Medication
April 2nd, 2008 | Published in Crohn's Disease, General updates
My colonoscopy went fine. I was pleased that this time the doctor only gave me light medication so I was awake and could watch the screen as she did it.
Maybe that doesn’t sound like fun but I was glad to be able to see what the doctor was doing and why she came to the conclusions she did.
Which were: given the amount of inflammation she would rather put me on Remicade than Imuran, because it’s quicker acting and more powerful.
Before going on it I need to have a skin and chest X-ray TB tests that come back negative and the insurance has to approve it. Those things are being checked this week - if they all go ok I will have the first IV infusion next week. Remicade has to be infused by IV which takes a few hours. It can’t be taken orally because then it gets digested.
So this is a long-term maintenance plan, assuming the first treatments go ok and are effective. After the first few treatments the infusion is every eight weeks.
She also prescribed an antibiotic for a month in case an infection was contributing to what she saw.
I felt a bit better last week, I think, after being on the Entocort, but I was still having symptoms and I understand why the doctor wants to put me on Remicade to avoid serious complications developing which require surgery. Which is what tends to happen with active Crohn’s Disease. Also, Entocort is only approved for short-term use (a few months at the most)
