Swollen ankle?!


Question: I have Crohn's disease and I was on Imuran for a good six months...then my knees slowly started to give out to the point where I can barely bend now. My doctors took me off for about two weeks, but my knees still really hurt, I can't bend my down to to pick up anything and my left ankle is pretty swollen. I had an Ileocolic resection and am doing really well, except for this...which I think can be a side effect from my medication...if anyone could please let me know what I should do to help my ankle and knees that would be amazing. I don't know what to do. I also have this trip planned to go camping with some friends..and I am afraid the pressure in the mountains...with possible hiking may affect my ankle as well. I am fine with a little pain. I just don't want anything to explode in the mountains...like a blood vessel. So if anyone out there knows anything. Please let me know.


Answers: I have Crohn's disease and I was on Imuran for a good six months...then my knees slowly started to give out to the point where I can barely bend now. My doctors took me off for about two weeks, but my knees still really hurt, I can't bend my down to to pick up anything and my left ankle is pretty swollen. I had an Ileocolic resection and am doing really well, except for this...which I think can be a side effect from my medication...if anyone could please let me know what I should do to help my ankle and knees that would be amazing. I don't know what to do. I also have this trip planned to go camping with some friends..and I am afraid the pressure in the mountains...with possible hiking may affect my ankle as well. I am fine with a little pain. I just don't want anything to explode in the mountains...like a blood vessel. So if anyone out there knows anything. Please let me know.

Crohn's disease itself as well as some of the medicines used in its treatment may cause joint pains. You will need to use some local painrelievers in gel form, crepe bandage may also help.
See-
http://www.crohns.net/Miva/education/cro...
Take doctor's advice regarding the medication.
Good luck, hope you will enjoy without trouble due to your problem!

If I were you, I'd scan the web for any sites or groups with your disease and connect with them. You might get just the help you need already researched.

Then I'd plug in that drug and find out everything I could about it.

Sorry I can't offer any more here except that I believe you really deserve that trip!

I have treated several Chron's patients with good results. I would suggest that you contact an acupuncturist/herbalist in your area and give it a try. We are pretty good at mitigating the deleterious effects of Western drugs, although there are other things going on with you than just the drug causing the swelling of the ankles and weakness of the knees. Good luck and feel better.

The problem with chronic illness is that you cannot live a normal life with normal people who do normal activities like going out for a weekend of camping and hiking. Sorry, but you should know that much by now.

Crohn's disease is a rheumatic disease which should be treated with antibiotics and antiinflammatory medications like Flagyl.

Rheumatic diseases are the result of a defective gene and collagen inflammation, often from a chronic infection. Collagen is present throughout the body, from the eyes, skin and joints to the heart and intestines. Hence, the multiplicity of symptoms, depending on the location of the most affected internal organs or body parts.

I have had seronegative rheumatoid arthritis for more than 27 years. The telling signs of seronegative rheumatoid arthritis are the following:
- Joint pain in the feet (or cracking ankles) in the early 20's or late teens;
- Fatigue, especially after a moderate exercise like a 30 minute walk;
- Blood test showing a negative or low level of Rheumatoid Factor (RF);
- Joint deformities of the fingers, after a few years, a specific sign of rheumatoid arthritis;
- Consecutive X-Rays, over several years, showing bone erosion, a consequence of rheumatoid arthritis;
- Generalized arthritis, involving the whole body;
- Blood tests showing elevated levels of C-Reactive Protein (CRP) and Sedimentation rate (ESR).

NSAIDs like Voltaren, COX-2 inhibitors like Celebrex, DMARDs such as enteric coated sulfasalazine like Azulfidine EN-tabs or Salazopyrin ENT, methotrexate, Flagyl, acetaminophen like Tylenol, codeine, and statins like Lipitor are all used to control inflammation and relieve the pain of arthritis and Crohn's disease.

Regular exercise like walking, biking and swimming is also helpful for most patients. Make sure that you are not overweight as carrying too much weight can only increase the pain of arthritis in the supporting joints of the hips, knees, ankles and feet.

You should consult a Gastroenterologist working in a university teaching hospital who will order blood tests, scans and X-Rays to confirm his diagnosis.

The American College of Gastroenterology at http://www.acg.gi.org maintains a web search tool to help you find the address and phone number of its members. You can find Gastroenterologists by family name, City or State, inside the USA and Canada. The physician locator of the ACG is found at:

http://www.acg.gi.org/patients/phylocato...

A wealth of information is also available for patients at:

http://www.acg.gi.org/patients

Lyme disease could be a possibility. Ask your doctor to test you for the bacteria causing Lyme disease.

Are there any other cases of Crohn's disease, arthritis or rheumatic diseases among your relatives? Crohn's disease and chronic forms of arthritis are usually prevalent in families where a defective gene is passed on by parents to their children.

There are a few hundred types of arthritis and rheumatic diseases. The good news is that science is progressing rapidly in its understanding of rheumatic diseases.

Antibiotics are now used to achieve full remissions for at least 40%, if not 65% of patients with rheumatoid arthritis. The same could be done for patients with Crohn's disease, the objective being to substitute antibiotics and Flagyl for the immunosuppressive drugs like Immuran prescribed to you. For more info, please join the antibio group at:

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/ant...





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