Getting ready to start Entyvio

When I had my latest colonoscopy in August, it found evidence of acute and chronic disease, mainly in the TI. My new GI (she replaced my old one who left the practice) decided to start me on Entocort (9mg) and Pentasa (4000mg) with the thought of adding 6MP or Imuran going forward. I'm not sure if it was the thought of going on 6MP/Imuran that delayed my follow-up visit, but I held off going back until this week. My GI decided that since I still wasn't feeling better after 5-6 months of Entocort, we'll move straight to Entyvio (Remicade wasn't working when I stopped two years ago). Currently, I'm waiting on insurance approval.

Just looked at my labs and things are worse now than in August before I started medications. My CRP is up a notch, from 14.9mg/L to 15mg/L this week. Most everything else was in normal range but slipping down (e.g., B12, D, magnesium). While I think Pentasa's worthless, I'm kind of surprised that the Entocort hasn't helped with the inflammation. Could this be because the inflammation is somewhere not reached by the Entocort?

Anyway, I'm looking forward to shorter infusions and have been reading up on others' Entyvio experiences, so please keep sharing them!

I think I misstated my questions NCOT. I was wondering if the reason my CRP has stayed the same/gone up slightly after 5-6 months of Entocort is because the Entocort only acts in the small bowel. So maybe it's helping there but I have inflammation elsewhere (from Crohn's or other things). I do wonder if I'm just one of those people who doesn't have much luck on Entocort--I've probably been on it twice in the past and don't remember having much benefit from it (especially compared to something like prednisone).

Regardless, I was happy to see you're documenting your experiences (even if I'm not happy you have to be taking a biologic!).

Well, are you feeling better? If not, then chances are - in combination with the raised CRP - the Crohn's is still active in your terminal ileum. It could have spread, but then I would expect altered or worse symptoms if it had spread significantly.

But the only real way to know is to have tests: colonoscopy for the colon and terminal ileum, MRI scan or pill cam for the small bowel.

I started entyvio in August. I have found it to be slow acting. It took about 3-4 months before I felt like it was working. After my last infusion in January, I really think it's helped. It's definitely nice that it's a shorter infusion.

Be prepared though, they won't mix it up until you are there. At my infusion center, they get me all hooked up with the IV and then go mix it up. So it's 20-30 minutes before they even start. I don't have to hang around afterwards though so I'm usually done in an hour or a little more if they are busy.

Hope you get some relief. I have never had luck with entocort helping me. It gives me the same side effects as prednisone, and doesn't help me as much.