why 6mp?

Hi everyone, could someone tell me what the doctors hope to accomplish when they prescribe 6mp. What is the reason for it, since I am told that it will not stop the D. will it cure aphteous ulcers on the colon? I am not sure why the GI is insisting on prescribing it for my son, saying that the it's better for him and that is his advice for my son as a physician. When we asked why, he said it was just better and Pentasa is often not sufficient for patient. How do we know it is not for my son and when it is time to move on to another drug. He had a bit of a flare after stopping the flagyl after 2 weeks, but it quickly went under control and the b/m are getting less often. Also, we started the Reuteri probiotic recommended by pb4 and he takes 2 onces of aloe vera gel a day mixed with pineapple juice. I also started to give him gse (grapefruite seed extract) which I was told by the lady at the health store that it is known for natural antibiotic, antifungual, and antiparasite. Anyone ever tried this??? Anyways, we saw the Gi and we got the results of the small bowel barium and the doctor said that 10cm of it is affected by the disease. The doctor seems to be in a rush when my son is asking questions, but he has a very good reputation in the hospital he his affiliated with and that hospital is also one of the top hospital in montreal. So I guess we have to stick with him. I just feel that he thinks that he knows it all and that we should not question his advice. Thank you for your guidance and I am happy to have found this forum since I am so upset with my son having this disease and not understanding why him, he is so young and I would take his place in a heartbeat if I knew that he would be cure. I would deal with it much better than dealing with the fact that my 21 year old son has it. Thank you for your help and your time.

Sad Mom!

6MP and Imuran are immunosuppressants (sp?) it helps to supress the immune system so it stops attacking itself. Pentasa and other asa drugs are anti inflammatories. This drug was the only one back in the early 90s (that was widely used) that got me off of pred. I ended up off of it due to bronchitis that wouldnt go away after pneumonia that was in 2006. I was in remission at the time so my GI kept me off of it. My new GI wasnts to try imuran next before remicade or humira for my gut if the pentasa isnt doing its job. It is less invasive and painful but can have bad side effects. The side effects outweight the benefits inmost patients.

Make sure if your child ever goes on entocort you have him/her avoid grapfruit products this can increase the amount of entocort in the body by some crazy chem reaction. Not sure if that pertains to the GSE and would definitly tell the GI that he is on it.

Blood tests are done on a frequent regular basis especially when first starting imuran and 6mp (they are basically the same drug just different going into the body)