My story seems very uneventful compared to others haha

About me eh.

My name is Danny Coutts. I’m 19 and a second year Geology student at the University of Calgary. I have yet to be officially diagnosed but I’m on my way. It’s been about a year now of tests and such. I’ve done tons of blood work, x-rays, MRI (on knee looking for torn ACL, that was their first guess when I sad terrible knee pain), barium swallows, and a sigmoidoscopy. I’m scheduled for a colonoscopy in January so I’m pretty excited (well as excited as I can be).

My main symptom is a migratory arthritis and slight urgency when I eat certain foods. The arthritis is what is paining me the most of all my symptoms. I’m a very outdoorsy guy; big into canoeing, skiing, hiking, geology; so swollen joints are really slowing me down. I don’t know if it being migratory is a blessing or not. If it’s in my legs/ankles I can play guitar but if it’s in my hands/arms I can move a whole lot more easily. And I get a day here and there where there isn’t pain which is spectacular.
As for my history, about a year ago (November 2009) I started getting pains in my hips; they would come and go so I never really worried about them. Then over Christmas break I got terrible joint pains in my feet, ankles, and knees. From then on I had a good cycle of arthritis in one joint then it would move to another, then another. It was bad enough in my knees and feet that I went out and bought a cane.

I stopped drinking about half way through the year (Feb 2010) because I thought that there was a correlation between drinking and the joint pain. It saved me a lot of money in second semester Then in the end of April my pains just stopped. I went through the summer completely joint pain free. Some of my other symptoms persisted and picked up. I started to see blood in my stool, had lots or urgency, etc. But the joint pain was gone so I was super pumped for summer. I spent the summer hiking, canoeing, biking, being active. My joints help up enough for me to complete a field course for school but then it the arthritis started picking up again right after that. Now I’m back to not knowing what joint will hurt next.

Anyways that’s my story. Right now I’m on Asacol until we get a clear diagnosis. I don’t know if it’s actually doing anything for me though. And I’m a bit too afraid to wean myself off of it to see if it is.
All in all life keeps going. I just hit a speed bump.

Let me know if you have the same kind of symptoms: mostly migratory arthritis and some bowel. I’d love to pick your brain.

Thanks for reading.
Danny.

Hi Danny! Sorry to hear about your predicted diagnosis.

It's tough to deal with joint pain when you're active. I've always had abdominal discomfort, but just in the last few months my joints have been driving me nuts!! I can barely squat and stand up because my knees hurt and reaching over my head, my shoulder is so stiff.

(I just thought I'd say Hello, because I have a Geology degree too - I was a 2nd year student 10 years ago...) so if you want to talk rocks we can do that too )

Hi Danny -- when it's YOU it's never uneventful! One thing I've concluded after lots of reading and thinking is that Crohn's and arthritis and psoriasis and lupus and so on are all different facets of a larger problem -- that of a screw-up (to use the technical term) in the immune system. I've had joint pain and stomach pain both and neither are fun! I think like you said the disease flits around and doesn't stay in the same place all the time. I hope you get a good diagnosis and some treatment that works. But keep having fun outdoors. That's something I wish I could do! But I'm just not the outdoorsy type. I wouldn't mind being airlifted to, say, the middle of Yellowstone, but hiking there is not something I want to do . . .

Sandy

Hey there welcome and I too am a 19 year old 2nd year university student. sorry I cant be a help with the arthritis but good to see your on your way with diagnosis which is a good start. This is the place to ask questions so good luck and welcome.

Hi!

I have lots of joint issues and a possible dx of Rhumatoid arthritis to go along with my 12 years of Crohns. I have lots of pain in my lower back (si joint or facets they dont know for sure) along with "minor" pains that seem to go all over the place.

Have you seen a Rhuemy? It seems to me that the bowels could be secondary to another disease.