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6-MP Vs. Remicade?

Hello there!

I am 18 years old and have been diagnosed with Crohns, as of this past June.
I have been on Pentasa, 8 500mg pills a day, since my diagnosis and I have done a 40mg tapering of prednisone. My disease has escalated from mild to moderate, and now my doctors are pressuring me to look into immunosuppressants. I'm very reluctant, which is why I am starting an intensive alternative medicine bout as of tomorrow. I will be on a strict low-residue diet and will be taking a lot of supplements, as well as pentasa, in hopes to get myself into remission in the next 30 days. This may or may not be possible, but I am crunched for time since my inflammation markers are high, symptoms are pretty bad, and there's a slight narrowing in my small intestine (where most of my disease exists).

So, I was looking to get peoples' opinions of 6-MP vs Remicade? Humira and other injectables are not an option for me due to a fear of needles. Which one, from your experiences, is more beneficial? Or do you have some magical alternative medicine advice you can give me? Alternative is my primary choice, but I go to school very far from home and am fending for myself most of the time, so extreme alternatives might not be manageable for me...

Any help will be extremely appreciated!
Thank you,

Caroline :ybiggrin:
 

Angrybird

Moderator
Location
Hertfordshire
Hello Caroline and welcome to the forum :)

The only non med route I could thing to suggest is enteral nutrition - this has been shown to be successful at inducing remission without the side effects of meds. With regards to what has been suggested I would look at it that the 6-mp is a the next step after the Pentesa with the Remi coming after that. I am on 6-mp myself and am doing very well on it, I have not had any issues with side effects. To find out more about both of these please check out their sub forums under our treatment section: http://www.crohnsforum.com/forumdisplay.php?f=16.

Wishing you all the best and please keep us updated on how you get on.

AB
xx
 
Just be careful dandydancer, 6mp can take up to 4 months to work. Things can get very bad in 4 months. If things get worse while you are waiting for it to work, it will be harder to achieve remission.

Also, Pentasa is a drug for ulcerative colitis (superficial inflammation) and is generally only used in crohn's when it is in combination with another drug. I didn't want to put my 11 year old on 6mp so when I told the GI I wanted to start with Pentasa he said it was like using aspirin for a brain tumor. (his exact words)

I know it is scary to start using these drugs but this disease can be doing damage without many symptoms. My son takes 6mp without any side effects. We have been very happy with it so far. (((((Hugs))))))
 
Thank you both for your help! I've kind of been in denial about this disease, so it's been difficult to push treatment. But your words were helpful encouragement! I should be starting 6-MP next week! In the meantime, my doctor put me on Entocort, so hopefully that will keep my inflammation down until the 6-MP kicks in.
I wish you both luck and good health!
-thedandydancer
 
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