Side effects worse than disease?

[caity52]

I was just wondering if anyone else has found that side effects of medication have actually been worse than the disease itself? I was diagnosed with crohns a month ago and the only symptom I ever had was occasional vomiting, since I've started taking azathioprine I've found myself in hospital twice in a month just because of side effects.

 

[POTTYTIME!]

Sorry to hear that. I see in these post of people with a more milder case of Crohn's has this problem you have. Thats the point when you ask if the risk out weighs the benefits.

I, myself don't have that luxury, with severe Crohn's, fistulas, and AVN.

HOPE all get better for ya

 

[UnXmas]

The side effects can be awful. What side effects have caused you problems? Have you spoken to your doctor about it and told him/her that you're feeling this way? There are usually other treatment options available, or ways of dealing with side effects.

 

[caity52]

The first side effects i noticed were extreme heart burn, vomiting acid as well as a high fever. I saw my specialist and he old me it was a flu, except the next day i started having diarrhea that was only blood so i knew it wasn't just a flu. 2 weeks later after the dosage went up I woke up with severe chest pain, which i then found out was caused by my liver and pancreas being inflamed from the azathioprine. I have an appointment with my specialist in a few days to discuss other medication, hoping I have some better luck!

 

[my little penguin]

Tagging pilgrim
Her Dd had similar issues with Aza but is doing great on humira

Finding the right med is key .
It's takes time but uncontrolled or under treated disease can be far worse and result in surgery .
It took us a while to figure out DS needed biologics since the other meds we tried either made it worse or didn't help.
No real side effects with biologics for three years .

Good luck

 

[VeganOstomy]

Prednisone was a terrible experience for me, but it was short term compared with my CD. The side effects were different from my IBD symptoms, so it's hard to say if they were worse.

Sent from my SM-N910U

 

[SupportiveMom]

Side effects make it tough to see if meds really are working sometimes. Sometimes you have to weigh the symptoms of IBD over symptoms of meds until you find the right ones. Prednisone is my kids' worst enemy and we deal with the side effects because if she is on it its because there is nothing else working. One med gave my kid bad joint pain and had to add another med to manage the 1st one. Not ideal. Keep in mind some side effects fade after a few months of use. Make sure you discuss all of it with your doc, there may be other options. Quality of life matters!

 

[Pilgrim]

When my daughter was on AZA she developed drug induced pancreatitis from AZA.

After she could no longer take AZA we ended up going to Humira injections. It's like she is a whole new person. We had some side effects from the first month or so of injections but now there are no issues from the med.

I hope your specialist can find a med that works well for you. Once you find one that works, then life gets way easier.