Kickas.org Forums Ankylosing Spondylitis General Discussion #1 AS Web Support Group AS & Ulcerative Colitis, is it common to have both

Just interested to see if anyone with AS has also been diagnosed with Ulverative Colitis. My husband's going through tests now for UC, but we're wondering if it gets diagnosed how this will affect his meds. eg: no more Feldene, which has been his wonder drug up till now.
Any feedback much appreciated.

Helthea I hope he doesn't have the two together. As this just makes things worse. But if you read many old threads you will noticed that many people have the symtopms or diagnoses of the same sort..I suggest you read the following link also;
http://www.spondylitis.org/about/ibd_sym.aspx

when someone is not sure what exactly they could have the homepage slogan of this site in beige colour makes a lot of sense..
Wish you good luck.

Helthea I also like to give you the link for this old thread to read, as feldene could induce IBD symptoms, like many other NSAID type drugs do;
https://www.kickas.org/ubbthreads/showthreaded.php?Cat=0&Number=149783&page=

I also suggest that if you have history of bad heart conditions in your familiy be careful with this Feldene(piroxicam). I remember it being withdrawn from my own country some seven years ago due to its reported side effects.
http://www.pfizer.com/files/products/uspi_feldene.pdf

Helthea,

There is a prevalence of IBD and AS. UC is a form of IBD (as is Chrohn's). My best friend has AS and Crohn's. Her mother had UC and AS. So, in my opinion, yes.

However, NSAIDS CAN cause the same symptoms. There are many other meds available. Also, the No Starch or Low Starch Diet also works for my friend. We have an entire section of KA dedicated to these diets. You might want to ask some questions n there as well.

I hope your husband finds relief soon!! Take care!
Holly

Hi Helthea,

Sorry your husband has these problems. As others here have said, it is within the same spectrum of diseases (IBD and AS). My dad has Crohn's, and that was a factor in my diagnosis of spondyloarthropathy. I agree that the no starch diet is something to try. While it appears to not work for everyone, a lot of people have found great relief on it.

Good luck!
~Moll B

Hello and welcome. I had Ulcerative Colitis (they removed my colon and I cannot suffer from UC anymore, but almost certainly still suffer the effects from the disease process of IBD). I (obviously) have AS too.

AS symptoms started surfacing about four years after the surgery to remove my colon. I have an illeoanal anastamosis (a.k.a. J-Pouch) as opposed to a colostomy. Not surprisingly, there is a significant amount of folks on another forum related to the J-Pouch that complain of joint pains. Some have been diagnosed with enteropathic arthritis, others with "IBD related arthritis" (I love that one), and two or three I recall mentioned having a diagnosis of AS.

Unlike your husband, UC preceded AS (at least noticeable symptoms) for me. In my opinion, regardless of what you call the symptoms, the disease process does not discriminate what parts of your body or which organs it attacks. Triggers for the disease process may vary greatly, but one can't help but believe in a universal cause.

Thanks for all the advice and info.
We've started wheat free from today (can't bring ourselves to go starch free just yet - it seems so restrictive) and he's easing up on the feldenes and starting his salazopirins again instead.
Thanks again everyone.

Hello Helthea, I have both AS and UC and I'm told it is rather common...to me, colds are common, house pets are common, hating your job is also pretty common - nothing about either of these diseases feels very "common" and I certainly hope your husband doesn't have them...common or not.

When I looked this post over, I got the impression that it might sound like I was jumping all over you for using the word "common" so I thought I'd mention that this isn't the case at all. It actually is considered common - I just find the term sort of minimizes the nature of both diseases. I mean if AS is rare, then how could AS and UC together possibly be common?

Hi Helthea,

i have both UC and AS. Diagnosis was about 6 months apart (AS first) although i had symptoms of both for years. there are others i have chatted with on this site who have both, so in the AS world it is certainly not rare.

i hope your husband doesn't have UC but if he does please feel free to send me a private message if you need any advice or support.

Christine

My dad has UC and I have AS. Dad was dx'ed with UC on Christmas Day 1979 after going into hospital after weeks of being sick and throwing up alot. Altho I am deaf, I wore hearing aids that time (not anymore) and I hated hearing him vomit