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IBD nurse is running out of options

I spoke to my IBD nurse yesterday again as still been struggling a lot with pain, and he has told me that he's now run out of options if the Azathioprine doesn't kick in (I haven't been on it for more than 10 weeks yet) and it's more than likely I'll need biologics to treat my Crohns which is a bit worrying. I've also been told that if the pain still continues before my appointment with a consultant, then unfortunately I'll have to come back into hospital which obviously isn't something I want to do, but obviously being in pain every day is unpleasant as well.
 
Hi! Sorry you've not had a reply yet, I've just logged on and seen your post.

Have you had any systemic steroids (I mean prednisolone, rather than budesonide)? From what I understand, Azathioprine is not usually used to achieve remission, rather it is used to maintain remission once your condition is improving, which is why it is usually prescribed alongside a course of steroid therapy - the steroids intensively reduce the main inflammation and are tapered off while the azathioprine is building up to a therapeutic level in your system (about 3 months). This is what was done with me and I gather many others on this forum.

If you haven't had some sort of systemic steroid treatment yet I would suggest this as a possible course of action first, rather than writing off the Aza.

Other, more experienced forummers may be able to correct me if I'm wrong, but I really think that the Aza is more of a maintenance drug rather than a remission-inducing drug.

Best wishes,
Nitty:hug:
 
I totally agree, I have been on aza for 10 weeks or so and had a flare over Xmas. Doc put me on pred, first time I have had steroids and it kicked it into touch in two or three days!
Don't give up on the aza just yet!
 
Hi thank you for your response :) i was put on prednisolone before the budesonide, but was still unwell with it which was surprising as I've used it before and it's worked miracles so this was when it was changed to budesonide and azathioprine. Still holding out hope that the azathioprine will work, I have my appointment with a consultant in middle of February so will see what he recommends.
 
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