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Wrist Pain and Need Advice

I have Crohn's Disease and I also have pain in my outer wrists. My right hand is worse than my left. When I wake up in the morning, my right hand feels stiff and I need to stretch it. My wrists hurt when I twist them, do repetitive moments, or lift things the wrong way.

I went to a rheumatologist who found nothing wrong with them. He did not even order xrays. :ymad:

I have a routine gasto appointment this Thursday. I really want help for this problem. Do you have any advice? Does anyone here have an idea what this could be?
 

nogutsnoglory

Moderator
It sounds like it could be carpal tunnel syndrome. You may want to see a neurologist who can do a nerve conduction study.
 
I have wrist and hand pain too but it's not connected to crohns, I would suggest you go and ask for a referral to orthopaedic dept, they may at least do xrays and it definitely would be a good idea to mention to your gi who might be able to investigate or push through a referral. Good luck, keep in touch let us know how you get on.:ghug:
 
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Lady Organic

Moderator
Staff member
Hi KH,

I have the exact same problem since 3 months now. It started with my wrists and thumbs an now some of my finger joints are involved. Just seen the rheumatologist who explained to me that my pain is probably related to my Crohn's. She called my pain ''arthralgia''. X-rays come clear without any visible problems. She wants to give me some medication called Methotrexate, often used for rheumatoid arthritis. I am already on 50mg mercaptopurine (purinethol) and methotrexate is another immunosuppressive. I am not enthousiastic about that at all. I will see my gastroenterologist and rhuematologist next month and will see if we couldnt find another solution. I have read through litterature that salasopyrine is used as well for joint pain. I suggest you go see another rheumatologist.
good luck,
Lady Organic
 

CarolinAlaska

Holding It Together
Joint pain can be from Crohn's. Do you have IBD too? I think the carpal tunnel suggestion is a good one. Do you get tingling up your fingers if you tap the heel of your hand? Can you flex your wrist (hand forward at wrist) completely and sustain it without your hands killing you or your fingers getting tingly? Those are signs of carpal tunnel. Is your IBD in good control? Sometimes it takes getting your IBD into good control to control your EIMs like this...
 
Very interesting. I am having some GI symptoms in addition to wrist pain. My GI doctor recommended that I get a colonscopy, since we are not sure what is happening inside and I haven't had one in over two years. Depending on the results of it, we may or may not be changing my Crohn's medication.

In the meantime, I just bought some ergonomic mouse pads for my wrist. I am on the computer a lot so this will feel better for my wrists.
 
That sounds a bit more promising than the rheumy appt, when is the colonoscopy scheduled for? I sometimes use a splint for my wrist or even resting my arm on a cushion can help. I have also come to release how wonderful heat is and I keep suggesting people try it, I use bags warmed in a microwave or even a towel that's been in a dryer works well. How long have you been on your current medication?
 
My colonoscopy is scheduled for June 7. It probably could have been sooner, but I wanted it to be on a Friday due to work. I am presently on 6mp and Asacol. However, depending on the results of the colonscopy, I may be bumped up to a biologic medication.

I will try your ideas regarding heated towels. Sounds like a great idea!
 
I been ghosting around these forums for years I think but during a flare that lasted about a year beginning in April 2012 I lost the use of my hands for over a month.

Ulnar nerve entrapment
- Pinky finger and half of ring finger will be affected

Carpal tunnel syndrome
- Fingers other than pinky and the other half of the ring finger

Also there are various other places and things that can give you nerve problems. Pectoral minor muscles can get to tight and mess with nerves in under the shoulder. Another one is Thoracic outlet syndrome which can cause carpal tunnel symptoms but the actual problem is in under your collarbone area.

If you are having problems with pain on doing a compression outward on your wrists like using your pinky finger to hit keys on the keyboard you should really think about making sure you using opposite modifier keys when typing. like right shift + A and left shift + p.

Also there are lots of different kinds of braces that can help personally I use swedeo universal wrist wraps very very often. They can be found cheap online I personally bought on ebay. They keep the area warm which promotes healing and helps keep your wrists straight

You could try wearing braces/wraps when you sleep as well and try to think about your arm placement. There is always a chance it could be rheumatic stiffness but if you can feel pain on certain movements then you may get a lot of mileage out of wearing braces and training your wrist to stay straight.

Anyway goodluck! Keep hydrated
 
Thank you for the advice. I do agree with you about taking note of how my fingers move when keyboarding. I do a lot of typing at work. I am now using both hands when I use control short cuts and that helps.

I got a second opinion with my primary care provider and he diagnosed it as De Quervain Tendosyncovitis. During my second appt., I got steroid injections in my wrists and they feel a lot better.
 
De Quervain Tendosyncovitis is usually to do with the thumb muscles isn't it? I assume your having pain on the thumb side of your wrists then?

You should try to grab an ergonomic keyboard like the kinesis advantage. I was using Dragon to do lots of typing I even programmed some starcraft 2 macros using a scripting language :lol2: Maybe your work can pony up and buy one of these keyboards. You can recover from RSI's while using a kinesis.

You should also keep in mind that although it may be an RSI there are lots of conditions that can cause very easy RSIs, hypothyroid diseases and other automimmune problems. These conditions create the perfect conditions to develop an RSI or multiple ones.

I have some sort of problems with joint pain off and on in my arms and when it flares using my hands pushes me into some RSIs ontop of the general localized pain.
 
I was having problems with my outer wrists so I was very surprised that my provider, the physician's assistant, made this diagnosis. However, I am glad that the steroid shots worked. I feel much better.
 
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