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New to forum - new to diagnosis

Hi, I am a 46 yr old mom and wife. I work full time. Out of the blue a week ago I began having really severe abdominal pains. (On Saturday) on Monday I finally called my doc with symptoms. She sent me directly to ER. In was admitted. After a week of testing, on the following Saturday I was given the diagnosis of Crohn's disease. They have started a round of steroids which totally eleviated all abdominal pain. My GI docs want to start me on either Remicade or Humira. All of the information I've been given and looked up on the Internet seems to be very similar for both drugs. I've talked to a few people with Crohn's and they take other drugs that seem to do well for them. I'm still in the hospital until probably Monday or Tuesday (this is day 7 of my stay). My docs would like to start some regime before I go home. My question is this.... If your symptoms are like mine ( severe abdominal pain, one fistula and some narrowing where the entertainers meet - no diarrhea) what works for you and how long have you been taking it? I'm a bit afraid of all of the side effects of both drugs. I know I have to do something about this before it gets worse but is there a way to progress up to these two drugs? Any advice or insight would be greatly appreciated

Thanks in advance!!!
Sleepless in Ohio :)
 

nogutsnoglory

Moderator
There is a build up of the drug in the sense that you take the Remicade infusion more frequently in the beginning to build up levels. Once you are at a stable level you take it every 8 weeks.

Remicade, Humira and Cimzia all suppress TNF which causes inflammation in the body. Some work while others don't because they are similar but have a different delivery mechanism and makeup. Cimzia and Humira are made of human protein but Remicade has mouse protein. There is a higher risk for reaction with Remicade. As long as you are at an infusion center they will monitor you closely.
 
I was diagnosed at 45 and am now on methotrexate and have no idea how it is working as they have to do colonoscopy to verify my type of crohns. I have internal fistulating crohns and just basically make a mess of my insides. I hear metho works great for some and not so good for others.
 

valleysangel92

Moderator
Staff member
Hello, welcome to the forum, Im glad you've found us.

Its good that the steroids have helped you and taken away the pain, however they are only recommended as a short term treatment option as they can have severe side effects. It is understandable that you are nervous about starting one of the other medications as they can have scary side effects but they do work well for a lot of crohns sufferers and are a far better option than long term steroids and can help prevent the need for surgery.

I had similar symptoms to yours. My stomach pain was undiagnosed for a long time before they finally found the inflammation and then the stricture. I had a course of prednisolone followed by a course of entocort but these weren't as effective for me due to scarring that had built up over the five years and I had surgery almost 5 weeks ago.

If you have any more questions about any aspects of the disease please feel free to ask. We are all here to help each other and there's not much that hasn't been seen before. Everyone here is really friendly and there is always someone willing to try and help :).
 
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