I have Crohns and mysteriously had leg stiffness and pain when walking, which ended up with me having lots of xrays (mris, ultrasounds), blood tests and all showed normal.
So had physio which slightly helped and ended up having to have a walking stick . This all started in September and got to the walking stick stage in March.  A couple of weeks ago I had to be admitted to a and e with an obstruction and that evening the leg pain disappeared, no pain whatsoever, no limp no stick!! Gone completely!

Wow, so did they give to 'stuff' to sort out the obstruction?  They have to be related, my knees always take a hit when I'm feeling rough with my Cron's.

Hi there

This is so weird..... I know you guys posted this back in April but I am now having exactly the same symptons you describe, my right foot has a pain in my heel that I can only describe as a hot needle being shoved up the inside of my heel - I can't weight beer. and my knees, wel I can barely bend them, and I sure can't get up again.

Ive been seeing my chiropractor and I have orthortics now as my feet have practically collapsed, that helps slightly but as soon as its foot to floor, my leg buckles with pain.

My GP has just requested bloods as he says there is a possiblity of crohns associated arthritis?

You heard of this??

Id appreciate any replies on this.
JO

Hi
Just before I started getting Crohn's symptoms I had really bad pains in my feet and legs, my legs felt like lead and it kept me awake at night and my feet felt bruised, I had sharp pains in my heel and occassionally my big toes.  I went to a Podiatrist after a few months and she said I had flat feet and gave me orthotics, these helped a bit but then I developed hip pain too, a dull ache that wasn't bad but wouldn't go away.  I'd had the leg pains for about 3 years and have been on LDN for 3 months and Aza for 5 months and have been almost pain free for 3 months.  I don't use orthotics anymore I and can't believe it was flat feet and not connected to Crohns.
Suze

Hi Suze

I go to the consultant September 3rd, What do I tell him?, I know that sounds daft but Im really concerned that he's just going to through drugs at me and not look at other options, Im very much the holistic type and I reacted badly to buresomide, Idon't want to spend my life on drugs but I do need to sort myself out and be a better mum, I have a son who's nearly 3 and I can't run with him.

Is this sympton very much past of crohns or have I missed something?

Jo x

Hi Jo
My consultant wasn't concerned about the hip pain, he just said joint pain is common with Crohn's and it can come and go but the thing with the feet is really weird, I've never heard anything about that being linked to IBD.  I haven't spoken to my doctor about it as until I read this it didn't occur to me that it was linked but how can flat feet just disappear?!  

I understand how you feel about not wanting drugs, I've had some bad reactions and am terrified of everything new I try but fingers crossed I've had a good few weeks and Aza seems to be working.

Lots of people swear by LDN, Low Dose Naltrexone for joint pain, I've posted about this previously but it's very hard to get someone to prescribe it, here's a couple of links if you're interested: www.ldnresearchtrust.org www.lowdosenaltrexone.org it's given at such a low dose that there are no nasty side effects.

I really didn't want to manage my Crohns with drugs and wanted to try alternative therapies but now I've accepted that while these may help I do need drugs to keep it under control.  Going from never being ill in my life to suddenly needing drugs forever was very scary.  I even agreed to surgery rather than try infliximab, methotrexate etc... but so many people have great results with these drugs and don't have awful side effects but you don't know until you try.  I reacted to Azathioprine when I first increased my dose but after going back to a lower dose then increasing again a couple of weeks later I tolerated it better and now a few months in don't have any side effects and feel much better.  

Some people are lucky and don't need drugs all the time but most do need something, I think getting a consultant you trust and can share your fears with is so important, what's yours like?

Good luck on the 3rd, let me know how you get on.
x

i had all sorts of aches and pains. told my doctor he thought it could be enteropathic arthritis. just a few days later i had a vitamin b12 injection and felt so much better almost straight away. since then when i'm due for vit b12 i'm achy

Take a look at this site for some useful info on the pains. Very much linked to crohn's, ibd and uc.
Shoud be able to copy and paste it into your browser.
http://www.patient.co.uk/doctor/Enteropathic-Arthropathies.htm
I suffered with back, hip,pelvic pains and various others and ended with a diagnosis of Ankylosing Spondylitis related to crohn's.
Had to have scans to confirm this.
I had a steroid injection straight into my left sacroliac joint which is just to one side of your monkey bone  (don't know the technical name).
That helped alot with walking and some lower back pain.
Been having physio as well but still suffering. Low dose Prednisolone helps me a bit but I'm currently on Humira and low dose pred and the difference is fantastic.
Nearly all pains have gone unless I get a bit too strenuous with lifting ect.
My crohn's consultant referred me to a rhumatologist who diagnosed all this. He seems fairly clued up on the links with CD and joint pains and didn't just fob me
off with the old ' you get pains with CD now get out' story.
Good luck everyone.
Dave.

Hi there

Well guess what.....I went to the hospital and saw a different consultant, he was really nice, very honest and open, I told him that Id been chatting to you guys about crohns and that I really didnt feel that I ticked every box regarding symptons, and he said.... thats probably because I don't think you have crohns, but I don't know what is wrong with you....., even though the test you had on the ileum confirmed it.

He thinks the pain I described is enteropathic arthritis and is going to refer me a to a rheumatologist, he says that there is connection between inflamation in the bowel and flare ups with joint pain and is very common.

He also said that its not uncommon for people like me to reject steroids and thats probably why I reacted so badly to budesomide.

Basically I go back in JANUARY 2011!!!!, to have another chat unless something go's hideaously wrong between now and then to check my progress and symptons, and its likely I'll need another colonoscopy (booo!!!!!!) to determine the exact diagnosis.

Are there varying degrees of crohns?, or is it a case of if you have it thats it?

Jo (Confused in Southampton)