Managing Crohn's Disease: Understanding Immune System Suppressors

Reducing inflammation associated with Crohn's disease is critical to managing the pain of the disease. Immune system suppressors are effective in treating Crohn's disease by targeting the immune system's response to the bacteria. The invading bacteria damages the digestive tract, resulting in inflammation.

Instructions

Attack Inflammation with Immune System Suppressors

• 1

  Consider the use of azathioprine (Imuran) and mercaptopurine (Purinethol) as immune system suppressors used to treat Crohn's disease. The effectiveness may not be realized for as long as 3 months, but these medications are particularly helpful in healing fistulas.

• 2

  Expect infliximab (Remicade) to be considered a possibility for treating Crohn's disease when other drugs fail. It neutralizes the TNF (tumor necrosis factor) produced by the immune system before it can cause intestinal tract inflammation.

• 3

  Plan for your doctor to consider adalimumab (Humira) to treat Crohn's disease when infliximab and other treatments have not been effective as immune system suppressors. This bi-weekly injection is used to reduce the symptoms of Crohn's and possibly cause remission of the disease.

• 4

  Research the possibility of methotrexate (Rheumatrex) as an immune system suppressor to treat of difficult cases of Crohn's disease. Methotrexate is commonly used in the treatment of cancer. The effectiveness is not apparent until about 10 weeks into treatment.

• 5

  Investigate the use of cyclosporine (Neoral or Sandimmune) if other medications have been ineffective in treating Crohn's disease. Cyclosporine is a fast-working medication, but the potential for serious side effects is much higher than with other immune system suppressors.