It’s a medical post today [crohn’s disease]

If you’re not into my medical posts then that’s cool, come back tomorrow where I will return to normal programming! 🙂  But today I am sharing a couple of things on where I am up to with my crohn’s. It’s a good record for me so I can remember down the track and for those who are in a similar situation….

Before Christmas I started on a drug called 6-MP (Mercaptopurine). It’s an immunosuppressant drug. It’s similar to all other immunosuppressant drugs for crohn’s: imuran, humira, infliximab…. I’ve had no succes with any of them. I hadn’t tried 6-MP previously (apparently a lot of crohn’s patients try this early on in their disease) and after a failed drug trial back in August, I had to keep trying. I am nearing the end of available PSB drugs, so I am not thinking too far ahead and just taking it all as it comes.

Anyway, I started on the 6-MP and wasn’t having any positive results (surprise, surprise) and was a little nauseous from it. I needed to ditch it.

But the Doctor’s did some blood tests and discovered I was a ” shunter”. I am not entirely sure what this means still (even after researching it), but something to do with not tolerating it and showing some abnormal levels in my blood when taking an immunosuppressant drug. Awesome. Of course this would happen to me. Soooooo if I’d had this test 16 years ago maybe we could have not wasted all those years not getting results with immunosuppressants???… However, when I did question this the doctor said yes, but this test has only been available for the last 12 months. Bummer!

After this discovery I was offered a trial drug called allopurinol which is having some good results with switching this ‘ shunting’ thingy around. Unlike the last trial drug where I could be receiving the placebo, I am 100% receiving this drug. So what I have to do is take the 6-MP as well as the trial drug. I am having blood tests every fortnight and visiting the hospital monthly. It’s a 24 week trial.

It’s only early days so I have no idea how it’s going yet. I’m not great (as in, my crohn’s is still really active), but I’m managing.

I reckon I’ve had just about every symptom, every ailment, every drug possible. I’m an expert on the subject now! Just ask me…

Oh, and my Mummy has shingles at the moment. Far out! She is the 3rd person I have known to have shingles in the last few months. No fun!