Sore armpit on Humira and groin symptom

[adubb09]

I'm an adult male in my 30's with crohn's disease diagnosed 20 years ago. I have recently been struggling with a flare and have been taking humira with progress but not totally out of this flare yet.

I am a little concerned about soreness in my armpits but I have gone to my GP and had blood work to rule out lymphoma. It's not raised or obvious it's just a little sore. My GP said the lymph node that was most sore was still spongy and told me he thinks its infection oriented. Took two different antibiotics but this still remains. Could this armpit soreness be an extra-intestinal manifestation of my crohn's flare?

I saw my Gastro recently and he took a look at my armpits and said to treat it like an infection and continue taking Humira after the antibiotics are done. I plan to follow doctors orders but I am having some anxiety about all these weird symptoms. Some advice would be greatly appreciated.

I also think I had symptoms of a fistula or hidradenitis suppurativa near my groin when my flare started. I've never had this before but I think I had a tiny bit of puss draining around the groin area before my humira treatment began. Is this something I should get checked out? This symptom appears to have gone away with the Humira treatment so that's good. Also my Gastro did a colonoscopy while this symptom was present.

My Gastro is new for me since this flare began and I just wish there was a little more explanation in why this stuff is happening. The fun never ends with Crohn's.

 

[JackG]

adubb09, you didn't give any details but I think going on Humira almost 4 years ago increased my skin problems. Ironically I went to a dermatologist for it and he said he prescribes Humira for it!!

It's rather similar to Humira being prescribed for joint problems, but I think it worsened mine. Maybe it can only handle one problem at a time and worsens others. LOL.

Also new with me since Humira are small puss filled blisters occurring anywhere. The skin immediately around them reddens and gets sore until the blister pops, or I force it. At first I thought it was an under arm thing, or groin, but now I get them all over. All I can do is keep them clean and let them run their course. And I pay $4000 a month for this. Ugh.

 

[adubb09]

Thanks for the reply JackG. I know we all are at risk for skin issues with IBD so I guess I shouldn't be overly worried about it. I also have these little benign bumps under my skin in a few places that I know of. I'm sorry to hear that you are having such a bad reaction with your skin, that does sound like a chore to keep yourself in good health. Are there any tips you can give me with taking care of sore or broken skin? I typically go with neosporin if I have something unusual but maybe the doctor can prescribe something better? I also enjoy a nice warm epsom salt bath from time to time.

 

[JackG]

I used bandaids with neosporin covering individual spots early on. Soon, however, I developed bigger and more places so bandaids weren't appropriate. Experience shows me they routinely show up and eventually go away. And then my dermatologist agreed I was seeing various degrees of psoriasis, exacerbated by my Crohn's (or my immune system, etc.). Seasonal weather changes sometimes effect me, too. Here's a med my dermatologist gave me that actually works:

 

[caretothepeople]

Hi adubb09. Definitely keep your doctor updated on any progressing symptoms and see them sooner rather than later if it's persisting.

You may consider talking to your GP about seeing a Dermatologist, as Jack mentioned to get a full check-up and discuss treatment options for the skin issues.

That said, maybe posting in the "Treatment" area of this forum under the Humira threads might yield more advice and help too!

 

[adubb09]

Thanks for the reply and the advice, caretothepeople. My armpits are feeling better but not 100%. I think I may have injured my shoulders right before this symptom appeared. I was feeling good so I started exercising again by jogging and doing bench presses. I had an embarrassing moment of failing to push the bar back up. I awkwardly slid myself out from under the bar with very sore arms afterward. I read that bench presses are very hard on the shoulder so I think I will not do that exercise anymore. I didn't make the connection until the other day that maybe the incident in my workout was the reason for the armpit soreness. I'll mention the other skin issue in my next appointment since it's not happening now.