Azathioprine? Nutrition?

[hollym]

My daughter started azathiprine 1 week ago. She is getting the nausea that the physician said she may experience in the beginning. How long does this last? Also, any positive stories about azathioprine? I'm still trying to understand these drugs and how the benefits out weigh the side effects. I tend to be a naturalist/herbal healthy/only eat foods that are nutritious.

I have found this disease so confusing and unpredictable. I'm hoping to get her in remission before she starts 6th grade, and her BM's are normal for the 1st time in a year thanks to the prednisone. The physician is great but has anyone experienced remission using herbal remedies, nutrition?

Thank you. I am so happy to have the knowledge and experiences of you all. It has helped me so much.


Diagnosed April 2014 Moderate Crohn's Disease
Prednisone 40mg for 9 week starting week 3
azathioprine 50mg 2x day
Balsalazide 750mg
Iron
Posture D- Calcium/Mag/Vitamin D
Prenatal Vitamin

 

[Jmrogers4]

Can she take the aza at night before bed? That is what we did and my son slept through the nausea, when he started taking in the morning a few months later there was no issue.
We've tried many of the diets unfortunately for us they either did not make a difference, were too hard to stick to or he just did not receive enough nutrition/calories for good growth. SCD it seems is the most common and the one I hear the most positive results about.
One thing to consider is this disease especially in children seems to progress rapidly and the medicines seem to be the only thing that keeps it in check and allows them to grow and develop along side their peers.
It can also be silently doing damage if not under control, my son for example has normal labs but inflammation until recently had been silently simmering away in his small intestine to the point that the GI started talking surgery. We thought he was doing well as the only outward sign we had was lack of growth and weight gain.
My husband has been on azathioprine for nearly 13 years and in remission. Dusty's kids have been on it since surgery/diagnosis and are in remission. It can and does work really well for many, many children but most are not posting here because they are out enjoying and living life. Sadly, it wasn't quite enough to keep my son's Crohn's in check.
I hope it works really well for her and she is in remission for many long years.
As far as other nutrition I can not recommend EEN enough, thread here http://www.crohnsforum.com/showthread.php?p=694576#post694576, it works as well as prednisone in many cases to knock out inflammation plus it has the added benefit of providing all their nutritional needs - no more worrying or nagging.

 

[DustyKat]

Ditto to all that Jacqui has said holly. :ghug:

My two have been on Imuran for 8 years and 3.5 years respectively with no issues. They continue to have blood tests every 2-3 months an will do so whilst ever they remain on it. I have to assume that since they have remained in remission the medication is playing its part. We also do our bit as well in the way of healthy eating and supplements to help maintain the status quo. I don’t think there is one easy answer but rather a lot of pieces all helping to put the puzzle together.

I too would do as Jm has suggested with the Imuran, give the total dose at tea or supper time, so with food and close to bedtime, that way she should sleep through the nausea.

Dusty. xxx

 

[crohnsinct]

I am a naturalist at heart as well but I have learned the hard way diet didn't cause the disease nor will it cure it. That said, I do advocate a healthy diet to combat any damage that these drugs do. There are risks with them and if you are feeding your body the best food possible, I feel it increases your chance of avoiding them. Also, with the suppressed immune system healthy nutrition is of great importance.

Many diets will help alleviate symptoms and make a patient more comfortable while flaring. They question is, is there evidence of mucosal healing and usually there isn't. But if it helps with symptoms it is certainly worth it.

My daughter eats a clean, anti inflammatory diet. She is also on Remicade and Methotrexate. These two drugs did wonders at getting her Crohns under control but the real healthy weight gain and growth and overall well being really kicked in when we switched her diet over. It is basically no processed foods and 90% plant based with only high quality meats, chicken or seafood sprinkled in. Her doctor has been amazed at her results. All her bloods returned much better after the diet intro also. We recently increased her Remicade interval and even with her healthy eating symptoms crept back so even more evidence to me that the diet wasn't the one controlling the Crohns.

We have also used EEN early on to knock out inflammation. EEN is great at attacking inflammation but after the initial exclusive period without a maintenance drug inflammation will return. For some that period is as short as 3 weeks for some it can take a year. So you would have to cycle on and off EEN to really maintain a remission and wait for inflammation to appear before knowing it was time to go on again. This isn't really an option as the constant inflammation followed by healing could cause problems with growth, scarring, etc. In addition, EEN has been shown to be less successful subsequent times. Therefore, a maintenance drug is almost always introduced at the same time EEN is started. That said, our plan is to always try EEN over prednisone for flares or when needed for supplemental nutrition for weight gain or growth

We also dispense mtx at night to let our daughter sleep through the worst of the side effects.

Good luck and keep us posted!

 

[Jane and Nick]

Hi, we are taking AZA and it's been about a month since we started, and Nick is doing very well. We have managed to taper his steroids down to 7.5 with no symptoms returning, we couldn't get lower than 20mg before we started AZA with out all symptoms returning. We take our meds after his evening meal, then his iron tablet right before bed as this is what we think makes him feel nausea. He has experienced some dizzy spells but it hasn't lasted long and normally it happens when he gets up to fast in the morning.

We tried eliminating foods but it made no difference other than making him miserable. He drinks 2 ensure plus, the milk chocolate flavour is pretty good as long as it is cold, and takes his vitamins and so far seems to be doing well. Still early days as it can take up to 3 months to work, and we are not off the pred so we still don't know if it will be enough to hold him over. How ever, he is the healthiest I have seen him in a year so we are very happy.

I hope things settle down for you, we were told it could take a couple of weeks to get used to the side effects then they lessen. Hope this is the case for you, it certainly was for us.

As a side note, I sold the idea of AZA to Nick with a very positive spin I really told him that it could be fantastic and that I thought this was going to work and help, he bought in to it and was excited to try AZA. (Even though I was VERY apprehensive and worried about the possible side effects) I know positive thinking can't stop symptoms, or get rid of inflammation but I do believe it goes a long way to helping feel better about the experience. The brain is a very powerful tool.
Good luck