Newly diagnosed-- 6MP vs Remicade

Hi everyone,

I have recently been diagnosed with Crohn's disease at 20 years old, and needless to say.. I'm worried.
After talking to my doctor this week, he would like to start me on Remicade. I would like to put my trust in my doctor, but after reading many reviews and forums on Remicade, I am scared to get started. The chances of lymphoma and other cancers almost seems not worth it. I have a strong family history of Crohn's, hence why he would like to start out with "the big guns" (Remicade).

Another option that he mentioned would be getting started on 6-MP, but he didn't see the point in beating around the bush with the progress of my disease and the fact that it may not work. However, after reading reviews from 6-MP, they seem much better than those of Remicade.

I would just like to know people's opinion of Remicade and 6-MP. What worked for you? Any bad side effects?

Really, feel free to share any knowledge.

I appreciate your time and your response(s).

I agree with @Jen77. The risks of Remicade are relatively small. Imuran gave me pancreatitis as well, while Remicade afterwards got me in remission. My current problems are more from being immunocompromised and c. diff. as opposed to Remicade.

I'm inclined to agree with everyone above.... there are risks with 6MP, and any med, really. My understanding is that issues with 6MP tend to turn up relatively quickly (? I'm sure others here know more about this than I do). And that was my experience- after 2.5 weeks on 6MP I felt like I was about to die. I took my pills at about 10pm, and would be up most of the night with vomiting and extreme pain. My doc responded really quickly- getting me off 6MP immediately, and onto Humira within a couple weeks. And Humira has been a miracle drug for me, in spite of the Black Box warning. I like being able to get out of bed and live a mostly-normal life - that's worth the risks to me. (Also, as my former GI used to remind me- controlling the inflammation is one of the best ways to reduce your risk of cancer).
You're the only one who can make these decisions- are you willing to wait 3-6 months to see a difference in your symptoms? What risks are you willing to take? I'm slowly coming to terms that there's not really anything I can predict with this disease. You could do great on 6MP, you might have a horrible reaction to it, you could be one of those people who needs both 6MP and a biologic to keep their disease under control (a fairly rare, and slightly higher risk treatment plan). Find a doctor you can trust, educate yourself as much as possible, and do the best you can (and accept that things will probably change). It took me about 1.5 years after being diagnosed to find a treatment plan that worked- hoping this is a faster process for you!

When I was diagnosed in 2007 with CD , I had two massive rectal fistulas and my GI insisted that the only way to heal these is with remicade.  Like you, I was scared to turn off my immune system for the fear of getting something worse then CD.  I did a lot of reaserch and decided to go with the SCD diet approach and using a more mild drug like pentassa.  My GI said diets are just a scam and they will never work in healing CD or fistulas and I am wasting my time.

Well, after 7 months of fanatical dedication to the SCD diet, both fistulas were completely healed up , and all my other symptoms like blood and mucus in my BMs were gone completely gone.  That was in 2007, and too this day I have been 100% symptom and fistula free, and I still follow the SCD diet ( but not as fanatical as before), and I take pentassa.

I suggest reading the book "breaking the vicious cycle" which goes into detail about the SCD diet. This diet seems to work best in people who are newlly diagnosed without a lot prior damage in your intestines.  You have nothing to loose by trying it, and all to gain if it works for you.  

I took 6 MP for about a month. I was heading into liver failure when my GI figured out it was the 6 MP. I was taken off that and put on Humira. It has been a life saver for me.

Just to give the flip side.... I've been on a low dose (50 mg) of 6mp for about a year and am doing great on it. It did take some time to start working, so I was also doing a prednisone taper as I was waiting for the 6 mp to kick in (I was having a major flare), and i had a bit of nausea the first couple months, but otherwise i've been feeling great on it and have been mostly symptom free. I get blood work done every couple months to monitor my liver function and white blood cells. So far everything has been OK :)
Good luck with your choice!

Basil

Hey, sorry about your recent diagnosis. I was diagnosed a little over a year ago. My sister was diagnosed at age 12 and had taken 6mp for 17 years. My MD thought, great she's a sib and has done well on 6mp, so I was put on it too. Made me very sick, they also discovered I had Hep A at that time. So random.
I've been on Remicade since. It's helped my bowels, but I've now developed arthritic pain. (Not from Remicade but from Crohns.) Now they say I've developed anti-bodies to Remicade. I'm very disappointed. Remicade was so easy. I met so many people while getting infused and heard so many success stories.
So, I think you never know how you are going to react.
Good luck with your decision.