Intestinal Pain anyone else? | Arthritis Information
I am 33 and was diagnosed with JRA at age 5. I took all of the meds they gave then; 18 baby aspirin a day, naproxen, etc. It started in only my knees and ankles. When I was 15, it spread throughout my body and I started getting cortisone shots and taking lots of meds.
When I got to college, I threw the meds away and just lived with the pain. For the past 13 years or so I have had relatively calm periods and some major flare ups.
My question, though, is about intestinal pain. It started when I was 22 or so and got increasingly worse as I got older. Basically, whenever I do any sort of exercise in the abdominal area or any exercise that uses those muscles too much, I end up with massive intestinal cramping. I have been to several Docs and they all say that is really weird. It sounds sort of like IBS, but they have never heard of "exercise induced IBS". I went to a rheumatologist who said it could be related to the arthritis. She said there is a form that attacks internal organs and that exercise could theoretically induce swelling interanally like it can in the joints. I have also had bladder pain all of my life.
I am just wondering if anyone out there experiences the same kinds of things. I have wondered if these things were from all the meds as a child also. Thanks
Hi Gwendolyna,
Judging from the meds that you have been prescribed in the past your IBS is a side affect of such long term use. Perhaps you can contact me via my email address. I am currenty drinking an all natural product which is a COX-2 inhibitor as well as inhibiting Prostaglandin at PGE2 & have had tremendous results. I now have total mobility back throughout my body using this all natural product that has a broard spectrum of usages including many success stories with stomach complaints. Hear from you soon.
Yours in health,
Durocell.
Our 6yo daughter is a tthe 'undiagnosed stage' of what appears to be possibly some sort of wierd JRA or something. Her doctors are about to 'table' her case at a rheumy conference to decide how to medicate her long term. She has been on heaps of different meds so far, started on antibiotics (?!), Nurofen, Indomethacin, Naprosen, Prednisilone etc.
We are thinking seriously about trying a chinese herbalist and natural medicine in the hope that something natural may help (!!??) before we embark on the ultra toxic stuff. She needs something for her pain and illness - we don't know what.
She has had abdominal pain the whole way through but this explains nothing for you gwendolyna as we are undiagnosed. maybe it has worsened due to her meds.
do you guys think its worth us trying natural before the really toxic injections?
Great to hear your all natural results Durocell.
I hope you get your intestinal pain sorted Gwendolyna!
all the best
Nelly
Wow your topic caught my eye. My son is yet to be diagnosed with JRA , but the pain for him is pretty constant. One thing is complains of alot are stomach aches. I was really wondering myself is there is some correlation between the two..pain and stomach pain.Chrones disease and colitis is usually an inflamation in the intestinal wall. I get boughts with this a lot and it is very painful and you can never tell when it will happen. Do you have boughts of the runs after the inflamation lessens?My daughter(10 yr old) is also undiagnosed right now. She complains all the time of abdominal pain too. She has no appetite and has a hard time wanting to eat when it makes her belly hurt more. Her neck and back are her most painful areas. I think that the constant pain may contribute to her ab. pain. She hasn't been on naproxen long enough for it to do any damage, IMO. My older (not JRA) daughter started having stomachaches and headaches daily. We eliminated dairy, and it worked like a miracle. A lot of people with RA say they have gluten sensitivity, too. You might play around with diet a little, and see if that helps.
My younger one eats a lot of yogurt, for the probiotic to keep the antibiotics from messing up her stomach, and when I gave it to my older one, thinking it might help, it made her so much worse! That helped me figure out it was the dairy.
I've have RA for about five years and I'm on a boat load of meds and narcotics... lately I too have been getting intestinal pain... Like, really really bad... along with stomach pain. The doctors told me it's most likely intestinal cramping, a gallbladder issue, or just part of the RA.
I don't thing, for me at least, it has to do with diet because sometimes one food could set off the discomfort then other days it doesn't...
I take protonix for the stomach pain, but it doesn't help so much with the intestinal pain. I know meds aren't the best, but I know there is one for intestinal pain... maybe you can check with your doctor?It's been over a year since I first posted this and I finally have
some answers
I just had an upper GI and a colonoscopy. I have been exercising alot so I was having alot of acid reflux as well as intestinal pain. Here's what they found:
hiatal hernia - cause unknown, contributes to acid problems
5 gastric ulcers - no h. pylori bacteria and most likely caused from a lifetime of NSAID use. I am taking protonix and kicked the cola habit to reduce acid and let the ulcers heal. I haven't had much acid or pain since I started that. I have probably had ulcers on and off throughout my adult life.
Lymphocytic Colitis - Inflamation in the colon. I researched this online and there are many docs who think this is auto-immune, so I can't help but think whatever causes the RA is causing this. They have me taking asocol right now, but I am making a Dr. appt to discuss long term treatment options. I also have dicyclomine to take when I feel intestinal spasms.
I am not sure which of the above things is the cause of the intense abdominal pain. Since I started the medications it hasn't recurred severely, BUT now my arthritis pain is really bad because I have always used NSAIDS to control it. ***Sigh***
If anyone has the magic solution, let me know. I really do not what to take the stronger RA drugs. I have a scrip for the skin patch anti-inflammatory, but it's crazy expensive, so I don't know what to do. I've tried all the topical creams, etc.
I'm still taking my Vitamin D and Calcium/Magnesium as well as my multi-vits. That seems to help, but I'm hurting alot these days.
RA is an auto-immune disease which Chrone's disease is as well. Is it possible IBS is in the same family? Diabetes, thyroid issues are auto-immune diseases as well. My daughters rheumatologist said that once you get one AI disease, it is very likely to present with another one. My daughter started having trouble with her thyroid a few years ago in addition to her JRA. Since we haved moved to AZ, her thyroid has begun to function normal and she is off the levothyroxine.
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