Pneumonia, Pleurisy and TB in Crohn's disease

[Racoon2000]

Hello there.
just putting this out there to see if anyone else has experience of this. Been having a pretty rotten time of it.
On infliximab since Feb '13 and last infusion was Nov '13 for my CD. Was also on 75mg of 6MP but doc took me off that beg of Dec '13 to see if it was causing my physical side effects.
since Dec I have developed full blown pneumonia in both lungs and pleurisy. I was re-admitted to hospital 4 days ago as been on 4 courses of antibiotics that haven't improved my symptoms. They did another chest xray and are very concerned I may have pulmonary TB. Been in complete isolation since Friday which sucks, but nevermind.
anyway, respiratory docs did a bronchoscopy today and took about 8 biopsy samples for testing and a squashy water one too. When he had the scope down though he saw a large amount of cobblestoning on my trachea. He called in the other doctor and they had their 'doctor style chat' about it. I immediately thought - Crohn's. When I asked him he said he wasn't sure.
so...i guess my questions are: has anyone had any lung infections like pneumonia or TB as a result of being immunocomprimised with biologics or immunosuppressants?

also, has anyone ever heard or experienced cobblestoning in their trachea or known for Crohn's to attack their lungs and surrounding structures?
i'm now 10 wks post infusion for infliximab. They won't give me it with active infection and I suspect my biologic days may be over for now anyway. Had enteroscopy in Dec and GI never mentioned issues.
would appreciate any input if anyone has it.
thanks

 

[rrhood1]

Pneumonia yes, TB no. I was vaccinated for absolutely everything - flu, pneumonia, hepatitis, polio, diphtheria, tetanus before I started the Remicade. Still got pneumonia though.

 

[D Bergy]

It is my opinion that Mycoplasma Pneumonia is what landed me in surgery with fistulas. Never had a fistula before, scopes showed the cobblestone in the ileum but not bad prior to a bout of Pneumonia.

I treated the Pneumonia myself thinking "no big deal". It probably would not have been had it remained isolated to my lungs. It is known that Myco Pneumonia in the intestines can mimic Crohn's, but what i think is not known is Mycoplasma Pneumonia on top of Crohns is a much more serious condition.

Anyway, I did end up knocking back the Mycoplasma Pneumonia later on with two rounds of Zithromax. Too late to save me from surgery and a crap load of other antibiotics from the resulting infections.

Then I go on Imuran post surgery. Doing OK but still slightly flared but giving it a chance to work. After a year and a half start getting more flared and a crushing fatigue. Guess what, myco pneumonia is back. I know what that fatigue means, been down that road. From experience I now know that Zithromax will knock it back but does not eliminate it. The boat load of IV antibiotics did not eliminate it, and neither did the natural antibiotic I used before. The Imuran is not helping me infection wise or in any other sense.

I end up using my experimental frequency method of killing the Mycoplasma that I also use for MAP. It kills it as the fatigue, flaring and all other symptoms are gone. I also stopped the Imuran since it did not work for me anyway, and just made it easier for these pathogens to spread.

It is only the experience of one person but you do need to get rid of the mycoplasma pneumonia. They have tests for it. Make sure they do the test and treat it the best they can. I doubt they understand how destructive it can be for a person with Crohns. I actually think it is often part of Crohn's. Particularly, Fistulizing Crohn's.

Good luck.

Dan.

 

[Racoon2000]

Thanks for the replies. Wow D Bergy. I had suspected that it could be damaging if it 'got out' of the lungs but didn't realise it could be so destructive. Did they link it after your sugery, or did you discover this yourself after researching?