Newly Diagnosed

[amazongypsy]

Good Morning all,

First time poster here. I am 24 years old and I was diagnosed with Crohn's Disease on May 2, 2008, less than one month ago. Prior to that I had diarrhea every single day for 6 weeks, along with the usual cramping and not feeling well. I had problems when I was younger as well, although we didn't know what it was then.
So May 2nd I had my first colonoscopy which is how they were able to diagnose me. I was put on Lialda and prednisone and I am about to switch the Lialda for Pentasa and I am still on the prednisone as well as 6-MP. I also found out from recent blood work that I caught strep throat, so I am on antibiotics for that as well.
The reason why I am posting is this: Since the day of my colonoscopy, I have been in pain. Not even abdominal pain-- it's all in my joints and bones. Not a day goes by where I don't feel achy (it mostly centers on my knees). I have come to accept a 'normal' ache every day. I do get it worse sometimes though. It seems to happen more on weekends, where I am in such pain I can't do anything but cry. I woke up this morning in the same such pain, as well as a fever of 101.
I didn't have major joint pain before I was diagnosed. Why do I have it so bad now? Tylenol doesn't even seem to work for me, so I can do nothing but sit around and suffer and hope it goes away.

Any input on this? I have done a ton of CD research since my dx. What should I expect in the future?

Thank you very much,

Andrea

 

[D Bergy]

The increased pain on the week ends makes me think that sun exposure could be linked to the joint pain. It may be a Crohn's related symptom or something else.

I would see if there is a link to sun exposure based on some personal experimentation. If it is related, you may be looking at a different bacteria also.

Just my thinking on the subject.

Dan

 

[Guest]

hi & welcome to the forum, andrea.

i've suffered achy knees and other joints since childhood, years before i was diagnosed with crohns. i do find that any virus/infection makes them ache more, plus hormonal changes - i am less achy the first 2 weeks of my cycle than the last 2. i take a drug called Syndol, which is mainly used for headaches but really helps joint pain.

 

[D Bergy]

There are two bacteria strains that I am aware of that cause arthritis pain and joint destruction. Personally, I think arthritis may always be caused by a bacteria and these two are commonly known to cause this.

The first one is Lyme bacteria, (Borellia Burgdorferia), the other more common one is Chlamydia Pneumoniae.

When these bacteria are killed they cause more joint pain than normal and Lyme bacteria can also cause flu like symptoms.

Sunlight boosts the immune system and kills off some of these bacteria causing increased joint pain.

Here is a good site on the more common Chlamydia Pneumoniea bacteria. You can see by the symptoms that it could very well be a suspect in your case.

http://www.cpnhelp.org/diseases_and_symptoms_ass

That is the theory in a nutshell.

Dan

 

[Kev]

Hi Andrea. Welcome to the forum. Bad enuff to get that diagnosis and to have joint pain thrown in for good measure as well. I had joint pain for years pre-dx. I thought (ASSumed) it was just arthritis because of my size. big, tall people place more strain on their joints. I did discover it wasn't RA.. and was told to just take OTC remedies for the pain. That often didn't do much good, so I just suffered it out. Then along came IBD. And my joint pain severity went through the roof... interestingly enuff, tied to the severity of my IBD. I suffered that out too.. not much I could do about it. Tried numerous treatments for my IBD, and one of them.. pred.. seemed to improve the joint pain. But you can't stay on it indefinitely. Then, a while back, off pred, I started on LDN. As my IBD symptoms ameliorated/decreased... my joint aches n pains diminished. I think my arthritis issues (in hindsight) were always a part of my disease, perhaps a warning of what was to come.. perhaps part N parcel of my overall disease, just that this part showed up first; and was readily/easily mistaken for just plain arthritis. I don't know if the long winded ramble is of much help to you; but at least you know you aren't alone with these symptoms. I hope that counts for something