Yeah, she should get the antibody test for Remicade - I forgot to mention that. But it's kind of a separate issue from drug-induced lupus. She could have antibodies to Remi without having...
Oh, regarding Stelara, not it's not another anti-TNF. It blocks interleukin 12 and 23, which are also inflammatory cytokines, but not the same as TNF....
The metabolites are 6-MMP and 6-TGn. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5307263/ I'm not sure that the ranges of therapeutic levels are the same for Behcet's as they are for IBD. They may...
Sorry to hear of the continued struggles and the roller coaster ride. The good news is that the nurse is wrong. A positive ANA test doesn't mean she has lupus. At most, it means she *might* have...
Good luck with her scope, and let us know what they find. I've heard iron infusions can cause lots of potential side effects. If drug-induced lupus (d-ile) is suspected, she should get further blood...
Nitpicking, but versed isn't valium. They're both benzodiazepines, yes, but they're not the same drug. Versed is midazolam, while valium is diazepam. Versed is more potent, quicker acting, and has a...
Sure. You wrote: "The Atlantic isn't a scientific source. Media propaganda isn't a source." This is a clear attempt to smear The Atlantic without actually debating any of the points made in the...
If you had bothered to read the article instead of using ad hominens, you would have seen that the article quotes several prominent immunologists and vaccine scientists. No, the article is not a...
It's a gross over-simplification to categorize vaccines as either sterilizing or non-sterilizing. The myth of sterilizing vaccines:...
Yes, an ALT of 87 is only mildly/slightly elevated. At one point mine was in the 500s (due to reasons not well understood when I was really sick), and a week later it was back to normal....
By 'trough levels,' it means testing for levels if infliximab (remicade) right before it's time for the next infusion, like the day before or even the morning before the infusion. Right after an...
Drugs like imuran (azathioprine) and 6-mp have fallen out of favor in the last few years. The biologics have higher success rates, work faster, and have lower risks of side effects. The downside of...
Have the docs ordered a stool test to check for fecal occult blood? When you say she's not showing any Remicade in her body, is that from a recent blood test for trough levels? Did they also check...
Why were you put on clindamycin?...
Hmm, I'm not sure what to tell you. I don't understand how the GI can say there was erosive gastritis seen on endoscopy but biopsies were normal - unless the gastritis is spotty, and they happened to...
Serum folate is a short-term measure of blood levels of folate, and since it's short-term it can vary/fluctuate day-to-day depending on what is eaten. RBC FOL is red blood cell folate, which is a...
Let us know what the biopsy report says when you get it. With upper endoscopies, they usually go into the duodenal bulb (the very first part), but they may or may not go past that. For me, the doc...
For the erosive gastritis, what have the biopsies there shown? That would be important to know. Do you take NSAIDs like aspirin or ibuprofen? Do you drink a lot of alcohol? Those can cause erosive...
How was the MCTD diagnosed? What were your blood test results and what were your symptoms? I thought that using plaquenil to keep the MCTD from progressing to lupus was an old-school thought that has...
How high were your positive ANA levels (usually reported in titers)? Drug induced lupus usually has high ANA titers, plus positive anti-histone antibodies. Systemic lupus (not drug-induced) usually...
What were your exact tests and results? Positive ANA alone doesn't necessarily mean you have systemic lupus (SLE) or drug-induced lupus (d-ile). There are several possible reasons for elevated ANAs,...
You just cherry-picked a quote out of context. You should have included this in your quoting of that article: "To help fill that void, researchers at France’s Strasbourg University Hospital recruited...
From your link: "During the symposia, some experts recommended limiting the practice of switching patients to a second anti-TNF inhibitor when factors other than immunogenicity were the driver for...
Here's one of many https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4737871/...
There is a difference between "failing" an anti-TNF due to being a primary non-responder and "failing" an anti-TNF due to developing antibodies after having a successful run of a few years. If you...
Has an infectious disease doc been consulted? What stool tests have been done for pathogens besides the standard panels? In other words, have they tested for other offenders besides the common ones...
I have no experience with iron infusions, sorry. I do know that low iron & hemoglobin is relatively common in women, and it's also relatively common in people with IBD. So for women with IBD, it's...
Any family history of IBD, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, psoriasis, etc?...
Keep in mind that back pain is probably the most common health problem worldwide. It hits nearly everybody at some point, to some degree. There are specific types of inflammatory arthritis that can...
Your GI should know that people with IBD have higher rates of inflammatory arthritis, and your GI should take an interest and investigate yours. Since he/she doesn't seem to be doing much or showing...
What did the Prometheus blood panel say regarding Crohn's or IBD in general?...
Which joints? Is there redness and/or swelling at the joints? Does it get worse when Crohn's activity gets worse? What Crohn's med(s) are you on? It could be lots of things - unrelated to crohn's,...
I'm so sorry that somebody grabbed your hand and forced you to click on a thread about vaccines. Shame on whoever did that to you!!...
VanJordan's link to the citizensjournal.us page takes us to a bit written someone named Christian Elliot, originally on his blog, that has since been re-posted on several anti-vax websites. Here is a...
I don't disagree with that reasoning, except that steroids aren't considered meds that alter the natural course of the disease like immunomodulators or biologics. They (steroids) are more like...
Fat malabsorption shouldn't happen with well-controlled UC. Have you had blood tests to check for celiac disease? If celiac is negative, the next things to focus on are the gallbladder and pancreas....
I'd wait to see the rheumatologist before starting any medications, especially the hydroxychloroquine. You could take the steroids if you're miserable, but otherwise I wouldn't take that (yet)...
What dose of azathioprine are you on and what is your weight? Have you had a blood test to check your metabolite levels to see whether you're in a good range? I haven't heard of any connection...
Also from the same CDC page: "The utility of serologic testing or cellular immune testing to assess immune response to vaccination and guide clinical care (e.g., as part of need assessment for an...
My thoughts: People with certain cancers or who have HIV or have had organ transplants are usually more immunosuppressed than IBD patients on medications. So they would be the first priority. Next...
From the CDC website today (Friday Aug 13, 2021) https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/covid-19/clinical-considerations/covid-19-vaccines-us.html "However, an additional dose of an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine after...
Prednisone gives me belly burn and so does Entocort, but to a lesser extent. Even Medrol dosepacks have given me a burning sensation for a few days. To answer your question, yes, it's fine to take...
My reply is a little late, but maybe it will help somebody who reads. The previous generation shingles vaccine, Zostavax, was a live vaccine and could be an issue for people on immunosuppressant...
But aren't enteropathic arthropathies generally considered to be in the class of *seronegative* arthropathies? (meaning that the person does *not* have positive ANAs nor positive RF) In other words,...
Good to hear. A rheumatologist will evaluate your joints, maybe order x-rays, will order further blood tests, and possibly urinalysis. It's quite possible that you'll need a treatment for this....
Get your PCP to refer you to a rheumatologist if that hasn't already been done....
A visit with a rheumatologist is appropriate at this point to do further testing and to develop a treatment plan that is safe and effective with your UC....
That seems like a good, individualized use of crp, doingmybest. If your past has demonstrated that it tracks your flares and is elevated when flaring and under 5 when not flaring, then that totally...
What meds were you on in the past, and what problems did you have with them? Are they sure this is UC and not Crohn's?...
I wouldn't want to have three sigmoidoscopies in one year (or even in one lifetime!), but it's not all that excessive. It's not unheard of to have 3 full colonoscopies in a year. I do agree it's a...