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Joint pain and general depression

So here I am on Remicade and now arthritis is acting up (as in I feel about 100 today)...gee how good would I feel if I wasn't on the Remi? (said tounge in cheek!) I am having a very bad, very feel sorry for myself, the only one at my pity party, day! Unfortunately, these days are coming more and more often. Just general depression is setting in. I hate my job, feel like crap and just want to go home and sit with my cat and dog....OK, I'll let my husband stay too. At least he can bring me food and drink.

Now, I feel a little better! Sometimes just putting it down in writing makes it kinda better. If I told any other group of people this, they would send the men in the little white coats to visit. Thanks for listening.

Now having got that off my chest, I did a search about joint pain here and just couldn't find what I was after. I thought I read somewhere that Remi can cause joint pain? Do any of you know anything about this? My hips are killing me (GP says bursitis but that is a catch all phrase), my hands are swollen and hurt like the dickens, feet hurt, ankles hurt...pretty much you name it, it hurts. I am only 56 years old and am just too young to feel like this.

Any thoughts?
 

Cat-a-Tonic

Super Moderator
Hi Karen, I know the feeling! I hate those days when I feel like I'm 100. I can't answer your questions about Remicade as I've never been on it, but I get bad joint pains too, primarily in the hips & knees. So it might just be another lovely extra-intestinal symptom. The only meds I'm currently on are Entocort and Amitriptyline, but I also got the joint pains when I was on no meds. And I guess I should mention that I'm only 30 and I feel like I'm 100 some days! I've got a crohnie friend who's a couple years younger than I am, and she and I always joke that we're the oldest young people we know. It sucks feeling like that but sometimes you just have to laugh at it, you know? Sorry to hear you're having a pity party and I hope things get better for you soon. :)
 
Hiya Karen

If my joint pain gets any worse, I'll be using one of these to get to work!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walker_(mobility)

hang on in there Karen! big hugs
xxx

Thanks all, at least I can suffer with a group instead of alone....

Actually, Joan, I was thinking more along the lines of a segway scooter...that is until the owner of the company backed off a cliff and got killed...but on the other hand I bet we could pick them up mighty cheap now adays!
 
Hi Karen, I know the feeling! I hate those days when I feel like I'm 100. I can't answer your questions about Remicade as I've never been on it, but I get bad joint pains too, primarily in the hips & knees. So it might just be another lovely extra-intestinal symptom. The only meds I'm currently on are Entocort and Amitriptyline, but I also got the joint pains when I was on no meds. And I guess I should mention that I'm only 30 and I feel like I'm 100 some days! I've got a crohnie friend who's a couple years younger than I am, and she and I always joke that we're the oldest young people we know. It sucks feeling like that but sometimes you just have to laugh at it, you know? Sorry to hear you're having a pity party and I hope things get better for you soon. :)
I feel your pain guys - I'm a 32 year old man and today I couldn't get up to go to work because my muscles were aching! I'm only on Entocort right now but I have had this kind of discomfort here and there. Doctors say it's normal but I'm wondering if anyone knows anything we can do to help it?
 

Jennifer

Adminstrator
Staff member
Location
SLO
Doctors say it's normal but I'm wondering if anyone knows anything we can do to help it?
Isn't it possible to take something like Tylenol to help with the pain? Seems awful to need more pills to help you feel better because of what your other pills are doing to you. My mom has diabetes and the medication she's taking makes her feel nauseous so they gave her a pill for that. :/
 
Joint pain gets me in the dumps too sometimes, because it causes such exhaustion and it really does infiltrate every single activity... I keep motivated by trying to stick to a good routine that keeps me moving at least a little bit, and I find that after some exercise (short walks) I'm looser and feeling emotionally refreshed too!
 
Now having got that off my chest, I did a search about joint pain here and just couldn't find what I was after. I thought I read somewhere that Remi can cause joint pain? Do any of you know anything about this? My hips are killing me (GP says bursitis but that is a catch all phrase), my hands are swollen and hurt like the dickens, feet hurt, ankles hurt...pretty much you name it, it hurts. I am only 56 years old and am just too young to feel like this.

Any thoughts?
I have been having the same problems. Feet, ankles, knees, hips and back are so bad I have not been working at all. I feel like I am 100 and am only 44. So if you figure it out, let me know. I will do the same
All we gotta do is:hang:
Michele
 
:hang:OMG I had that day last week-so sorry you're in so much pain! LOL about letting the husband stay to bring you stuff-I have felt the exact same way!:thumleft:

Remicade can cause aches and pains; for me they are no where near as bad as what you're describing-that's more like a flare in the joints. Can you take Meloxicam? It's a strong prescription anti-inflammatory for RA-not a steroid, but an NSAID. If I take it with a Prevacid I have no tummy troubles.

Be sure to let your doc know, maybe they can adjust the dose of Remicade.

Go home and have a nice bubblebath with Epsom salts added, and let hubby take care of you. I'm sending positive thoughts you're way for a better tomorrow.
 
Sorry to hear you are in so much pain. the extra pains from the meds just make this disease so much more fun!.. When I was on remicade I had joint pain so bad they took me off it. I would call your doc and see what they can do about your dosage or switching meds, or give you that look of " yeah we know but we cant fix it"
 
If it makes you feel any better, I'm 25 and I felt pretty damn rickety the last couple of weeks. If I were a door i'd need DW40. If I were a horse, they'd have probably shot me by now.

I did start taking Yoga. I would say if you aren't already doing it in some form, it could be really helpful. I go to group X at my gym so someone else tells me what to do for an hour and its all stretching and breathing and stress relieving. I feel really good when I leave. That and a stint in a hot tub may be really beneficial if you can swing it!
 
I had my pity party weekend lol
Still feel rough but I'll tell u what I did ( an I'm a newbie to this so was quite suprised it worked somewhat)
I had to have all my normal pills etc an painkillers, I had 3 very hot baths and stayed in there for hours lol an I bought deep heat spray and that heated the painfully areas an took my mind off the pain also I sprayed some on my belly last night as I was suffering an again it doesn't take the pain away but the warming effect is lush like a hot water bottle so it takes your mind off the pain for a while,
I used loads but it stinks lol
Hope u feel better soon
Jen XX
 
Thanks all but apparently my pity party continues....as much as I wanted it to end, it hasn't.

Last night was just horrible. Fever, pain, no sleep, etc. Any my poor husband can only give me just so much sympathy as he had his left shoulder wacked on a week ago....so we are having a pain off. I'm sure I'm in more pain than he is but he assures me he is winning the contest. At least we can laugh about it as we try to help each other through this. Don't know what I would do without him......

As for the fever, my temp is usually just less than 98 D. But last night when I woke up with this, I was freezing, had the usual body-joint aches associated with a feever...but when I took my temp it was about 96D. Does anyone else find that wierd?

As for the freezing, it was only 9D here this AM so I cranked up the pellet stove, turned on the floor heaters and my bed blanket and went back to bed. Took a vicodin so that is helping the pain. Hubby liked the pellet stove and the floor heaters being turned on as he has been sleeping in his recliner....too painful to lay down yet.

Thanks for listening, I sure do appreciate all of you....Tried to tell a friend about this yesterday and she just didn't get it. :pale:
 
Karen,

I know how you feel. Have you tried something called biofreeze for the joint pain? Sometimes it will help a little bit, also hot showers can help some for me.. a massage maybe?

I hope you feel better soon..
 
WAAAY better today. Fever broke. It is amazing how bad that can make you feel. And so much for the 96 degree temp...It soared to 100 yesterday afternoon. By that time I was flat on my back. But as I said, feel 100% better today. Still some joint pain, but not the spine pain I had with the fever.

But I do need to see the DR about all of this. Have a good GI, just 125 miles away so I don't go often. Maybe with my next Remi treatment......
 
Sometimes if I go swimming or just get in a pool it also helps. Hydro therapy, I am so sold.

I was wondering why you'd have a doctor that is 125 miles away. You live in Wyoming! You're the first person I've ever remotely known that lives there. How is it? My last GI was 10 miles away and it still took two hours to get to him! Glad you're feeling better!
 
Hi Manimation. Live in Cody and there are NO specialists here. We are a small tourist town so we have to go to Billings, MT which is a pretty big medical hub in this part of the world. We have some great doctors there. Neither my husband or I will have anything done here in in Cody unless we absolutely have to. Too many horror stories. So we go to Billings, shop, eat and have a great time...No sales tax too! So that is a bonus. Billings loves to see us coming.

:ybiggrin::ybiggrin::ybiggrin::ybiggrin:
 
i know how you're feeling. i've felt pretty down lately and my knee has been killing me today. i'm assuming this is a part of Crohns... how does this disease cause so many other problems in the body (besides the bowel), like joint pain?? i don't get it..i was just diagnosed in April of this year, so i honestly still have no idea what i'm up against.
 
That sounds nice, no sales tax. It's 9.75% here. Well I feel ya. In Georgia I didn't have any choices for a GI doc and luckily I was in remission during my time there. Are you feeling any better since the start of this thread? Sending good vibes to Wyoming!
 
Manimation, kinda feeling better. So thanks for the good vibes. My Mom is No. CA up by the Oregon border. When I visit, I don't buy anything there. We are 4% here in WY, but MT is 0% so do all my big shopping up there.

Yep, Nica, I need to do just that. But, they are 125 miles away and winter has set in. Will probably wait till one of my spring Remi appointments and do it all at the same time. Would have done it this past fall, just didn't put 2 and 2 together. Oh well, better late than never they say....I am doing a bit better now. It seems that when the fever spiked, some of the pain went away...wierd! But then nothing about this disease is normal.
 
Hi Karen
Today is my 1st day here. Hello to all! I am 51, Crohn's since about age 13. Steroids, Asacol, Pentasa, immunosuppressant tx and 2 bowel resections over the years. Started Remi in June of '09. In June of '10 I started having joint/muscle pain about 2 weeks prior to my infusions. Never had any associated with the Crohns in my history. Now having pain about 3 1/2 weeks out. Cautiously taking Naproxen b.i.d. which help tremendously, but what might it do to my belly in the long run? I did a search using "Remicade-Joint Pain" as a reference and found a flood of testimonials just like mine. Seems it might be a delayed reaction to the mouse protein in the Remi but few Drs will acknowledge this. I plan to have a long chat with MY doc at my next infusion. This pain and stiffness is crippling and I have a 12 hr a day job I have to go to. Not to mention the Crohn's itself which is better but still always just there! Karen, you are not crazy and neither am I but I fear this disease will drive us there! Hope you find some solutions and some comfort soon. Thanks for letting the "new girl" vent.
 
Hi all, an update here. I think I am zeroing in on the pain in the neck, shoulders, arms and hands...impinged nerves in the neck. I have had the C5-6 fused twice now and this is extremely like the pain/discomfort I felt before each of those surgeries. The first one was a herniated disk and the 2nd was for bone spurs.

Am going to the DR next week to start the DX process. So if that is the case, this is "good" news as I really don't want to go off the Remi. I am still convinced my hips are just old age and abuse over the years.

I don't think my bone problems are related to any meds I have been on as I never was on any (except the Remi) long enough to do any damage.

So I will keep my fingers crossed...seems wierd to keep your fingers crossed that you may have to have more surgery to fix your spine...but if that keeps me on the Remi for the rest of my Crohn's problems, so be it.
 
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