A little TMI to start off this post... My crohn's symptoms have, luckily, never been that bad -- I did have bleeding and a little stomach pain that went away after I weaned off of prednisone (tomorrow I'll talk to my Dr. about the possibility of being steroid-resistant since my symptoms were significantly worse while on them, then stopped a few weeks after); I know I currently have inflammation, but it is "just:" mucus, small amounts of loose stool, small/skinny solids, sometimes an in-the-moment cramping/rush when passing some solids (but no pain after), and that's basically it. *Knock on wood* I would say I've never yet had a "flare" the way others have described (intense pain, stomach cramps, inability to eat/drink, ER visits, etc.).
I was initially prescribed Delzicol almost a year ago, and nothing really changed. Besides prednisone (twice), Delzicol, and now Humira I have not been on anything else. I feel like other people say that being prescribed a biologic is a "last resort" to get their condition under control when a line of milder medications didn't work. Now I'm left wondering if my Dr. jumped the gun when my symptoms are not "that bad" and something else may have worked. I worry that if the Humira doesn't stop my current mild symptoms and/or I eventually become resistant to it, and steroids don't work for me, then what am I left with - surgery as my only option?
My Dr. didn't really give me any other choices. Essentially he drew a medication pyramid with Delzicol on the bottom, Humira on the top, and then described some "medium" drug in the middle that is suspected to cause cancer at higher rates than other meds. He then said: "we can choose this [cancer-linked] medication or we can choose the Humira, so what do you want to do?" It makes me nervous feeling like we jumped from mild medication to strong medication when my symptoms really have not become more severe.
---
I recognize that I have 2 problems in dealing with having crohn's: first, thinking about food and this disease all the time plus researching various medications has become stressful to me; and we all know stress is bad for an IBD patient. So I waver between being uninformed and being stressed out with information overload. And then, when I'm in the Dr.'s office I somehow lose the ability to think critically, ask questions, and not rely on the Dr.'s last word simply because he's the authority. I just say "okay" and then have a little freak out about it later. Afterwards I wish I had at least said/asked: "I know there are not just these 3 medications out there - why Humira now, why not anything else?" [I hate to think that he's getting some kind of a kick-back for prescribing just these drugs over others, regardless of individual situations.]
On the flip-side, I read a report somewhere that claimed if patients get on Humira early in their treatment, then they might change the lifetime course of their disease for the better.
Did anyone else get prescribed Humira with relatively mild symptoms?
I was initially prescribed Delzicol almost a year ago, and nothing really changed. Besides prednisone (twice), Delzicol, and now Humira I have not been on anything else. I feel like other people say that being prescribed a biologic is a "last resort" to get their condition under control when a line of milder medications didn't work. Now I'm left wondering if my Dr. jumped the gun when my symptoms are not "that bad" and something else may have worked. I worry that if the Humira doesn't stop my current mild symptoms and/or I eventually become resistant to it, and steroids don't work for me, then what am I left with - surgery as my only option?
My Dr. didn't really give me any other choices. Essentially he drew a medication pyramid with Delzicol on the bottom, Humira on the top, and then described some "medium" drug in the middle that is suspected to cause cancer at higher rates than other meds. He then said: "we can choose this [cancer-linked] medication or we can choose the Humira, so what do you want to do?" It makes me nervous feeling like we jumped from mild medication to strong medication when my symptoms really have not become more severe.
---
I recognize that I have 2 problems in dealing with having crohn's: first, thinking about food and this disease all the time plus researching various medications has become stressful to me; and we all know stress is bad for an IBD patient. So I waver between being uninformed and being stressed out with information overload. And then, when I'm in the Dr.'s office I somehow lose the ability to think critically, ask questions, and not rely on the Dr.'s last word simply because he's the authority. I just say "okay" and then have a little freak out about it later. Afterwards I wish I had at least said/asked: "I know there are not just these 3 medications out there - why Humira now, why not anything else?" [I hate to think that he's getting some kind of a kick-back for prescribing just these drugs over others, regardless of individual situations.]
On the flip-side, I read a report somewhere that claimed if patients get on Humira early in their treatment, then they might change the lifetime course of their disease for the better.
Did anyone else get prescribed Humira with relatively mild symptoms?
