My Crohn's Treatments

Like myself, many people with Crohn's Disease do not respond to the initial treatments available. In other countries it may be different, but within the UK NHS there are certain guidelines that should be followed. You can access the full NICE guidelines for free here. For instance, to be considered for Infliximab, which is very expensive, the patient must first have tried all other suitable options and be unsuitable for surgery (i.e. young).

Age plays a very important role; in younger patients the preference is to avoid surgery as much as possible. Removing the affected part of the bowel does not necessarily prevent the inflammation occurring in an alternative area of the digestive tract. Patients may also require more than one operation, therefore in younger patients there is a danger of eventually developing Short Bowel Syndrome, where the surface area of the small intestine is not large enough to allow for sufficient absorption of nutrients.

Everyone responds to different treatments differently. My brother, aged 35, developed what was believed to be Crohn's in his early twenties (it is still unclear if he has Ulcerative Colitis or Crohn's Disease, but it affected his large intestine). He was hospitalised after two weeks of severe diarrhoea, placed on prednisolone, made a recovery fairly quickly and has been on Pentasa ever since without another flare up. He weighs more than twice as much as me and I watch him devour the equivalent of my daily calorie intake in just one meal, whilst guzzling on a beer! I often wonder how we could possibly have the same condition. In contrast, it took a couple of years for me to get a correct diagnosis and a further year hoping that every new treatment would be the miracle I so badly wanted it to be. I should point out that after ten years they recently lowered my brothers Pentasa dosage, and he's been having some minor issues since.

In the space of one year I tried a multitude of treatments including an anti-inflammatory, an immune-suppressant, a liquid diet and three rounds of steroids, Finally, in March 2013 I started Infliximab together with Azathioprine. I will be taken off the Infliximab within months and I am very worried that it may return, but this time I know for sure there is something that works to relieve it. That said, I don't relish the thought of endless visits to the hospital!

The following table outlining the treatments I tried is intended for information purposes. You should always follow the advice of your doctor. Feel free to ask the doctor to explain the reasons behind his or her decisions, but follow them nonetheless!