am I just panicking?

hey. I have been feeling great. but lately one of my shoulders has been bothering me, so of course I am freaking out that I am getting arthritis from UC. But the thing is that bad shoulders run in my family genetically, so much so in fact that one of my sisters used to be a serious cyclist and had to quit because cycling constantly popped her shoulder out of the socket. and I swim a lot, and was swimming even more in the fall to try to stay sane when I was on prednisone, so I work my shoulders pretty hard, so the rational part of me knows that a few weeks off swimming will likely fix this. but, because I am still adjusting to having this disease, I always assume that the tiniest problem is UC. I know rationally that I should just stop swimming, take a few breaths, and relax, but especially after reading the posts on here about joint pains I am totally worries. so, I guess I was just hoping for some words of encouragement, to remind me that even though we all have UC we can also be normal people with normal health problems also. thanks for any pleasant, calming thoughts..... :) ... I am such a freak about my health!

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30/Female/NC
Pancolitis dx 3/07
9 Colazal a day (was on 12 Asacol/day, but suddenly got sick from it)
150mg Imuran/day (steroid dependent, reached this dose 9/07)
Rowasa in PM (is working wonders for me thus far)
Various vitamins, bit of fish oil, a probiotic.
Getting married October, 2008!!!!

I have bursitis in both shoulders and it comes and goes. It usually bugs me when it gets really cold out... I can always tell when it's going to snow : ) It also bugs me when I over do yardwork, etc.

If it really bugs you, get it checked it. That way you don't have to worry needlessly.

I'm not sure if UC'ers experience more pain or if we are just more fine tuned to notice it more due to the UC.

What would you do if you had pain and didn't have UC?