Looking for Alternatives to Medication

[lizziendfw]

diagnosed with Crohns in 2012, tried Pentasa, the Flagyl, then Nov 2014 Dr decided to put me on 50mg 6-MP, less than 10 days into it I was hospitalized with acute pancreatitis. Do not think any meds will help. dr said it is the small intestine by stomach. flare ups are minimal when I am actively exercising, watch what I eat, and now on Metagenics 30 Billion Acute-IB and seem to work. Not sure if this 56 yr gal can tolerate the meds. so I need to find alternatives. anyone else experience this with all the meds and was able to get into remission in a more holistic way?

 

[my little penguin]

There are plenty of other meds left to try
Pancreatitis can occur with 6-mp or just due to ibd.
Paging pilgrim
Thus happened with her child who is 4
But is now doing well on humira

Other options are mtx or biologics ( remicade humira etc..)

Crohns is an evil disease that unfortunately needs meds
You can feel fine on the outside but have damage on the inside
Ds has crohns
He was dx at age 7.
He is 11 now

He failed
Pentasa
6-mp went to his liver
Mtx wasn't strong enough ( had vasculitis while on that )
Remicade worked well but he had two allergic reactions
But he also has food allergies other drug bee and seasonal allergies
He is currently on humira plus mtx
And partial en with the crohns exclusive diet

 

[D Bergy]

If you do an advanced search with the name "rife' as the keyword and my user name
"D Bergy" you will find plenty of posts on the alternative treatment I am using. It brought me out of a flare and has kept me well so far. A bit of a learning curve, but doable.

Good luck.

Dan

 

[Pilgrim]

I think it is a trial and error process to find meds plus lifestyle regimen that works well for you as an individual.

My daughter had pancreatitis about the same amount of days into her Azathioprine treatment (same drug family as 6-mp).

We tried some alternative/dietary treatments afterwards, as we were well scared of the meds after seeing her in so much pain (as you know from your own experience).

Unfortunately we did not have any miraculous success. We ended up going with Humira and have not yet regretted the choice. She is able to go about her daily life and that was what our goal is for her - as well as our hopes that she does not have ongoing inflammation simmering inside which is the real danger with untreated or undertreated Crohn's.

Pentasa and Flagyl are both not suitable long term medications for the treatment for Crohn's. So it may be that you need a second opinion from another GI for treatment options.

 

[Scipio]

You haven't tried any biologics yet. They are completely different and work by different biochemical actions than the medications you have tried and failed with so far. They are also some of the best treatments available today.

If exercise combined with the probiotic is helping you then by all means stick with it. But I would not recommend giving up on all of the dozen or so Crohn's medications available based on failure with the first two or three.

 

[Lady Organic]

i invite you to take a look at IBD-AID diet in my signature. whatever decision you will take, keep close monitoring with your GI. good luck.

 

[Caitlin84]

As ppl have said, you can have a lot of internal damage happening with out a lot of symptoms. Chronic inflammation is not good for the body. There are a lot of medication options left to try. I managed mine with out meds with minimal symptoms for a long time. Then when the sh*t hit the fan, it was really bad and had obviously been going on for a very long time. I will not go without meds again. It was not worth it.