Hello, i just recently joined this board because i've only recently had an issue with Arthritis. I have Crohns Disease and a common side effect is joint issues. Joint issues also run in my family. I've never really had a problem with it, ocassionally it would flare up suddenly and people would look at me funny because I would be fine one minute and limping the next. My teachers never beleived me because i was (am?) so young. Still it only flared up ocassionaly (usually in corespondance to crohns flare ups.) But for some reason this winter I have been having a really hard issue with it. The worst part is, I never know where or when it is going to hit. One day I coulden't even write my hand was so stiff, the next day my hip,knee and ankle on my left side were all aching and i can even get it in my elbow joints.

I will admit that I am not helping the issue, i am a competative horseback rider. This means that after school I spend 3-4 hours outside at a barn and I am usually under dressed (it's hard to wear layers when riding.) If anyone has ever riden, they know that it's also a knee killer even without arthritis.

In any event, i was wondering if anyone had an y suggestions for me as to what I can do. Because of the crohns advil and Ibprofin is hard on my stomach and because my flare ups are so random it's hard to remember to always carry it around.