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Crohn's and rheumatoid arthritis

Hello I am 38 yes old. I was diagnosed with Crohn's at age 20. I have had some of my intestine and colon remove. About 2 yrs later it came back same spot where it was reattached. To make a long story shorter I recently started remicade infusions well approximately8 months ago the past 3 treatments in between I will have a lot of joint/tendon pain elbows knees achilles tendon feet wrist throat and neck. Saw RA Dr. Was taking predisone. Not helping. I am going to try methexrate shots weekly with remicsde. I am one of few that have arthritis in my throat. Has anyone else had these problems or been on methexrare? (Don't know if I am spelling that right sorry). I hope everyone is doing reasonably well.
 

Jennifer

Adminstrator
Staff member
Location
SLO
Hi laneyoakley and welcome to the forum! :D

I haven't heard of arthritis on the throat. Do you mean your vertebrae in your neck? Or do you mean that the RA is causing you to have symptoms in your throat? Is your Rheumy not able to up the dose of Remicade (its often used to treat both Crohn's and RA)?

We do have a subforum for Methotrexate (I'm currently taking it): http://www.crohnsforum.com/forumdisplay.php?f=88 What would you like to know about Methotrexate? I haven't had the throat arthritis issue and don't have RA but I do have osteoarthritis (pretty much everywhere but my spine and hips seem to be affected the most).
 
Thank you Jennifer for responding to my post. The doc said it is the little bones in your throat that I have it. It is in just about every joint. I started .4 of the methotrexate yesterday. I had a bad headache last night this morning feel blah no energy just feel bad. How does this affect you and your energy level and how long after the shot do I feel this way?
 

Jennifer

Adminstrator
Staff member
Location
SLO
Many people experience different side effects. For me it didn't cause any headaches or fatigue however I did notice and increase in acid reflux which was easily helped by Omeprazole. If your energy level and the headaches don't improve or go away then it would be best to contact your doctor. I'm going to tag KWalker for you as he may be able to share more information since he took it for quite some time.
 

PsychoJane

Moderator
Hummm.... when I was on Humira, I developed what was most likely a lupus-like syndrome side effect. When I was exposed to sun, I would have major crisis where I would have trouble walking one day and then having too much pain in my hand to be able to open a bottle the next day and so on. One of the various symptoms I had was that I started to have a very roar voice. I saw an orl who did tell me that I had inflammation of the cricoid cartilage. In my case, avoiding the sun helped much (fall and starting school again did the job). I added MTX later but that was not to get the arthritis in control, it was to diminish the autoantibodies to humira it got better over time!
 

KWalker

Moderator
Thanks Jennifer, she's right, I have been on Methotrexate for quite some time. For me, MTX was one of the milder medications symptom-wise. Personally, injections were not only more effective but also gave me less side effects, however I never experienced throat problems like you mentioned. My main side effect were headaches the night after inkecting but they were mild enough that a Tylenol quickly fixed it. The other problem I had occasionally is that I got night sweats, even on the coldest nights. These were more of an annoyance, but they are fairly common. That's all I can remember as far as side effects go, but I think MTX really worked effectively for me so it would definitely be my #1 choice if the time comes that I go back on medicine
 
Thank you all for taking the time to help me. It has been helpful. I hear a lot about the SCD diet. I think I might research that as well. I am sure it probably couldn't hurt. Anything to make it a little easier. Thanks again to all.
 
Also I forgot to add:
Current Medications:
Remicade Infusions every six weeks
Methotrexate Injections weekly
Reglan twice daily
60 mg Predisone daily
Effexor
Wellbutrin
HCTC fluid pill
Folic Acid
B-12 injections

Previous Meds.
Imuran
Asulfersalazine
 
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