my daughter blames me lol...(its ok...she’s the crazy one)...but seriously...the doctor should say something at the start...tho sometimes I think they withhold info cos they don’t want people to develop things due to suggestion…I use relafen now...will be getting checked next week in Boston…I'm new to this group, but not to IBD. I've had Crohn's disease for 21 years (with just one surgical resection so far-lucky), and my biggest ongoing complaint is joint pain. I get pains that come and go all the time, often in my feet and ankles, but also all over. And my knees are usually pretty bad. Have you seen the discussion forum on pain at the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of America Website? They have topics on everything, with some very illuminating discussions. I think you'll see a great variety of experiences. You can find it here: http://www.ccfa.org/medcentral/specialist/ Click on the Enter link and then, for talk about pain, check out the Arthritis topic under Complications. Let me know if this helps. My wife has CD and Rheumatoid Arthritis Pain. She goes to both a GI and a Rheumatologist. She was able to get pain relief from the Rheumatologist. I too have major arthritis/arthralgia/joint pain as an extra-intestinal bonus of UC. In fact, although I didn't know it at the time, that was actually my first symptom. Affected my feet so badly I could literally barely walk. I see an IBD-knowledgeable rheumatologist (took me 3 different ones to find the right one) who works with me and my GI. The arthritis/joint pain tends to move around which I guess is good; rather than being in constant agony in one place all the time. I have had physical therapy, massage therapy, occupational therapy; all of which have helped tremendously. Also have pain meds for PRN use and get steroidal injections when necessary. This was one of my earlier symptoms too...tho not the first like Christine...but it helped my dx...its that common...glad to hear pt works...when I get back to Boston in October (I am not allowed to see anyone here without cigna's special permission and it would be very very limited)...I hope to start pt...and maybe swimming...in warm water brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr we did buy an inexpensive back massager at the drug store...about 20 dollars...and it really helps on the back pain...but the relief doesn’t last that long...its best before sleeping...the relafen helps a lot...walking IF I can get out there before the pain stops me...helps...but the joint pain kicks in sometimes before I can stop it...does anyone know of any good exercises one can do in one's home...for this pain? especially the back and knee and toe and finger pain? Just plain heating pad does NOT seem to do a lot…