fignewton212 said...
All this time I have been on 6mp, does changing that help. Dr. seems to think they are all the same. Are they?
Not sure what he means by all the same? At this stage I doubt the 6MP is doing anything at all, but you could switch to another immunesuppressant like azathioprine or methotrexate. Azathioprine certainly is very similar to 6MP (in fact it breaks down into 6MP in the body), but methotrexate is less similar. Maybe it's worth trying 25mg injectable methotrextate (the injectable form is less likely to cause bad nausea than oral tablets) in combination with a biologic you haven't tried yet.
Otherwise you are virtually at the end of the road for conventional medicine. What comes afterwards are 'novel' (i.e experimental or new) therapies. Most people gain access to those through clinical trials, but you may be able to find one of the five GIs in the country who use unusual treatments. Ask your GI if he knows any of them and if he's willing to refer you to one. Mine mentioned something called adacolumn apharesis to me. Nothing came of it in the end, and I'm not even sure if it's available in the US (or the UK anymore).
There is also enteral nutrition and the concept of 'gut rest'. Seems to work best in children with small bowel disease. It certainly did nothing for me as an adult with mainly colonic disease. Also, enteral nutrition only works for as long as you're on it; if you don't find a maintenance med which takes over the disease will probably come back once you start eating normally again.
And finally, there is surgery. Not a massive fan of it, but unfortunately with IBD it's often necessary. Do talk to a colorectal surgeon. It doesn't commit you to having surgery if you're not ready, but you should at least find out what your surgical options are.