New Here and Really Need Advice

I am new to this forum and UC and at this point I desperately need some advice, support, suggestions or whatever help I can get! I am 27 years old and was diagnosed with UC throughout my entire colon after a colonoscopy this past July. I was also diagnosed with Psoriatic Arthritis in 2001 at age 18. I have lots of questions about UC and treatment options, but I'll try to keep my first post from being too long.

I have tried and failed several different drug therapies for the UC and I feel like I'm at a crossroads and have no idea where to go from here.
The GI doc's latest recommendation is for me to take Imuran, but I'm not sure that I should take such a risky immunosuppressant considering that I am already on Enbrel, a medicine that alters my immune system and has long-term risks. I feel like there has to be other options with fewer risks before resorting to Imuran. When I mention this to my GI doc, she always says she feels the benefits outweigh the risks, but I'm not so sure I agree. It may get my UC under control now, but is it worth the potential side effects?

At this point my arthritis is under control with Enbrel and my UC is getting more difficult to deal with without meds. I need to do something, but I don't know that Imuran is the answer for me. Remicade could work for both conditions but my rheumatologist does not want me off of Enbrel and I can't be on both at once.

This is the list of meds I have tried and failed so far:
Humira- did nothing for colitis and made arthritis unbearable
Lialda- 4 pills a day caused severe abdominal pains and worse UC symptoms; stopped med after 2 days
Apriso- doc prescribed 1 pill a day for a week, increasing 1 pill a day each week until up to 4/day; made it through the first week with same
reaction as Lialda and stopped med
Methotrexate- prescribed for my arthritis but colitis flared bad the day after I started; stopped med after 3 weeks
Prednisone- had bad side effects at 10mg/day for arthritis so refused to take 40mg/day GI doctor prescribed
Hydrocortisone enema- seemed to help a little after 1 week of 1 enema each night but started similar side effects as Prednisone and stopped

I have a prescription for Imuran waiting for me at Walgreens right now, but I just can't bring myself to pick it up. I just really don't feel comfortable about this med for some reason.

Thanks for listening and I would appreciate any advice I can get.

If you have read any previous posts you will see that many of us have found help through diet modification.
Some have been very happy with Imuran, Azathioprine, 6mp, Humira, Remicade and others have not.
Some people are happy they had surgery.

I was on 6mp a form of Imuran (mercaptopurine) and it did nothing for me. Others take it succesfully.

I'm surprised that you were on Humira before Imuran but I'm not an expert. My doc said that that would be the next step AFTER 6mp.
I did not want to take that next step so I got super-serious about diet and first started gluten-free with great success UC-wise. The I added the Specific Carbohydrate Diet but modified to remove foods I knew didn't agree with me. 4 months later I am in the first remission in 10 years and almost 100% symptom free. A miracle to me.

Many UC people have had success with SCD but it isn't advertised anywhere because no one is making money recommending it. Most doctors don't think diet helps UC but it has changed my life for the better.

Don't be afraid of Imuran but also think about doing what you can to see if diet mod. can relieve your symptoms. SCD is a very healthy , not a fad diet. Low-carb, high protein and veggie. Google it.

Best wishes.

Thanks so much for replying so quick!

I think I need to clarify the whole biologic dilemma. I have been on Enbrel which is very similar to Humira for about 9 years and it is a miracle drug for my arthritis. I got off of it twice to try Humira because it is supposed to be very effective for both diseases. Unfortunately it didn't work for my colitis so I returned to Enbrel both times. My rheumatologist does not want me to get off of Enbrel again because each time I stop and start the med, the less likely it is to continue to be effective. If I were to stop taking it now to try Remicade and it too fails, I may not be able to find a med that works as well in preventing permanent debilitating joint damage.

fruitgirl, thanks for the advice about probiotics. I have actually been wanting to start taking them, but I need to do more research about what to buy and where to buy it. Any suggestions?

imagardener, I'm so glad diet modification has worked so well for you. I've read posts on here about the scd and I've also read about other diets that help autoimmune diseases in several books. Again, I am trying to research my options and figure out which one would work best for me. If you know of a good website I can look at for more info, please let me know. As for taking Humira before Imuran, I am already on a very similar drug to Humira for arthritis and they were just trying to replace it with a biologic that would also treat colitis. My biggest concern is taking a biologic AND Imuran.

Thanks to all of you for your advice and best wishes. It's nice to be in touch with people who REALLY understand what it is like to have colitis.