My son did exclusive EN to induce remission and it did induce 'clinical' remission (no outward symptoms). His only maintenance treatment for the next 18+ months was supplemental EN (thru NG) and, while this seemed to 'control' his crohns, he never achieved biochemical remission (remission with no simmering inflammation). Upon transfer to his adult GI, the new GI was adamant that remicade or humira was needed to avoid permanent damage.
It was a tough decision (and I very much wanted to try LDN as well) because he looked and felt great. :ywow: GI wouldn't agree to LDN because of lack of studies and he felt my son would be risking damage while trying LDN. While I absolutely hated the thought of adding such a strong med while he looked so well, my son was concerned about the risks of not adding the med so, at his age (18), I supported his decision to begin remicade. It's been almost two years now (time flies!
) and, so far, so good! He's had no problems with remicade and follow-up MREs have shown significant improvement. His CRP, ESR and HGB have all improved and are within normal ranges.
My son finds the infusion to be easy - he reads, sleeps, takes his ipad, etc. The only downside to remicade is the scheduling. From my perspective, it's a minor inconvenience given that it keeps him healthy... but my son, at times, finds it frustrating when the schedule interferes with school or other commitments.
However, I'm not sure that he would find giving himself a painful needle every couple of weeks necessarily an improvement! I suppose you and your son have to consider your lifestyle and how comfortable your son will be with scheduling or with the pain from humira shots??
My son's GI preferred remicade. His reasons were only that he had better control over dosage/compliance (no forgetting to have shot, no errors in injection of serum, etc.) and that bloodwork would be regular/convenient.
However, I do strongly encourage you to include supplemental EN as part of his treatment. I really do feel that the nutrition my son received from the formula (5 nights per week) helped keep him healthy. From the time he was diagnosed, until beginning remicade (2.5 years), he gained 50 lbs (all healthy, muscular weight) and grew another inch or two (he was already 5'10" when diagnosed). Using the NG tube allowed him to insert the tube each evening (and remove in the morning), run the formula while sleeping and not think about it at all during the day. When he left for university, he didn't want to continue with the tube, etc. (and he had already been on remicade for approx. 6 months) but he continues to drink 1 or 2 Boost shakes each day (and, when he's home, I have seen that they really have become part of his daily diet). It certainly lessens my worries about his diet, knowing that he's getting some nutrition daily.
