How often do you have labs?

[Donna Sue]

Crohn's 1998
Just started Humira pen in Jan 2011 Gastro says to come back in 6 months.
From everything that I have read, I feel that I should have labs done offen. How about you? How often do you go?

 

[Nancy Lee]

I have a complete battery of blood work done once a year..
if anything pops up before a year I go again then as well for tests.

 

[Mark63]

Depends on your meds and current state of health. I'm established on Humira and it's a full blood panel every 3 months.

 

[katiesue1506]

Usually everytime I have an appointment with my GI if I'm not on Imuran. Generally the least is once every 3 months. Sometimes monthly and then sometimes biweekly.

 

[vonfunk]

For me it's whenever I have a GI appt. After it is done I get sent for blood work.

 

[Lisa]

due to the Remicade - every 4 months....or every other infusion appointment.

 

[Jennifer]

I'm on 6MP so I have to do blood work once a month to make sure my kidneys are functioning properly.

As stated it depends on your condition and especially what meds you're on. If you think you should have blood work done more often then contact your GI and ask over the phone.

 

[CoryBurnett]

I used to have to go in every week now its once a month.
im on pentasa and mercaptopurine
i used to hate needles but now.....

 

[Lydia]

I am on remicade and I get blood work done monthly while on it.

 

[e13 boy]

The longest i used to be was 1 year.

 

[ameslouise]

Yes, I would say it depends on your meds. On some, like Humira, you should have your liver function checked every two weeks for a couple months, then every month for a while, then every three months, etc.

Check with your doc. If your levels of anything are off, and you are treating for that (like b vits or iron) you'll probably want to monitor that every few months or so.

- Amy

 

[tmgread]

Once a year, unless it's something specific, like to see if my b12 levels are staying up with the shots.

 

[prettykitty]

Every 3 months to check liver and kidney function (I'm on pentasa), and then full panel once a year as part of my routine annual physical.

 

[Crohn'sFor Life]

Once a month.

Every other week during a flare-up.

 

[tmgread]

Yikes! I'm on Lialda and I've never had liver or kidney function tests. Should I be getting them every 3 months?

 

[Mark63]

Yikes! I'm on Lialda and I've never had liver or kidney function tests. Should I be getting them every 3 months?

From the makers website...

"It is recommended that patients have an evaluation of renal function prior to initiating use of Lialda and periodically while on therapy."

They don't say how often, but I would have thought at least monthly to start and if it's well tolerated move to 3/6 months? In practice, I used to get bloods done a week or two prior to seeing my GI, so he had the results.

Mark

 

[tmgread]

Wow. My doctor has ordered blood work several times in the past year, but I haven't gone since I didn't realize that the medication could cause problems. The GI at Mayo is a day's drive, so I only planned to go once a year and get blood work then. He keeps ordering tests that I can have done at a local lab and I keep putting them off. I'll definitely go now. Thanks so much for the info.

 

[bwightman]

Right now I'm having bloodwork done weekly, since I just started on Imuran a few weeks ago. Normally though, it's about every 3-4 months. I have to laugh though...I looked at my bloodwork results from a few weeks ago and my CRP level was 268.4 (the normal range is below 10)! No wonder I've been feeling so lousy.

I started on Imuran 2 weeks ago and Cimzia last week and so far am feeling a bit better, except for some nasty headaches. Is it weird that I'm looking forward to my next Cimzia injections? Nothing like looking forward to stabbing yourself in the stomach with a needle!

 

[Crohn's 35]

Depends, methotrexate, and Humira once a month... some meds more often. I always have a baseline blood work so I know if it is better or worse. That is how I found out I was B12 insufficient.

 

[StarGirrrrl]

Not on any meds/diagnosed at the moment so I tend to have more blood tests whenever I see the GI.

 

[bangarang]

When I use to see my doctor, it would be every 2months.

 

[Donna Sue]

Wow! Thank you to everyone. It has blown my mind away. So many doctor treatments. How can you know what to do. Every three months. I can do that. If my GI will. I have to have surgery. I have a cyst in my foot and on my neck. I decided to cancel the neck one and have my foot done first. Well, family and friends are at odds about it. So far 3 for the foot and 3 for the neck. The ones for the neck, think I'm crazy.

 

[Nytefyre]

I have labs every week, with my iron infusion. Recently, because of the c diff, there have been weeks with multiple labs.