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6mp Success Stories?

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Crohn's Disease
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Posted 11/8/2009 10:11 PM (GMT 0)
Hi. I've been lurking here for a while (actually for the most of the "moderate" CD flareup I'm in, which is since the beginning of July)... it's a great place.

I'm hoping to hear from some people that have had success on 6mp. I was terrified to take it at first given all the horror stories, but I've now just started my 11th week on it. I was on 50mg for the first 6 weeks and 75mg for the last 4. Knock on wood, I've had no real bad side effects other than occasional serious fatigue... but so far, not much in the way of improvement or change.

I'm currently yo-yo-ing on Prednisone, which I've been on for about the same amount of time as the 6mp. Started on 40... tapered slowly down to 15... back up to 40... down to 20... now back up at 30. It seems that at 20 and below my flareup returns with an absolute vengeance. I want off. Mostly I'm dealing with a lot of abdominal pain that alternates between lower and upper depending on the day... even while on the higher doses of Prednisone. Some days I'm just barely crawling to work, but for the most part I'm living.

So... I'm just sitting here waiting for my 6mp to kick in (I just took the Prometheus test to see what the levels are, but it will be a week or two before I find out), and trying not to get incredibly depressed and discouraged about it. It seems I'm looking at Humira/Remicade if this doesn't work. And who knows if any of those will work. I would love to hear some success stories, especially those that took a long time to see results on 6mp but eventually did... but any positives or success will do. Thank you. Best to all of you.
Posted 11/8/2009 10:33 PM (GMT 0)
In 2003, I switched doctors. I'd had a resection of the terminal ileum in 1999, and I was scared and feeling very ill--and my previous doctor had just shrugged off my symptoms, telling me that I'd be "fine" because I had a "great attitude." I developed a perianal abscess, fistula, and chronic fissure, and she wasn't responsive. When I switched doctors, I had my first SBFT, which revealed a footlong stricture in my terminal ileum.

The new doctor put me on 50 mg daily on 6MP. Like you, I had very few (if any) noticeable side effects. Even though my day-to-day symptoms (endless diarrhea, for one) continued, another SBFT in 2006 revealed that the stricture had totally disappeared--which meant that we must have caught it when it was still composed of inflammation and not yet scar tissue.

Since then, I've continued on the 6MP. I still have my usual symptoms, but I haven't gotten worse or required any kind of surgery. No abscesses, no fistulas, no severe abdominal pain, just the usual discomfort and bathroom runs. My doctor considers this to be a great success. So do I, since it's now been 10 years since my resection.

6MP has pretty much been a miracle drug for me. I hope it works really well for you.
Posted 11/9/2009 3:42 AM (GMT 0)
Miracle drug here too. I took it for about 3 years. Was in remission after a few months and still there 5 years later. I never had any side effects or problems. It's just important to keep up on the bloodwork.
Posted 11/9/2009 3:45 AM (GMT 0)
I should add, I have virtually no symptoms now. My stricture was mostly scar tissue and still there, but 6mp eliminated the inflammation that was causing my problems. I only have issues if I eat things that are too much for my very narrow stricture.
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