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can you go on remicade without being on imuran first (or ever)?

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Ulcerative Colitis
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Posted 10/10/2012 2:13 AM (GMT 0)
Had an appointment today and was given Mezavant to add into my treatment regimen. I use cortifoam in the mornings and enemas nightly. Have been doing so since July 25th. I'm still not in remission and my specialist gave me an oral 5asa for proctitis. My first GI whom I was diagnosed by (June 14th) is a big drug pusher and wanted me to start Imuran sooner or remicade when I wasn't 100% on the prednisone. Now, I want to go back to him and start those drugs.. I'm so tired of being sick and I need my life back. The specialist today said if I don't get better with the addition of Mezavant in one month, he will do a colonoscopy and see the colon himself. So, that would make it 2 colonoscopies and 1 sigmoidoscope in a matter of 6 months. I'd rather take up smoking and see if that will help rather than let these doctors do all these tests on me. I'm seriously so disappointed. I had so much faith in my current specialist but I guess a doctor's only as good as the success rate as the drugs he gives, so maybe I need to find a new doctor again! The stress definitely doesn't help, I'm going to my family doctor tomorrow and am going to beg for ativan and just escape reality for a while...

The reason my title is what it is, I want to start remicade like I said before. I'm sort of terrified of Imuran but not remicade, ha.
Posted 10/10/2012 2:41 AM (GMT 0)
Definitely you can- Imuran takes 4-6 months to start kicking in therapeutically (though side effects can begin immediately) - by contrast, Remicade can benefit some immediately, and most within weeks. So that can be reason a,one to jump straight to biologics. (I am not a terrific example- failed both typesof drugs and am planning to have surgery in the next few months).
Posted 10/10/2012 2:44 AM (GMT 0)
that was my thinking. I already withdrew from this semester of school and I can't miss January's. I figured remicade would give me faster relief.
Posted 10/10/2012 2:47 AM (GMT 0)
I don't think you can judge a doctor on whether the medication works, many people don't respond to anything and that's not the fault of the doctor... It would be nice if there were more medical options but right now, it's pretty limited.

You can jump right to Remicade and it's a great option if you're suffering badly with symptoms because it works very quickly for some people. I have also seen people who it take 3 or 4 infusions to get the benefit so don't get discouraged if you don't respond instantly. Many people take Imuran with remicade to decrease the chances of your body to building up antibodies to remicade which would render it ineffective. My GI said I would likely stay on 6mp even if I took remicade but I've had such trouble with my WBC, it may not be an option for me. Luckily for me, I've done well on 6mp and I haven't had to consider remicade in a long time. The reason I chose 6mp over remicade is because 6mp has more long-term success. I've seen memebers here who have been on 6m for 10+ years whereas, I haven't seen that type of success with remicade. It seems it works for a few years, then stops working, then you go to Humira, then alternatives or surgery. This is just my opinion from what i've seen...
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