Remicade for mild/moderate Crohn's?

My shiny new doc wants to put me on Remicade. I'd always understood it to be a last-line treatment, for those who didn't respond to other drugs.

I have responded well to azathioprine for 10+ years.

But there's the cancer risk associated with prolonged azathioprine use, so I'm a-ok with not taking it any longer. But my case is rather mild/moderate - I never have to blow off a social engagement or work because of my Crohn's, though I do use the bathroom a lot.

Doc tells me that it's important to stop the disease before the inflammation leads to scar tissue and a blockage (as it did for me in 1995, when I had a resection), so I see his point about me starting on it even though I don't have it badly right now.

Have others out there taken Remicade for mild/moderate Crohn's? What was your experience?

Do has azathioprine stopped working for you or do you just want to get off it?

If It has stopped working then Remicade could be a good next step for you.
If it is still working then I would really encourage you to stay on it. There is an associated cancer risk but it is also the with Remicade. Remicade works for a lot of people but there is those it doesn't work for and I would hate for you to go off azathioprine and it not work for you, then have to restart it and wait for it to build up in your system again.

It's the doc's idea to get me off the azathioprine and onto the Remicade. It's a new theory of treatment, apparently: get the disease into remission quickly, then keep it there.

If you are not in remission or otherwise having symptoms it makes sense. Controlling the inflammation is key, even small amounts of simmering inflammation could lead to worse symptoms down the line.