Lower back pain - related to Pouch?

Is lower back pain new for you? Could be anything. But don't we always think all of our problems connect back to UC

Thanks, Aaron:  I have had it a few years ago, and the doctor said, "you are 40, you have to be careful how you reach for stuff, etc."  That was a shocker to me, and now I'm 57.   I know what you are saying -- the world revolves around our UC/IBD/Pouches!  

I have lower tailbone pain all the time upon waking and it seems to get worse when lying down.  That being said, I have had ongoing pouch related problems w strictures  and anal fissures. I often feel as though I have a mild infection brewing back there all the time and my new surgeon feels I probably had a leak at original surgery 8 years ago.  I've yet to resolve my issue with suggested surgery to cut out scar tissue at the outlet connection.  With your history it may be best to mention it to Dr Remzi   Tailbone pain often accompanies pouchitis as well  

AKA, maybe an x ray or MRI are in order. I am 54 and my problem is neck pain. Around 2 months ago, I woke up one day with a lot of neck pain and significant numbness in my left arm and hand. These symptoms wax and wane over the course of time. I went for an x ray and it showed very bad cervical stenosis. This is a genetic issue as my father who just turned 80 also has it. Age related degenerative disease of the cervical spine, and it also can happen in the lumbar spine.

So they sent me for physical therapy. This consisted of various exercises and cervical traction. This is done with a mechanical device, it's sort of like a big monkey wrench or vice that you stick your head in and after your head is strapped on to it, it kind of slowly pulls on your head. It feels like it's trying to pull your head off your neck but what happens is it stretches out the neck muscles. It really helped me very much and the symptoms settled down with physical therapy. Was probably a pinched nerve, and you might have the same in your lumbar spine. Other treatment options are a TENS unit and lumbar steroid injections. I think there is a good chance that your issue is plain old degenerative disc disease. At our age it's common. Go see your primary care doctor. Good luck.

KNKLhead, look at my past posts... I had the same issues in the past with my first pouch with my lower back. It was horrible off and on and eventually woke up one morning and couldn't stand up straight and went to hospital. They discovered another leak into my spinal column and had infection. back to ileostomy and that's when I consulted REMZI for my redo, but I had other issues with my pouch as well then too. Since I got my pouch redone almost 2 years ago, I had my lower back pains start again and I freaked out cuz I was getting on and off low grade fevers too, around 99.5, but my usual was around 97.9. I called Dr Shen and he stated I get an MRI just to be sure and bloodwork. Well the MRI SHOWED ZERO ISSUES WITH POUCH AND NO LEAKS. but my iron was very low. I had to get multiple iron infusions. Beginning of this summer the lower back aches came back again and had another MRI which showed nothing again thank god. But like CTBarrister stated, I applied a TENS unit to my lower back a few days over the course of a week and I have had zero back pain since then, its been 6 months now.

Of course everytime I get anything like that I think pouch issue since all my past problems. I still do get the occasional low grade 99.4-99.9 temps that come and go but cant be explained. autoimmune is what I was told...

best to get it checked out though just to be on safe side and piece of mind. 42 years of playing baseball like my hair was on fire is catching up to me and have to realize I am almost 47 now and its just natural aging that its all catching up to me now.

I don't entirely agree with the comment your doctor made about being 40 etc.  There are a lot of factors involved in how strong and healthy your back is besides for age.  I'm 45, I've had a j-pouch for over 10 years and despite having taken prednisone on and off for 13 years, I have a stronger lower back than any 20 or 30 year-olds that go to my gym.  If I was still on prednisone it would be a different story because that stuff gradually turns your body to mush.  But if you keep your back strong with weight lifting you can keep it feeling great.  My siblings both started having bad backs in their early 30's and they don't lift weights.  I have lifted very heavy since I was 18 and at 45 can deadlift around 700 pounds off the floor and pick up between 900 and 1000 pounds from my knees in a rack and I weigh 206 right now.   Probably sounds like BS but I'll make you guys a video soon doing it.  I understand that if you have j-pouch issues that can certainly hold you back and i'm not discounting that at all.  Simply stating that neither being over 40 alone, nor having a j-pouch alone is a prescription for a weak back or body.

All that said I've injured my back countless times to the point of barely being able to walk and even needing help getting out of bed.  In those particular situations and for me, taking prednisone would have been the absolute worst thing I could have done since it actually makes your tissues weaker and more prone to injury.  I've always rehabbed by getting back in the gym as fast as possible with lower back stretching and training.  The best thing I've ever found to rehab a bad back is to use a reverse hyper...but i also do pull-throughs, back hyper-extensions, light good mornings, straight-legged deadlifts etc.   Here is a reverse hyper so you can see what I'm talking about - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9tU7_w7rvw

Anyway - I'm just conveying my personal experiences since I have a j-pouch and I understand that we are all different.  I know that if/when you are having j-pouch complications things can be difficult and I can't offer any advise as far as that goes.

I think AKA said he was 57 years old. By the time you are in your 50s age related degenerative disc disease is not uncommon. I had a client who was in her early 30s and she was showing degenerative disease in her spine. The cervical and lumbar discs succumb to this at different rates in different individuals. It's mostly genetic. Most people by the time they are 60 have a fair amount of degenerative disc disease. The aging process is not something any of us are immune to but we all succumb at different rates and of course how healthy a lifestyle one leads is a factor. Smoking and a poor diet deficient in calcium or long term prednisone use are other factors in bone health.

Ironically I am going for a bone density scan tomorrow and this is directly related to my bowel disease. In 2013 I had a scan which revealed some osteopenia, after which I was put on calcium supplements. It is believed that taking prednisone for over 20 years to treat UC was the cause of the osteopenia. I have a repeat scan tomorrow. AKA has not told us if he took prednisone for long periods but osteopenia or osteoporosis are other possibilities which are not uncommon and are somewhat related to treatments we have had for IBD.

Yeah - prednisone really ravages your body with long term use.  I wish they could come up with an effective alternative and ban it's use once and for all.  I was on and off it for 13 years and it gave me avascular necrosis in one knee and when i was on I would constantly get injured and be weak, fat, bloated, always angry, miserable, etc.  I hated the stuff with a passion but just didn't seem to be able to stay off it long without almost bleeding to death.  Imuran and apheresis were the only things that enabled me to stay off it for any length of time but they stopped working as well so back on the hated prednisone I'd go.  When I finally got the colon out and the j-pouch it was goodbye prednisone and hello normal life. During my first year or two with the pouch I had a couple episodes of pouchitis, but then I stopped taking probiotics and also stopped taking nsaids (except for meloxicam), and I haven't had one j-pouch issue for nine straight years now.

Anyway - sorry to hijack your thread - i know it's about back pain...just got caught up remembering how much i hate prednisone.

Wow, all good info.  Yes, I am now 57.  I have only taken Prednisone for a week.  It seems like my pouch is "sealed up" pretty well using the gas test.    I have continued to be reasonably active for the week and I am curious if I need to take it easier.  I hate not being active and it's torture for me to sit still.   (Missed basketball the last three week - argh!)   My other thought is due to the surgeries if my stomach muscles are not supporting my back as well as they should. I'll try to update once I get a more definitive after possible Xray or MRI.  You are all awesome.

Here you go my friend.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuCX8So_gDw

Wow!  That is unbelievable!  Thank you for showing us that life is not paused because of our surgeries.  Very cool.

Just by way of trying to complete the thread.  I had X-rays and my GP respected that I have a J-Pouch, was very concerned about air that showed up.   But my local surgeon called me said he reviewed, and he is not concerned about any issue with the pouch at all as it relates to back pain.  It has been about a week and I feel better today.  The X-ray report noted some early stage arthritis, and a few other things, but nothing abnormal for a 57 year old, I don't think.  Perhaps it's just a muscle pull and if I continue to get better I will be ecstatic.   

Glad all is well!!!! Feel better! 

Thank you!  I am doing better two full weeks out.  I believe I just have a bit of weaker stomach muscles and need to exercise my core a bit to, hopefully, prevent it.  I work from home and hunched over computer all day, so I changed my chair, decided to pay better attention to posture, etc.  

Good news indeed! Just goes to show you that we are not immune to ordinary ailments!

Jan

  Yes!  (and not immune from me getting older and needing more exercise!)  

Not to add to what everyone else has but...

We are the same age, I have had my k pouch since 1979 (nearly 40 yrs) and have so many abdominal surgeries  (including a colostomy at age 2) that I have stopped counting...that said, I have abs of steel.

From day one, I have worked my abs as best I can, knowing that they are the support system for both my k pouch and my spine...I stretch with a home neck stretch thing given to me by my chiro, do isometric, isotonic and yoga exercises, walk miles etc

Last year I had a slip & fall that I thought that I would never come back from...pain so bad that I couldn't stand, sit, walk, climb or go from one position to the next without whimpering.

I am an Eveready bunny at the worst of times, hyperactive, always running around doing 4 jobs at once, but this injury glued me to the sofa in tears.

Doctors said to give up or give in, since I was already 56 they gave me little encouragement...

But I have been fighting the pain, working with both chiros and ethiopaths (sort of the same but not), physiotherapy, Tens machines, heat/cold, and massage.

It has been 14months since the accident...I am back to work full time (ouch!!!), working on my feet, climbing stairs and hills to get to the subway to get to work (1 mile strait up!) and doing my best to show the doctors that I can do it.

There are days when I limp home in tears, spend my nights turning like a lamb on a spit to find a comfortable position, live off of Nsaids still...but mostly I am better.

It takes a lot of time and concentrated effort to fight the good fight...but you do it because the choice is to become that which you cannot stand...bedbound, housebound or crippled...I am fighting because I still have a lot of life to live...and I am moving (finally!!!) to a home that is both k-pouch friendly and my poor almost 57yr old body-friendly..close to everything and no stairs...

Keep fighting the good fight.

Sharon