Remicade/Imuran?

[73monte]

My Daughter will be transitioning to Remicade in about 1 month. Our GI wants her to remain on Imuran, to help prevent anti-bodies.
She has been on 125mgs of Imuran for the last 4yrs. Our GI wants her to stay on this dosage.
Does this sound high for Imuran with Remicade? For those taking Imuran with Remicade, what is the typical dose of Imuran? I'm already abit afraid of Remicade, should I be worried about both together?
She did mention lowering the dosage of Imuran after they see how well the Remicade works.

 

[xX_LittleMissValentine_Xx]

Hi, welcome to the forum!
I'm on very small doses of imuran (aza) but only because I have TPMT deficiency. At the moment my worst fear is that the remicade doesnt work. So if being on the aza helps that then I'm all for it.
True it does increase the risks of unwanted side effects. But how long did they say she would be on both? My GI said to me six months so I think its worth it for that time.

How old is your daughter? Why don't you post up your background in the "your story" section of the forum.

 

[73monte]

Hi Holly,

My Daughter is 20yrs. old, and her name is Holly as well. I will post her story, in the "your story" section. I just joined this forum. Hopefully it will be a good resource.
How long have you been on Remicade? Is it working well for you?
Thanks for your reply.

 

[xX_LittleMissValentine_Xx]

Oh what a coincidence!
I started it almost a month ago now, I have had two doses so far. I don't feel any different so far, but I'm quite well atm anyway. I saw my GI yesterday and he said its ok not to feel different, hopefully it will prevent further flares.
I hope you do enjoy the forum, we have a lot of parents on here. I have learned a lot from this forum and have made lots of friends and get a lot of support.

 

[cntrygrl504]

I am also on Remicade and Imuran (100mg) (started Imuran in July when I was hospitalized and Remicade in Sept when I had bad reaction to Humira) with the same goal to eventually get off the Imuran and stick with just Remicade and Pentasa. I find the long term side effects of the Imuran worse than the Remicade, so I think she will do just fine with already being on it for so long. With the Remicade I feel like I have the flu for 24-48 hrs, but I have found that Thera-flu helps a lot with the side effects.

Also, my dad has CD and has been on Remicade for years (tried other things for a few years and ended up having his 3rd resection) and it doesn’t even bother him at all anymore, which is something that I look forward to. Please let us know what the doctor says.

 

[73monte]

Thanks for the replies,

cntrygrl: There seems to be some different schools of thought regarding the use of Imuran, or other immunosupressant, along with Remicade. It sounds like you don't want to stay on this combination for long.

Our GI is quite adamant about remaining on both long term. She really wants to reduce the liklihood of anti-bodies.

I do hope that the imuran dosage will be lowered at some point at least.


Tom.

 

[Avera]

Hello!

I've been on Remicade for about 6 years now, ever since I was about 12 years old, and it has been working fine for me. When I first started, I was taking the aza and Remicade together for about a year. My mother decided to stop it since stories of rare forms of cancer came about from mixing the two drugs together. Since Remicade is still kind of a 'new' drug, we are sort of the test subjects who will find out what the long term effects are to us from being on the drug. Remicade definitely helps and I would recommend it if she is struggling with mild to intense pain. I would talk to her doctor about recent research done with mixing the two drugs together because the side effects definitely could have changed ever since I was on the two.

Good luck!

 

[alex_chris]

The largest study on combination therapy (aza and remicade) used the higher boundary of the recommended aza dose (2.5mg per kg body weight).

It is a very interesting read http://fundapoyarte.org/contenidos/NEJMoa0904492Infliximab y Aziatropina en Enf de Crohns.pdf

 

[73monte]

Avera: Thanks for the reply. It seems that the studies are showing only an extremely small chance of any cancers developing. I'm still very concerned about the two together, but if she fails Remicade due to anti-bodies, we would be running out of options. So a chance we take I guess.

alex: Thanks as well for posting the study link. It seems that it speaks mainly to the effectiveness of the two together. The adverse effects seem small amongst the test group, but a larger number would have to be studied to get a true assessment.


Tom.

 

[melissaconstantine]

I'm on 50mg of Imuran and Remicade every 8 weeks and have been on the same for 10yrs w/out any problems until my last remicade infusion, had reaction (chest pains) but I went over 12 weeks w/out infusion.

 

[cntrygrl504]

Thanks for the replies,

cntrygrl: There seems to be some different schools of thought regarding the use of Imuran, or other immunosupressant, along with Remicade. It sounds like you don't want to stay on this combination for long.

Our GI is quite adamant about remaining on both long term. She really wants to reduce the liklihood of anti-bodies.

I do hope that the imuran dosage will be lowered at some point at least.


Tom.

Does anyone know what the time frame usually is to be on both? My GI doesn't want to change anything until we know that I am not having anymore issues.

 

[melissaconstantine]

Has there been any one that was told they had cancer from taking Remicade and/or with Imuran? Maybe its why I have a lesion on my liver that I'm getting an MRI done on Wednesday, now I'm getting more concerned. Ive had Remi for 10yrs now w/ 50mg imuran daily!

 

[73monte]

Melissa:

I certainly hope that it's something minor and unrelated. I know that a collection of veins called a hermangioma, can gather in the liver. It happens quite often, and I think mostly in women.
From what I understand they're quite harmless. Hopefully it's that or something equally as harmless.

Tom.

 

[sAiyAnstAr]

I currently am on Remicade and Methotrexate. I used to take Imuran but I got sick every time I took it. I had flu-like symptoms and had cold sweats. My doctor switched me over to Methotrexate and that seemed to have helped.