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Close together scopes

crohniekid

crohniekid

R had scopes done in February and had severe cobblestoning in his TI along with a few superficial ulcers in his colon. All biopsies showed 'abnormalities'. He started remicade and mtx shortly after and has now finished his loading doses. However his symptoms have not improved and some have gotten worse. He has abdominal tenderness in his lower right quadrant but also in his upper right and lower left that the GI feels is more colonic. Joint pain (especially in his back) has also increased. He is having days between BMs and recently went to ER for a partial obstruction we thought was appendicitis. Ultrasound couldn't even find his appendix through the inflammation in his TI.
GI wants to do another scope May 1st.
I guess my question is: how fast do things really change on scopes? Has anybody seen a drastic difference in 2 1/2 months (either good or bad)? You hear over and over again that things didn't get that bad overnight so should we really expect to see any changes at all??
 
FrozenGirl

FrozenGirl

At one point I had 2 scopes a month apart. One showed great, very little inflammation. The next showed drastic worsening. I think worsening seems to happen faster than healing, but that may just be how it seems.
 
Sascot

Sascot

Sorry to hear things are not settling. It is true that symptoms will take a while to go away however Remicade is one of the quicker acting meds. I would expect things to be at least a little bit better not getting worse. Scopes are probably a good idea. Has he tried EN? It might be great for giving his GI system a rest and allow the meds to kick in
 
crohniekid

crohniekid

R did 4 weeks of EEN (boost/ensure) right after the scopes that overlapped his first two loading doses. When he kept complaining of increasing joint pain the GI and I waived the white flag and put him on 40mg of prednisone and NOTHING. We might as well have been giving him sugar pills. It's the main reason that he (GI) wants to scope as opposed to MRI..so that he can SEE what's going on in there.
 
SupportiveMom

SupportiveMom

D's closest scopes were just under 5 months apart. It was night & day for her. It was only 2 months after trying Simponi. The biologics can have a quicker effect than the immunosupresives in healing at least the colon I am told. Since the scopes will be so close together they will have a better comparison. I hope you find answers with the scope.
 
Farmwife

Farmwife

If I remember correctly ( and I seldom do:) ) Grace's first to second scope was 5 months apart. It did show slightly more problems but she had been on EEN the whole time.

I hope the scopes go well.:hug:
 
crohniekid

crohniekid

Thanks. I really know what I expect out of these scopes. To be honest I'm not even sure what I WANT them to say. I want them to be good but I want to explain R's increase in symptoms as well. I can't understand how he could have lingering residual pain or an increased sensitivity to pain if his crohn's is controlled and pain wasn't one of his symptoms when it was active. In the end I guess it doesn't matter as it will be whatever it will be and we will deal with it. The good news is his rheumy doesn't think that R's joint pain is from arthritis so that's one less thing to worry about!
 
Switalski

Switalski

I had a scope with cobblestoning and abnormal biopsies. GI started me on Remicade and performed a second scope three months later. My understanding is that the GI was looking to see the effect of the Remicade. He was expecting/hoping for a significant change for the better. In short, I think the two scopes close together is a normal protocol in your child's situation.
 
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