Any help for swollen sore joints?

[Gutsy]

My joints swell up, mostly in my hands, it gets puffy in between my knuckles and sometimes it happens in my knee, ankle, elbow, feet and occasionally in the knuckles of my fingers. I might sound crazy here but it moves around - sometimes lasts a few days, other times weeks. My husband and I make bets on where it will show up next. Doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason. Although I have shown my various swelling to my doctor many times, it's like he doesn't believe me. I can't take NSAIDs or Tylenol so all I can do is treat is ice it up but that doesn't help. I've been told is connected to my Crohn's somehow. I'm on daily max of 5 ASAs. Does anyone else get this? If so, what do you do about it?

 

[theOcean]

It's most likely connected to your Crohn's, yes. We get arthritis-like symptoms when inflammation is present, and it may mean that your 5-ASAs aren't cutting it for you and you should inform your GI. You probably need to go on steroids like prednisone or entocort to treat that in the short-term.

Are you getting any other symptoms at the moment?

 

[KayleighMeek]

I have had lots of problems with joint pain and swelling and it is still my main problem even if my stomach seems to be behaving. Could you convince your GI or another dr to get an appointment with a rheumatologist? They would be the best to speak to and hopefully they could get something that could control it better for you.
I find the best thing for me when I'm bad is nice warm baths I can speaks hours at a time in there and it makes it feel a lot better but it does wear off when I get out. I also have loads of extra pillows in a drawer under my bed so I put them around and under the joint that's bad to give it a bit of support and stop moving it so much.

 

[Cat-a-Tonic]

If you've shown your doctor your swollen joints and they still won't do anything, it's probably time to look for a new doctor. See if you can get a referral to a rheumatologist too if you haven't already. The first thing would be to get it diagnosed - presuming it's arthritis, there are still many types of arthritis so how you treat it will depend on what type and how severe it is. Once you know what you're dealing with, then medication or physical therapy (or both) could get you a lot of relief. First things first though, get to a doctor who takes you seriously and doesn't dismiss your pain!

 

[Gutsy]

Thank you all very much, this is helpful. I will try to find another doctor as recommended. I was offered Imuran although but he didn't seem confident it would really help, I am reluctant to try it because of potential side effects like vomiting and suppressed immune system. Maybe I should give it a shot??

 

[ce1210]

Physical therapy helped me with my arthritis quite a bit, yoga helps keep me limber when I can do it (wasn't really able to this winter and am thinking I need to move somewhere warm year round now), but hash oil/Rick Simpson Oil/Cannabis help me with my arthritis more than anything else I have tried to this point...

 

[theOcean]

Imuran is meant to suppress your immune system, because that's what slows down Crohn's and allows your body to heal. So as long as you don't become too immunosuppressed, that's actually the result you want.

 

[Gutsy]

Did Imuran make you sick?

 

[theOcean]

Nope! I was on a combination of Imuran and Remicade, as well as Imuran and Humira (I was allergic to Remicade and had to switch) and never got sick. I actually got sick all the time before I was immunosuppressed, and have been totally fine since being on them.

 

[mish2575]

Eliminating extra sugar from my diet helped

 

[Dawn101]

Try keeping a food diary. I very well could be diet related.