Apriso side effects in teens

[assilem]

My 15 yr old was diagnosed w crohns 2 1/2 months ago. Apriso started,four 0.375mg capsules daily, at 1month f/u asked if chronic fatigue, (sleeping 14 hrs and hardly getting off sofa the other 10hrs) joint pain and noticeable increase in acne possible side effects. Her gastro didn't seem to think so. Now she has anxiety and nervousness not seen before. I looked at side effects, while these are possible they aren't common. Has any other parent out there noticed uncommon side effects from Apriso in their child or is this part of the disease?

 

[Clash]

The chronic fatigue and joint pain are common with Crohn's disease. Joint pain is an extra intestinal manifestation(EIM) of crohns.

Some EIMs run concurrently with active flares while others run independent of active CD flares

Here's a link article about the extra intestinal manifestations of Crohn's


http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3127025/

5ASAs like apriso are often not for Crohn's disease especially pediatric CD. 5ASAs are approved for UC as the treat the top layer of the bowel which is the only layer UC affects. CD (crohns disease) is transmural meaning it affects all layers of bowel.

Also, absence of CD symptoms doesn't indicate absence of active disease. It can take some time inflammation to be completely healed.

Edit to add

Also want to tag some other parents on the forum my little penguin Maya142 crohnsinct pdx mehita and jmrogers4

 

[Maya142]

My daughter has not been on Apriso but has been on a different 5ASA - Pentasa. She did not have side effects with it but it also didn't seem to do anything - no change when we discontinued it.

I agree with Clash - 5ASAs don't really do a whole lot for Crohn's. They work well for UC, but not Crohn's because the inflammation is not just in the top layer of the bowel.

Some GIs say it's like using aspirin for a brain tumor - won't hurt, but won't help.

Chronic fatigue and joint pain make it sound like the Crohn's is not under control. Has she had bloodwork or a Fecal Calprotectin recently to check if there is still inflammation?

The anxiety and nervousness might come from the new diagnosis or just not feeling well.

 

[assilem]

Thanks Clash, I will ask if we can recheck FC. So much new information to learn.

 

[pdx]

So sorry that your daughter is dealing with so much right now. I agree with the others that your daughter's current symptoms sound more like Crohn's symptoms than side effects. It may be time to try a stronger medicine if tests show that she still has inflammation that isn't being controlled by the Apriso. Good luck--I hope you find a treatment that works well for her.

 

[Mehita]

Clash described the 5ASA very well. My son was initially put on Pentasa, and I won't say it didn't help, but as she described, it only helped the top layer. I think I'd ask your GI how long he/she wants to give the 5ASA before upping to the next level of medication - immunosuppressants. It doesn't sound like the Aspire is working well for her right now.

Is she on prednisone as well? Pred causes acne.

Good luck and keep us posted...

 

[Jmrogers4]

My son has never been on Apriso alone only in conjunction with other meds mostly Imuran it didn't seem to make much of a difference for him.
I agree with the others about it maybe being crohn's symptoms. We have dealt with that kind of fatigue when he had active disease as well as joint pain. He has been in remission for the last 2 1/2 years and energy levels are normal.
Good luck