Different pain medication?

Hello all,

So still suffering with terrible joint pain and having a lot of mobility issues because of it. I have been taking co-codamol and tramadol when needed but I don't find these help much. Also the tramadol I hate taking as it makes me feel really strange, clench my teeth together, make me feel really hot,sick and I have trouble sleeping so it is a last resort. Has anyone been prescribed any other pain killers that help with less side affects? I am going to see about getting a drs appointment in the morning to see if I can get something sorted until this is under control.
Thanks x

I'm sorry you are in so much pain. I can't speak to the different pain meds but are you treating the underlying symptoms? Are you on a biologic or some drug to deal with the arthritis? Is it Crohn's related or a separate case of arthritis?

Its crohns related arthritis I am on methotrexate and sulfalsalazine and I'm waiting to hear from GI and rheumatologist what they want me to try next. I have tried humira and remicade but i was allergic to both.
I am say in the Drs surgery now hopefully I can get a bit of releif x

The GP gave me some prescription strength co-codamol and since taking them I feel really tired and feel sick. I don't know if its just lack of sleep that is catching up with me but I feel awful. My appetite isn't great and I am uncomfortable all the time my other half even noticed yesterday I wasn't eating much. I am trying to eat little and often and drink plenty of fluids, I am starting to get fed up with this. I am meant to be back at work tomorrow but I don't know how I am going to manage.

Hello there,

I've been on this strength of co-codamol for a while and it definitly makes me feel sleepy, I don't have the sickness with it but my sister had and found that by eating something small it helped. I'm sorry this is happening to you

When will you hear back from your GI and Rheumatology, is it possible to contact someone..maybe an IBD nurse to see if you could be seen sooner rather than later?

I do hope you get some peace from this very soon, I know multiple pains and sickness are hard to put up with, take care and good luck.

How long have you been on the methotrexate? Have you found any difference in your pain?

There is another biologic similar to humira and remicade called Cimzia. Many people who were allergic like you seem to do well on Cimzia.

I am hoping to hear from my GI in the next 2 weeks but my GP suggested I try and get hold of them sooner, so I am going to call them tomorrow.
I have been on methotrexate for a year and a half and it has helped my crohns a lot last year I was in a really bad way so it has improved a lot but it hasnt made a big difference for my joints. Unfortunatley cimzia isn't approved for use in crohns in the uk yet but it has for rheumatoid arthritis. I am just playing a bit of a waiting game at the moment.

The doctors get pretty mad at me, but if I am having terrible joint pain and swelling I take NSAID's. NSAID's aren't really recomended for people with IBS, but you could at least ask about them or something for the inflamation till they have a more permenant solution. I can have 3 Vicodin and it doing nothing if the pain is from inflamation (cept make me little loopy).

The Drs have given me NSAIDs before and offered me diclofenac today they really upset my stomach so I steer clear.

I usually can't tolerate NSAID's either but I have found some relief in certain area's with a patch called Flector. I don't have any issue with them upsetting my stomach and they work great on places like shoulders or knees but when I have a lot of pain all over they only help one spot at a time.

I have never heard of a patch for NSAIDs before but I have used one of the gels you can buy from the pharmacy and like you say it's not to bad when its a slight ache in one area but when it's in different joints and more severe pain it's not as good.

Feeling really awful tonight wondering if I am coming down with something I just don't feel right but can't pin point what. Need to try and get some sleep haven't slept properly ina while and I'm meant to be going to work tomorrow but other half is trying to convince me not to go. I think I will just see how it goes.
Thank you all for the posts it makes things a lot easier to deal with x

NSAIDS are a big no no with IBD. They can cause GI distress and bleeding. I prefer NSAIDS for pain over Tylenol but I always bleed and need to steer clear of them.

Can you possibly get Cimzia off label? What about Tysabri, Stelara in the UK? Are they approved or offered for Crohn's?

Hi Kayleigh,

I too have crohns and experience arthritis and pain associated with my CD. I am on humira, but I also see a pain specialist who prescribes me hydro condone, and duladid (which I only use for bad flares). I know that pain killers are not for everyone. But I take 2 Vicodin a day and that helps with my persistent joint,stomach, and butt pain from the chronic diarrhea. I thought that starting humira would help with the joint pain being that I think it's also used for RA. But I feel like its made it worse. So I don't know what that's all about but I'm sick of trying to figure it out. Lol! Good luck to you

Not really sure what your pain is like. I find that the more active I get, the better I get. Otherwise my elbows and hands get really painful and cramp up. I was swimming in the winter a few days a week, now I am bicycling. It helps a lot during the day, but I wake up at night in pain, mainly from my back, around my ribs and legs. Stretching them out helps, but I usually have to change position. So, not sure if you've tried stretching and exercise, it's not a cure but it does help a lot. I try to force myself to slow down a bit too, as I'm normally very active. Good luck. Oh and I'm not taking any medication. I tried motrin/ibuprofin but it doesn't seem to do anything. Yes people say not to use it, however you do need to sleep, and I would try anything if I thought it would help. Besides opiates I guess, which the doctors don't like prescribing and I don't like asking for. Besides, if you have Crohns anyway how much worse can it get? Just my opinion.

I have tried taking NSAIDs before with the ok of the drs but they really have me a bad stomach. I am currently in remmision with crohns so I don't want to risk having that flare up too.
I try to keep excercising but sometimes I am just not able to as the pain is so bad. I used to go to boot camp 3 times a week and would love to go back I miss it a lot :-(

KayleighMeek said:

I have tried taking NSAIDs before with the ok of the drs but they really have me a bad stomach. I am currently in remmision with crohns so I don't want to risk having that flare up too.
I try to keep excercising but sometimes I am just not able to as the pain is so bad. I used to go to boot camp 3 times a week and would love to go back I miss it a lot :-(

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Have you tried lyrica or cimbalta or any drugs for fibromyalgia and arthritis? I am on effexor xl and take 10,000 IU of vit. D3 a day. My pain level went down alot from that. Also magnesium citrate in daily dose. Too much can cause runs.I also take ginger caosules everyday, I forgot to mention. They are good for arthritis and inflammation and they help prevent colds..

I did not see in the thread that you have tried amitriptyline - have your doctors tried that with you? I also have crohn's related arthritis and trammadol happened to work a little better for me, but amitriptyline did work for me at first, I just got switched before trying higher doses. I did not feel any side effects from it - but I think like most meds for pain, it may make you sleepy.

I would definitely not recommend boot camp when you're having arthritis symptoms. Ouch! Yoga works well to get mobility back without overdoing it.

I really want to try yoga but at the moment the classes don't fit in with my shift pattern but when I change to 9-5 soon (yay!) I will give it a go
Even when my arthritis was settled for the first week of ever doing bootcamp I could barely walk up the stairs or sit down so its definatley not a good idea for me to go back to it at the moment lol.

All of these suggestions are brilliant I have got a lot of research to do and can ask my GI and rheumatology drs about a lot of these and see if I can get this sorted for good. Thank you all so much x

I got my arthritis before the Crohn's symptoms were severe enough to prompt a diagnosis - interestingly, my arthritis responds really well to Enbrel (which does nothing for Crohn's) and whilst trials would say it has the same allergy profile as Humira (with remicade a bit worse), all the anecdotal stuff on the arthritis forum I visit clearly suggests Enbrel is less likely to cause a reaction.

So if the methotrexate is keeping your Crohn's at bay (did nothing for my arthritis either), you could consider adding Enbrel.

And yoga is fantastic, but when I was in a full arthritis flare, I could barely shuffle one block up the street - if it is at all possible to cool that flare down, then the yoga will actually become more effective.

Yeah I understand you with not doing exercise when in full arthritis flare like you say it is hard enough getting up and down and walking.
I'm still waiting to hear back from the consultants to see what they say its at the 3 week mark now and be said to call if I hadn't heard anything in 4 weeks but I might phone on Monday.
My joints still aren't great not as bad as the begining of the week when it was all in my back too but have a night shift tonight and tomorrow night it's all good fun lol

Hope it goes well!:ghug:

KayleighMeek said:

Yeah I understand you with not doing exercise when in full arthritis flare like you say it is hard enough getting up and down and walking.
I'm still waiting to hear back from the consultants to see what they say its at the 3 week mark now and be said to call if I hadn't heard anything in 4 weeks but I might phone on Monday.
My joints still aren't great not as bad as the begining of the week when it was all in my back too but have a night shift tonight and tomorrow night it's all good fun lol

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Ginger capsules too can help.