Side effects from 6mp and Imuran affect perhaps 10-15% of patients, and all are reversible simply by stopping the drug. Many Crohns patients have successfully achieved long term remission on these...
Even with minimal symptoms, when you discontinue maintenance meds for Crohns the damage increases over time, possibly leading to fistulas, obstructions, surgery, etc. I am aware of no "alternative"...
Imuran and 6mp, which are pretty close to identical, are widely and successfully used for Crohns, with many people, including myself, sustained in remission for years on it with no side effects. A...
For people with normal anatomy (no adhesions, previous surgeries, etc.) a basic colonoscopy is not an exceptionally painful procedure. There is some discomfort, but in my experience perhaps a 2 on a...
An old man went to the doctor, who noted what a spry and healthy 90-something he was, and asked what was the secret to his long life. "I never smoked, drank or slept with a woman in my life!" the...
SS funds go through a separate non-budget trust fund. The only way payments could be interrupted is if the administration decides to divert those dollars....
Fissures and fistulas are specific to Chrohns and not to UC. Hence I would imagine that is what you have. In your place I would seek, 1) a second scope with biopsies and, 2) a pill cam examination of...
Sorry, but I fail to see any possible organic connection between spinal nerve manipulation and the lack or presence of an inflammatory process in the bowel. Chiropractic is less medicine than...
Genetic susceptibility to CD has been confirmed repeatedly, most prominently in a series of genes labeled NOD2/CARD15on chromosome 16. I think the last count of genes with a Crohns connection was in...
Well most CD patients tend to have primary disease in a specific area . . . I think the ratio is something like 40% ileo-cecal area, 20% primarily colon and the rest up in the small bowel prettty...
Yes ulcers will heal, but over time they can lead to scarring, which is a major factor in obstructoins and resulting surgery....
So does this mean that when two Crohnies meet they have to circle around each other and sniff one another's hindquarters?...
Imuran and 6mp are basically the same med. I have been on 6mp for about 10 years with good results and no side effects. I would guess that at least 90% of patients who take this drug have no serious...
Crohn's colitis just means that is where it is primarily visible right now. The disease is the same wherever it pops up, from mouth to anus. I'd just call ot Crohns and be done with the semantics....
Colonoscopy is the gold standard test for IBD. Why they have not gone straight to that I do not understand, though the issues you report with NHS are quite common, I hear. I second the motion: ask...
I have never had this problem, and been going to the same GI for 30-plus years. His receptionist had been with him for most of that time, knows me by first name and always schedules me within 72...
C2 is right. I was a working police reporter in the 1970s and the decision to deinstitutionalize even the more severe schizophrenics flooded the streets with people who should simply not have been...
It sounds like you are starting imuran, which is basically the same thing as 6mp. Many, many Crohns patients use these as their primary maintenance drugs and do very well, with few or no side...
Going to be the bionic gal . . . Spend the holidays recuperating and stay well!...
Yes Ike's surgery was for "regional ileitis" which is what they tended to call Crohns back then. Actually Crohns is no more of a hindrance for life in politics than for any other job. I am on staff...
I would say you could be the poster child for severe CD. Pretty classic case . . ....
Been on 6mp for about ten years now and the only hair thinning/loss I can detect probably has to do with being ten years old, not the meds....
An apthous erosion is a crater-like ulceration. The apthous appearance is common in CD. As for the healed fistula, it may be that the light hit it at the right angle and that it is a remnant from...
If the pain gets bad enough that you can't sit still you shoulw probably investigate the possibility of a kidney stone....
Still have my appendix and have had CD for 40-plus years. I think that each time one of these theories pops up that point to a possible cause or trigger for CD we ought to remember that the...
In your situation I would ask for a new SBFT and, if that is not conclusive, perhaps the capsule endoscopy. I doubt your GI would consider surgery, even if there is evidence of some narrowing from...
I am a 30-year Crohns patient who has had a half dozen unsedated scopes with minimal discomfort and great ease. It is a myth that a colonooscopy causes pain inside the colon. There are no sensory...
Any so-called medical professional who attributes all health issues to one thing -- diet, air, auras, whatever -- is by definition a dangerous quack and a fool....
I too have mild-to-moderate Crohns with no fistulas, strictures or other major issues. I believe you would be a good candidate for 6mp or Imuran, rather than jumping right to the big artillery, which...
Yes they will all do that. Just ask in January. Remember you can also claim your share of health insurance premiums too....
Antivenin for snakebite is made by injecting horses with venom and then extracting the antibodies they make. So if you get tagged by a copperhead and get the antivenin shots you can then enter the...
Navy there is an American Society of colorectal surgeons -- might check their website to see if there is a certified member near you. A CR surgeon is usually one who has completed the basic general...
Back in the 1800s, and again briefly off and on in the 20th century, there were periods when people thought magnetism/electricity could treat or cure a wide range of ailments. It was all quackery...
Squatting isthe traditional third world way of childbirth too. Of course average life expectancy in the third world is about halfwhat it is in the developed civilizations, the latter of which is...
It sounds like the pred is doing what it is supposed to. The next step is to work with your GI to select the right long term maintenance med that works for you. I would suspect he may recommend 6mp...
In a smaller community like that the local primary care docs will usually have referral lists to the nearest largeer city or medical center -- GUs, neurologists, etc. I'd find a good local internist...
Nanners makes a good point; why not propose 6 months of 6mp or Imuran, then consider remicaid if that does not induce a lasting remission. From your description of your disease state, with widespread...
Correction: the OPPONENTS of the go slow approach say that . . ....
Without knowing your disease status and history it is impossible to say. There are two schools of thought in Crohns treatment -- one saying go big and aggressive early with Remicaid, Humira and the...
You will be doing some interesting picking through if certain substances for a few days. I think the usual advice on swallowing a durable objetc like that is wait a few days to see if it passes, then...
Remember a lot of Crohns patients have disease primarily in the small bowel where the scope cannot reach. If the biopsies are negative, you might ask for a pill cam to look at the ileum....
Depends on what the scope is for. Visual findings (inflammation, ulcerations, etc.) can tell a lot, but if it is a diagnostic scope, to see if you have Crohns, the biopsies will also be key, since...
Glad the bad stuff is gone . . . take it easy and recover at your own pace!...
Never took it, had first Crohns symptoms at age 19, probably before this drug was even developed. Lawyers would sue the sun for skin cancer if they could figure a way to get a process server up there...
That is not listed as a 6mp side effect on the drug insert. I wonder if it could be related to low Vitamin B12 levels....
Gail just to give you reason to beoptimistic, several years ago my brother had a chest xray for an incidental issueand a very similar massshowed up on hiskidney. Hehad no urological symptoms, but...
I have mild to moderate CD. At my last visit to my GI I noted that I felt lucky to have gone 40 years with no surgeries or major complications and (since diagnosis and treatment) very tolerable low...
As others have already posted, the dosage level commonly used in treating Crohns is in the 50-100 mg range, far lower than the dosages used in treating leukemia, which is where the warnings abuot...
Absolutely, if you have a stricture or bad inflammation, pain would be worse. I am referring to the vast majority of scopes that are done in routine cancer screenings and for CD/UC patients to update...
With biopsies the most you should feel is slight pressure. There are no sensory nerves in the colon lining. The primary cause of pain and/or discomfort in a colonoscopy is from looping, when the...