Digestion Q&A by Dr. Lee

Answer:

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The primary symptom of microscopic colitis is chronic, watery diarrhea . Patients with microscopic colitis can have diarrhea for months or years before the diagnosis is made. The chronic diarrhea of microscopic colitis is different from the acute diarrhea of infectious colitis which typically lasts only days to one week. Some patients with microscopic colitis also report mild abdominal cramps or pain. Blood in the stool is unusual.

Stiff and sore joints are not associated with microscopic colitis; however, there are two issues related to microscopic colitis that may be relevant to your question:

1. Even though the cause of microscopic colitis is unknown, some doctors suspect that microscopic colitis is an autoimmune disorder similar to the autoimmune disorders that cause chronic ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease. Patients with autoimmune disorders can develop joint pain and stiffness.
   
   
2. One study has implicated long term (longer than 6 months) use of nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) as a cause of microscopic colitis, and some patients' diarrhea improves after stopping the NSAIDs. Therefore, patients with chronic joint pain and stiffness might develop microscopic colitis if they use NSAIDs to control their joint symptoms.

Thank you for your question.