Pain all the time, all over my body. UC or somethng else?

I've been dealing w UC since April 2010, without let up. I've done Pentasa, I've done Prednisone, Mesalamine enamas, diet, etc. Nothing has helped.

Over the last two months I've been feeling like it's getting worse though (on Monday I woke up and swore off gluten and dairy till I get better of further notice, and I love cake!!). Specifically I've had a lot of pain in my joints, which I've been told may be from the prednisone. The last two weeks I've also had crippling lower back pain, cramping, fatigue, weird head aches, can't eat even though I'm hungry, along with the usual 10 daily bms. It just seems like the whole area below my belly button is constantly in pain.

Do you all think this is UC related, or should I go see my OB again. I just had a check up and other than benign fibroids, everything was ok, I'm just not being able to function as a normal person and it's starting to get to me.

I feel exactly like this when I am flaring. It is awful. Pain meds and lots of sleep help, but you may want to talk to your GI.

How much prednisone are you on, and what is your taper schedule? I thought it was the pred taper for the longest time, but it continued well after I was off prednisone, so I realized that that is how I feel when I am in uncontrolled flare.

Thanks for the input. In a way it's a relief to know that it's "just UC" and not something else :( I'm gonna start taking Tylenol Arthritis regularly just to help me function, but I also worry about the effects of it on my gut.

Mom2: I'm done with prednisone, after an extremely long taper. I went as high as 40mg for a month, but my dr had me taper at 2.5 mg every 7-10 days!! It took forever, and was very frustrating as I never achieved remission.