Mr. Talliman and his crohn's arthritis

[Taliiman]

Hello all, new to the forums deal, but I figured i'd share my experiences with my crohn's.

ontop of cramping loss of apetite etc, i get a sort of arthritis in my back, so i'm going to share some of my story and hopefully hear about other's similar to mine

I was diagnosed in 2002, after years of trying to figure out what was wrong. I had all the usual symptoms: nausea, loss of apetite, sever cramping all the good stuff. But i was also getting SEVER pains in my back. It felt like my spine was just so tight and i was like an old man walking around. With a little bit of research i found out that sometimes there are sorts of arthitis that develop from crohn's. IT can happen in your joints, or back, siatica (wich i used to get) Everytime i would talk to my gastrologist about it he seemed to just brush me off and ask about the more common symptoms. I tried All the drugs, methotrexate, prednosone, all sorts of different things and none of it worked. HE finally put me on a new drug called HUMIRA, it was developed for people with rheumitoid arthritis. Now this drug was AMAZING but VERY expensive. I literally woke up the next morning with ZERO stress in my back and haven't had siatica since. Been exercising and gained 40 LBS since.

If anyone has any similar stories please post, i'm curious to see if my crohn's is rare or if its even related to my crohn's at all

Cheers,
Eric

 

[Astra]

Hiya Eric
and welcome

That sounds like good news!
Check out our Humira sub forum, you'll find all the info you need in there.
lotsa luv
Joan xxx

 

[Angrybird]

Hi Eric and welcome to the forum, I am pleased that the Humira is working for you I think a fair few of us experience pain in joints when our crohns is active - I know I do. I think this means that docs can struggle to see where it is the crohns or new seperate issue that is occuring so do not always know how to perhaps treat it..... I do hope things continue to go well for you hun. Have a good nose around the forum, there is a lot of helpful info and support available here.

 

[Lisa]

hi and ewlcome - I too have arthritis in my lower back....also moderate-severe sacroileitis...thankfully that hasn't flared in a while!....

Pleaes check around the forums - you will find that many have some type of arthritis or other.....

 

[imwood]

My younger brother has Crohns & also ankylosing spondylitis, which is an arthritis that often goes hand in hand with Crohns. For many, the Crohns is more destructive than the AS, but for his particular case, the AS is at least as severe/destructive.
His SI joint is fused, his hips are partially fused, a number of his vertebrae have begun to fuse, and he has lesions on his shoulder & collar bones currently. Plus, severe stiffness & pain in his knee joints & ankles. He sleeps in a hospital bed at home, because the raising/lowering functions of the head & foot allow him to sleep more comfortably, he can raise the head to sit himself up in the morning because often he's too stiff to get up out of bed without a lot of time, exertion, or someone's assistance... so yeah, you're far from alone in dealing with arthritis issues.
BTW, he's only 25...

Humira & Remicade are both drugs that seem to help both Crohns & arthritis at the same times. His AS is an inflammatory process of its own, and is active and causes him problems even when his Crohns is under control, also.

 

[Taliiman]

Hi everyone! Thanks for the responces

PasoBuff, I hear ya on the flare ups of the lower back. I haven't had one in about a year now. Knock on wood, lol

Imwood- Aww man i'm sorry to hear that about your brother. Right near before i started Humira, I was almost at that point. It was hard to sleep let alone get out of bed. So i'm wondering if that is what i have, i should ask my doctor about that. Anyhow, i recomend if he can afford to get Humira to check it out. It cured my back and joints over night literally.... although i hate taking drugs, with the pain i was in i needed it to function and it sounds like your bro can use the same. Good luck to you,

Oh and PS, not trying to sound like a hippy, but look into rick simpsons hemp oil. Hopefully i will be trying this and i will post my results here.

Cheers to all

 

[David]

Hi there and welcome My thought when reading your first post was Ankylosing Spondylitis as well. Have you had an xray or any other imaging studies of your back done? And have you by chance had your vitamin D levels checked? Anyone with Crohn's Disease is at increased risk of deficiency and deficiency can cause body and joint pain.

 

[Andjela]

back pain with every little flare

lower back pain and major arthitis are a significant part of my experience with chron's. seems like we are not alone.