I am asking this question for my cousin who does not have a computer. He was diagnosed with mild crohns in 2006. On Jan 4 after suffering a month of extreme pain in the illium , fevers, and feeling a lump in the lower right side, but with no other symptoms like D or vomiting, he went into the hospital. They did a CT and ultra sound and said she has a massive inflamation in the illium. He was put on antibiotics and steriods. The pain went away within a day and after three days he was released taking 40mg steriods a day and 1000mg Pentassa 3 times a day. After 10 days he dropped to 30mg steriods, then after another 10 days 20mg , and then last saturday to 10mg. A couple of days ago the pain started comming back again, not as bad as before but still pain.
My question is , what is the next step if the pain continues? Is it normal to up the dose of the steriods again, and for how long do you have to be on steriods usually before the inflamation goes away? His GI is pushing real hard for Humira, which my cousin is dead set against using. On the other hand, his surgeon, who is more conservative, says Humira is over kill in a case of crohns like my cousin's where only a small 8 cm part of the small intestine and illium are affecteded, and since he has no other smyptoms like D or blood or mucus or fistuals, Humira is not needed. Will 6mp reduce inflamation and stop the pain? What side effects does 6mp have?
Post Edited (NY-Sooner) : 2/9/2012 6:28:19 AM (GMT-7)