Visited to the GI yesterday

[drew_wymore]

I went to visit my GI yesterday and I thought I was going to start some form of therapy beyond Pred but I turned out being wrong ... _again_ haha.

Anyways we discussed the entire year I've been dealing with this and what we've done so far and how I've felt on different meds and such and what tests have already been run and what have you.

He is convinced I have crohns but all of my tests come back negative. He goes all these tests fail yet you have a small bowel obstruction etc etc so all the signs point to it. So we came up with an action plan which included drugs but only after more testing.

So yesterday he scheduled same day on the spot CT scan (which was super cool since it usually is like 2 or 3 weeks out to get one) .. he ordered a CT enterography which wasn't bad minus barfing up the contrast later (I've never tolerated contrast or barium).

If that comes up negative then we're going to go with the pillcam with understanding that it could get stuck. We did discuss another colonoscopy but figured it won't do any good and show anything more then we already saw.

We then discussed drug therapy. I opted for Imuran first just because he said it has fewer side effects then Remicade and Humira. He'd also put me on Pred along with it for the first 6 weeks. If it fails I opted for Humira over Remicade so that I can do it myself at home instead of having to go to an infusion center.

So thats where I'm at. Can anyone provide insight on Imuran use? I've read most people on here have had bad reactions so I'm just trying to gather more data points to look at.

Drew-

 

[Kev]

Hey Drew. nice to know you N the doc are staying on top of this, and keeping the dialogue going. Couple of points, I had a problem with imuran, but I don't know how many others did.. Try putting it to a poll vote. Other thing, about the contrast material... are you allergic/sensitive to shellfish. If yes, then the typical contrast material given out isn't for you. ask for the one that's made for folks allergic/sensitive to shellfish (I can't recall the name of it - and the brand names may differ from place to place anyway)

 

[drew_wymore]

No allergies that I'm aware of. I'll have to ask next time I get a scan done though.

An aside, I did get to use the whole "Bo Derek" of turds on him though and he cracked up for a good couple minutes on that one, so hats off to you Kev =)

 

[katiesue1506]

I never had any bad reactions to Imuran... it helped for a while, but then we found out it wasn't helping (about 8 months afterwards)... the only bad things I noticed while on it was a lot of hairloss... face pallor (although it could be due to the anemia), and fatigue (which could just be a Crohn's thing)... hope I helped a bit!

 

[Sojourn]

The side effects of Imuran sounded more dangerous to me than those associated with Humira and Remicade just because of the liver. But they monitor you to keep that in check.

The reason I couldn't be put on Humira or Remicade until now was that all other drugs had to be exhausted, or I would have to have fistulizing Crohn's, before it would be approved by the insurance. I had a fistula over the summer so now can be approved for it. But I think maybe more insurance companies are approving it now for initial treatment. I never took Imuran.

 

[Kev]

well, don't hold me to it.. but I think the side effects AND benefits of imuran (aka azathioprine) put it slightly ahead of metho, remicade or humira. think thats why docs seem to go in that order... Or, if the insurance companies are influencing doctors treatment regimens (directly or indirectly) it could be costs that are the chief influence. I know that the potential long term bad effects of imuran look pretty nasty, and they are all too real... BUT, most of them are relatively very low in occurence, if not in potential hazard. sort of akin to being struck by lighning. not highly likely, but if you are struck, then the odds really aren't of much use to you anyway

 

[drew_wymore]

He mentioned insurance thing. I can always call and ask them, I have blue cross and they seem to be pretty flexible and cool about stuff when I call them.

I opted for Imuran regardless of the insurance just because I'd like to exhaust everything before we go for remicade or humira.

 

[Kev]

Well, good luck with the imuran. And, if for any reason it doesn't work, you may want to consider running LDN by your doc before going to remicade or humira. If the LDN works, then you are on easy street. And if it doesn't, you still have those two tried and true methods left to fall back on. just a thought.