Crohns and joint pain

[Linzie79]

I am currently undergoing investigations for inflammatory bowel disease and in recent months I've experienced joint pain. The pain hits one joint and seems to last around 4 days. It does coincide with worsening GI symptoms (bloody diarhea and abdominal pain). The pain hits different joints, one at a time. For example, I've had episodes of dreadful pain in the right hip, left wrist, right elbow, and right shoulder. The most recent was the shoulder and my arm felt like lead and excruciating pain when attempting to lift it. Does anyone else experience this? I've only been taking paracetamol as I can't take ibuprofen with the GI bleeding, but it helps little. What does help is to try and move (staying still is so painful).

Have you tried simeticone? Might not be useful for you but its helped me. Because trapped gas due to bowel problems can cause pain all over your body. Once it even put me in A&E before I knew what it was! But it was in odd places like my shoulders and back. It didn't occur to me it was gas. The simeticone really helps. It's got names like 'windeeze' or whatever off brand name they give it. Currently got one called bloat ease which also has charcoal in that is working well.
Worth a shot if you haven't tried it

Just to add the pain has also been intense in my hips too..
I do also get wrist and knee pain whivh I dont think is the trapped wind but the shoulder, chest, back and hip pain definitely is because it goes when I take the simeticone.
I use microwave heat packs on my joints

Thanks! I haven't tried simeticone but I'll look into it. That's interesting about trapped gas: I'm full of it, especially early in the morning, and the link with joint pain never really occurred to me before.

Look up enteropathic arthritis OP and discuss it when you next see your gastroenterologist. It’s a type of arthritis linked to IBD.

Thanks, I think this might be on the gastro's radar. I had a lumbar MRI which reported raised suspicion of inflammatory spondyloarthropathy, which I believe enteropathic arthritis falls under? I saw rheumatology last year and the standard tests came back fine and I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia, although I never felt this diagnosis really fit

I had ulcerative colitis, and had bad joint pain. I was told it was a combination of referred pain in my hips - lack of nerve endings in the intestine, but nearby nerves picking up on something being wrong and firing off a pain signal was how it was explained to me, it felt like the pain was inside my bones - and also that I had an inflammatory condition and it was causing inflammation elsewhere.

I also had several episodes of hip bursitis which was next level painful.

I have ibs and chronic pain, hips especially, mri showed bursitis. Often hobble down one stair at a time in the mornings, knees and ankles painful. Or should say I did. I went 100% gluten free 6 months ago. Most of my pain has now gone. It improved within the first week so encouraged me to keep going. And even more so at the 6 month mark by having really strong healthy nails, something I’ve never had before.