Remicade and Other medications

[GTR]

Our son was diagnosed with Crohn's last August. He has been on a lot
of medications and they didn’t help him. He is now on remicade (had his
3rd infusion May 4th). He also takes methotrexate (3 pills once a week)
and mezavant (2 pills twice a day). We feel that he is taking a lot of
medication and wonder if remicade alone can put him into remission.
Since he started remicade the doctor has not ordered any blood tests.
His blood was always checked before while on the other medications so we
are wondering why they are not now. Anyone else having this same experience?
He is also finding he is loosing his hair and this is causing major stress for him.
He is 20 yrs old. Any advice or comments would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.Nick

 

[Lydia]

I started immuran about a month before I went on remicade. I responded so well to the remicade that I stopped taking immuran. If i did not respond so well I would have probably continued the immuran.

Remicade is the only drug that i take for my crohns.

I get blood work done once a month while on remicade. You may want to inquire about that.

 

[SdN]

There was a study posted on the forums here a little while back which stated Remicade was much more effective for patients who were also taking Imuran so you may want to consider that before going off of it.

 

[Lisa]

When I started remicade I was on 6-MP (but not very faithfully - yes, I'm bad at taking pills!).....my doctor did eventually stop the 6-MP, and for over a year I've been on just the remicade. I do get bloodwork done every other infusion (8 weeks) - and a B-12 shot every infusion.

 

[davidr]

I took only remicade for a year, but it started losing its efficacy after 6 months or so. By the end of the first year, it would only last 4 of the 8 weeks between infusions. My doctor decided to re-do the induction course and also put me on azathioprine (Imuran), and I've been in remission ever since (almost 2 years).

 

[aliciars]

Ok, I'm confused. I was just prescribed remicade this past week & while reading up on it at the remicade site, I read to NOT mix it with Imuran????? I am on imuran now & just came to the forum to research the combination of the 2.

Was anyone told not to mix them?

 

[davidr]

Research shows that combination therapy (Remicade + Imuran/azathioprine) is more effective for stubborn cases of Crohn's than either medicine alone.
http://www.ccfa.org/reuters/SONIC

I'm on both and haven't experienced any side effects yet.
Of course, I may be singing a different tune if I develop lymphoma in 20 years...

 

[B-rad]

I have heard that the risk of cancer is higher with combination imuran and remicade? My doc refuses to put me on both...as for bloodwork, My specialist told me with the last visit that he didn't need bloodwork done. Once every six months would suffice. Every GI guy is different I guess.

 

[SdN]

It looks like doctors just don't know the long term effects of using both. I'm sure the risk of cancer does go up but whether or not it's enough to be concerned about remains to be seen, they probably don't have enough data to prove one way or another. I would say it's best to err on the side of caution but that's hard to do when your life is being torn apart by Crohn's.