Confused about drugs - newly diagnosed

[sschofield]

Hi All

Need some clarification/advice about a letter I recd today from my consultant. Last wednesday he diagnosed Crohns and said he would send a letter to my GP to arrange medication to be set up. I also had a TPMT blood test done for other drugs (can't really remeber which ones!)

Anyway the letter clearly states diagnosis as ileo-crohns disease but the meds he has asked my gp to prescribe seem to be for ulcerative colitits when I google the name. The name is Salofalk granules and if these don't work I'll be moved onto Mercaptopurine (which sounds awful with the list of all the blood tests I'll need etc if I take this). I know I shouldn't rely on google but it's so hard not to google!

Am I just confused? I am sure he knows what he's prescribing, just I really hope they bring some relief of the crohns!

 

[beth]

Salofalk is mesalazine, which is pentasa/etc. It is used for UC and mild to moderate Crohn's.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesalazine.

Mercaptopurine is a step up in the war but not too bad. This is the surprising one really as it's usually given as azathioprine, which gets metabolised into mercaptopurine, often refered to as 6mp.

 

[Mark63]

Hi,

The TPMT blood test is usually carried out before they consider treatment with Azathioprine/Mercaptopurine. This helps to predict who is more likely to suffer side
effects, but as it does not identify all who may be affected, it is more important to have your bloods monitored regularly.

Crohn's and Ulcerative Colitis both come under the umbrella description of IBD (Inflammatory Bowel Disease) and commonly use the same drugs for treatment.

Apart from the help, advice and general support that is available on here, you could have a look at some of the information sheets on the Chron's and Colitis UK website as they are helpful and written in a very clear manner.

http://www.nacc.org.uk/content/services/infoSheets.asp

Regards,

Mark

 

[Cookie]

Do not worry...it sounds like you doc is using a step up approach to treat your Crohn's. Many of the drugs used to treat Crohn's and UC are the same. Mesalamine is a good start for mild to moderate Crohn's...not very aggressive, but very little side effects so if it works, that's great news for you. But try not to be scared off by some of the side-effects of the other drugs. In many cases, the benefits far out way the risks. Have a look around the forum...there is lots of info on the pros and cons of all kinds of different treatments.

Sorry to hear about your diagnosis. I think you will find this forum very helpful for support and information. Welcome aboard.