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Crohn's and Flumist

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Crohn's Disease
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Posted 9/19/2009 2:17 AM (GMT 0)
I will try to make this story short...my husband (age 35) has had crohn's for about 12 years now and has a mild to moderate case.  He takes Asacol and has never taken anything else.  Recently, our daugther's pediatrician suggested that our family receive the flumist vaccine because we are going on a cruise in 1 week and she indicated that the flumist (as opposed to the flu shot) may provide some immunity to the swine flu because of the way the vaccine coats the nose and prevents the virus from attaching.  So I called my husband's GI dr. to see if it was ok for him to take a live vaccine.  He indicated that since my husband is not on immunosuppresants that it would be fine for him to take the flumist.  So today we receive his 3 month supply of Asacol and in the literature - it clearly states not to take this medication (mesalamine) if a live vaccine has been taken within the past 6 weeks.  I am a little bit freaking out because now I am not sure if he should continue taking the Asacol.  I also can't find much information as to why you shouldn't take mesalamine and live vaccines together other than mesalamine contains aspirin and thus may increase the risk of Reye's Syndrome for children and teenagers.  I plan on calling his dr. on Monday but in the meantime - I wondered if any of you have any information as to the harm in combining live vaccines and mesalamine (Asacol)??   
Posted 9/19/2009 1:14 PM (GMT 0)
I am on Asacol and to my knowledge there isn't any reason I can't use a live virus. I believe your GI is correct, but if still concerned I would call your pharmacist, I think maybe they could give better info. Good luck and let me know what the pharmacist says.
Posted 9/20/2009 1:55 PM (GMT 0)
Ask your pharmacist----I hope you have a pharmacist you trust and can talk to.  They are a wonderful resource with a ton of knowledge!
Posted 9/21/2009 8:07 PM (GMT 0)
I called my husband's GI today and his nurse told me that they didn't know why the medication pamphlet would give the precaution of no live vaccines??

My husband doesn't really have a pharmacist as he is relatively healthy and the only medicine he has ever taken (besides an occasional antibiotic) is the Asacol. And we get that mail order. I did call the mail order pharmacy and ask for a pharmacist and she told me that she didn't know either and would have to "google" it. At that point - I pretty much quit listening to her. I'm not even sure if I was talking to a real pharmacist.

I do fill my prescriptions and our daughter's prescription at the same place and asked the pharmacist there and he told me that the only interaction he could think of would be due to the Reye's Syndrome which really only affects children and teens. So...basically at square one. Seems like no one knows why the literature says what it does??? Seems strange to me but all the people I've talked to seem to think that the benefits of taking the medicine outweigh the risks - even though no one really knows what the risk is. Scary!!
Posted 9/21/2009 8:58 PM (GMT 0)
Well if you are still really concerned why don't you just have him get a flu shot. Those are not live viruses. Not sure if you are in the US or not, but Walgreens and CVS are having flu shot clinics going on. You can google and find a location near you. Good luck!
Posted 9/21/2009 9:12 PM (GMT 0)
Wish that were an option at this point!! We took the flumist last Monday...so this was all after the fact. Guess I should have clarified that in my first post!!
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