I was diagnosed with UC in October, 2001 at age 55. I thought I was "too old" for this diagnosis, but no. Went through Asacol (my body hated this, and symptoms got worse), Pentasa, finally ended up on Balsalazide. None of these really helped the UC much, but my mother had colon cancer, so my doc wants me to continue taking Balsalazide as a preventive. I started Remicade in March 2006 and have been in remission ever since.
Needless to say, I went through a lot of Prednisone during my long flare, and I have the scars to prove it. Osteonecrosis in my right shoulder now after two surgeries quite functional but still causes pain. Stress fracture of both bones in my lower left leg, now sporting massive amounts of hardware. Steroid induced diabetes, which never went away after I got off the steroids permanently.
I also have peripheral neuropathy in my feet, which is currently my only active complaint. I recently started on Gabapentin for these. Not sure if this is diabetic neuropathy (my blood glucose level history doesn't support this) or possibly from the Remicade. At any rate, the Gabapentin is helping and as long as I can keep walking I'm good.
On the positive side, I'm enjoying my retirement very much We moved to the hills of East Tennessee and love the area. There's a wellness center in our neighborhood and I work out there three times a week. So life is good for me now, and I hope it stays that way. I'm glad to find this site and hope to learn from it.
Needless to say, I went through a lot of Prednisone during my long flare, and I have the scars to prove it. Osteonecrosis in my right shoulder now after two surgeries quite functional but still causes pain. Stress fracture of both bones in my lower left leg, now sporting massive amounts of hardware. Steroid induced diabetes, which never went away after I got off the steroids permanently.
I also have peripheral neuropathy in my feet, which is currently my only active complaint. I recently started on Gabapentin for these. Not sure if this is diabetic neuropathy (my blood glucose level history doesn't support this) or possibly from the Remicade. At any rate, the Gabapentin is helping and as long as I can keep walking I'm good.
On the positive side, I'm enjoying my retirement very much We moved to the hills of East Tennessee and love the area. There's a wellness center in our neighborhood and I work out there three times a week. So life is good for me now, and I hope it stays that way. I'm glad to find this site and hope to learn from it.
