Pain associated with Crohn's

[Darin]

Hi guys, I was diagnosed in December of 2011. I have been on 40mg of Prednisone since then. I have the shakes and the trembling that I guess comes from the Prednisone. I have also experienced some acne on my chest. My Dr. put me on Azathioprine now and have been backing off the steroid 5mg per week. I'm down to 25mg now and I am starting to feel the joint pain, night sweats, and "popping" sounds when I walk and move around. I'm worried I will go back to the way I was feeling prior to the diagnosis, which was awful. I was to the point I hurt so bad I didn't want to move. My blood tests still show high SED levels. If anyone has any advice, facts for me I would appreciate it.

Thanks

 

[David]

Hi Darin and welcome to the forum

1. In case you weren't told, it can take a few months for Azathioprine to really take effect.

2. Have you been having regular blood tests since going on the Azathioprine?

3. Have you had your vitamin D, vitamin B12, and folate (vitamin B9) levels checked? If so, what were they?

4. In case you haven't seen them, you may want to check out our prednisone support forum and azathioprine support forum.

Again, welcome! We're here for you

 

[Trysha]

Hello Darin,
Sorry to hear you are having problems and hope you can soon get them resolved.
I have nothing to add to David's excellent response and fully agree with it.
Feel better soon
Hugs and best wishes
Trysha

 

[Darin]

After reading the forum's I went back into my blood tests and didn't see anything pertaining to any vitamins. I have "My Chart" so it's easy for me to keep track of what's going on. My Dr. did tell me it would take six weeks to eight weeks to work. I've been on Azathioprine for ten weeks now. Every week I lower my dose of the steroid by 5mg and every week I feel more and more achy like I've been hit by a big linebacker! My body didn't metabolize the azathioprine like the doc hoped so I'm only taking 50mg. My last test was last week and the Dr. Said my levels are within there standards which didn't settle well with me just the way he stated it in his email. Thanks for writing back.

 

[David]

Hmmm. Did they perform something called a "TPMT Test" on you before they started the Azathioprine? And when was the last time you had your blood drawn to check your white, red, and platelet count?

And ask for those vitamin levels to be tested.

 

[Darin]

David, Good morning! I looked at my tests and yes there is one on my chart stated TPMT Level:14.4
My WBC: 8.5
My RBC: 4.88

The WBC and the RBC were drawn this week.

 

[David]

Good day to you Darin

What country are you in? Or do you by chance have the reference ranges for the blood counts? And did they provide platelet counts as well? If you don't have the reference range, let me know your country and I'll look it up.

 

[Darin]

Hey David, I'm from Wisconsin. Here is a list of ranges

WBC 3.5-11.0
RBC 4.30-6.20
PLATELET 373 With a standard value of 150-450 k/Cummings
TPMT- No standard range just says intermediate activity.

I'm hoping the WBC AND RBC is white and red blood?? If not let me know.

 

[David]

Thanks bud. Everything is looking good there and yes, WBC is white blood count and RBC is red blood count. I'm glad they're keeping a close eye on you, especially with an intermediate TPMT.

Beyond what we've discussed thus far, I don't have any additional advice, sorry. Maybe others do.

 

[Darin]

Maybe explain intermediate TPMT. I'm not sure what that means.

 

[David]

Give this a read as it explains things. If any of it doesn't make sense, please let me know