TB test positive, need advice

Hi everyone,

I was diagnosed with Chrohn's disease 8 yr ago and was put on pentasa which worked well and was in remision until 3 months ago.  I'm taking pentasa now and prednisone which I'm tampering off each week and now I have only 4 more weeks to go. 

I saw my specialist who adviced me to go on remicade, but before that I had to have a tb test 2x because of the prednisone.  The first one wasn't as big on my wrist as the second.  It was 1cm and apperently it showing some infections in the body.  I'm waiting for infactious speciallist but not till January.  Well, my doctor said no remicade and no baby.  I also wanted to get pregnant one more time and remicade is safe for pregnancy.

I'm so disappointed and worried.  I'm still having pains even with the prednisone.  What am I going to do in a month?

Did anyone had a similiar experience?  Please, any advice of what other treatments I can go on incase I have tb positive?

Thank you,

Skye1

It's very likely that it's latent TB, which (as monkiray says) just means that you've been exposed to TB, not that you have active TB. I had a positive TB test years (and years) ago. They gave me a choice to take isoniazid (INH) for a year to wipe out that exposure. That means that the exposure I had will never be able to develop into active TB. There's no testing to see if I've been exposed again, though they are working on new blood tests will help determine an old exposure from a new.

In any case, worst situation is that you explore the idea of taking the INH (or another TB med of your doctor's suggestion) concurrent with the Remicade. The reason for the TB screen is that Remicade (and all TNFs) can allow a latent TB case to activate, causing true TB. If you take the meds along with Remicade, it should prevent that as well as protecting you from that exposure.

You are not contagious if it's latent. The chest xray (which you will almost certainly be ordered) will show if it's active. If you have no signs, it's not likely that it is active, which means you are not contagious.

Hang in there! You will be ok and they will find a way to work it out... Good luck!

Thank you guys for the reply. I had the xray done and it was completely cleared. I'm so glad to hear that I can take the remicade even with (INH). I have to still see couple of doctors, hoping in January.

Can I still get pregnant while taking this med?

I did a report on TB in my biology class after my then 2 yo son had a positive test for TB. I was shocked as I had NO idea how he could have contacted it!

TB is a bacterial infection that you can contract just like the common cold, by breathing in air droplet that someone has sneezed on coughed out. Or by touching a surface that has been contaminated and then putting fingers in mouth or nose. A lot of undeveloped countries have a high incidence of TB and with all the international travel, the incidence of exposure in developed countries has gone up.

When it enters your body, it usually lies dormant in hard encapsulated pods until maybe, at some time in the future, those pods break open and you can develop full blown TB. The medication will kill the dormant disease so that it never becomes active. My son will always test positive for TB so he has to refuse the skin test and have a chest x-ray for determination of TB.

I know you can become a pregnant on Remicade, but I don't know about the medication to kill the TB. It's pretty strong, and I know it would make him very sick on some days just from taking it.

Sorry for biology lessen, I just wanted to give you some background. I hope everything works out well for you!

Thank you guys. I was just wandering, do I need to take the TB treatment? I'm worried that my stomach is not going to be able to handle it. I'm pretty sensitive to other meds, especially when crohn's is active.

Sky1

yes, i will have to wait till January to see infectious disease doctor to find out more.

Thax again:)