Afraid I have a fistula??

I had the same thing happen to me. At first it feels like a pimple. Then within a couple of days it hurts real bad to sit walk or touch. I saw my gi dr and it turns out that it was a perianal abscess. It hurt too bad to be drained in the drs office. The dr prescribed antibiotics and if it didnt improve in a couple of days then i would have to go in for surgery to drain it. Lucky for me it got better. Two weeks ago i had a colonoscopy to check for fistula. None was found.

Just wanted to say that it sounds as an abscess for me, too. When I had mine 3 years ago, my GI insisted not to have it drained, took large amounts of antibiotic tablets and injections. An MRI claimed it to have cleared, then. However, by the beginning of this year, an MRI showed I have a perianal fistula. So, as a piece of advice, when you see the colorectal surgeon discuss it with him and discuss the possibility of its turning into fistula if it is drained by antibiotics or drained surgically.

If you are having an abscess, you definitely need to be on something stronger. Actually, Imuran is NOT strong at all. It's one of the least-effective Crohn's medications out there, only better than mesalamines (which studies show are no more effective than a placebo). An abscess, which can turn into a fistula, really means you should be on a biologic.

I know you feel scared by it, but honestly, I'd be more scared about what WILL happen if you don't do a strong med as opposed to what MIGHT happen as a side effect of it. Not sure if that makes sense or not. The problem with reading about side effects is that they don't say anything at all about the likelihood that it will happen. It's much more likely Remicade will give you a headache than it would cause cancer. Or they use words like "it triples your risk of cancer" which sounds scary, but if the normal risk of cancer is 2% then tripling only brings you to 6% (I made those numbers up just now just to prove a point).

I understand that Imuran seems strong to you; however, the question is, does it seem strong for Crohn's? And unfortunately the answer to that is no. Side effects are interesting things. I was on Imuran for less than a year and got pancreatitis and was on a feeding tube and hospitalized for months from it. So I switched to Remicade, which I've been on for 4 1/2 years without having a single problem at all, even though Remicade is a "stronger" drug. Remicade is better because it specifically works towards autoimmune diseases, whereas Imuran is given to transplant patients to help them not reject the new organ. So your overall immune system health would actually be a bit better on Remicade than on Imuran. Not sure if that makes sense or not.

I am a bit concerned by what you said about tapering and not seeing blood and mucous. It's actually the opposite - if you are seeing blood and mucous, you need to INCREASE your dose. If you're on prednisone, you should be fairly symptom-free.

And again, it goes back to whether or not you should worry about what MIGHT happen with certain meds vs. what WILL happen if you don't. The SCD is a pretty good diet to be on, from what I understand.

I'm glad the bump is gone. If it comes back, you need to take it seriously!