Lower Abdominal Pain on AP – Lower Mino Dosage ?

[Mary M]

Hi Everyone,

Mitchell,my son, has been experiencing lower abdominal pain for a few days now. He has Crohn's disease for close to 5 years. He has been on AP since May 2007.  He takes 50mg of minocycline two times a day with meals.  He is also taking a probiotic.   We have been thinking of reducing his dosage for minocycline to see if it would stop the lower abdominal pain. We have contacted Dr. S in Iowa but he is out until Monday.  Any suggestions would be helpful.  Thank you.

 

Mary  

[Ellen RA-AP]

Is your son constipated or does he have gas pains?  I wonder also if he might have a small yeast issue..I do get cramping and constipation due to yeast.   Was he advised to take minocycline with food due to the Crohns?  Does he take probiotics?

I always associate what goes wrong with me first with my RA, but I try to keep in mind that other things can go wrong and you don't want to miss something that might be separate.  Are there other symptoms in addition to pain?

[Mary M]

Hi Ellen,

Mitchell is not constipated.  He has pain in his lower intestine.  He takes a probiotic in the morning.  He switched to taking minocycline with his meals in November 2007 because he had stomach upset when taken outside meals.  His pain is increasing so he has been unable to attend school and missing quite afew days.  Have you ever reduced your medication and it helped?

Mary M

[Ellen RA-AP]

I suppose it depends on what is causing the pain, and with Crohn's I would worry about inflammation in his digestive tract.  Could something in his diet be irritating him?  I know he has to be very careful about what he eats to  begin with.  I have played with my doses in the past, and sometimes I do skip a dose if my stomach is bothering me, but with your son, I think only a doctor check could provide you with the answer.  I think most of us lower our doses to control die off and increased joint pain.  Is there fever or a change in stool? blood?

[Mary M]

Ellen,

There isn't a change in stool or blood.  He could be eating something that is irritating his digestion right now.  Most of the pediatric GI doctors here in Wisconsin only believe in giving immune suppressing medication.  He has been on 6-MP and Imuran and became even more ill while on these medications.  The next medication they have wanted Mitchell to receive is Remicade.  Dr. S tried AP and it helped him. Dr. S is out until Monday.  I guess I need to locate some regular doctor to help us here. 

Mary M  

[Ellen RA-AP]

My cousin has Crohns and she got it before all of these meds came available.  Initially she only ate white rice and really bland foods.  What if you tapered his diet down to really easy to digest foods, there must be a website that would post a Crohn's diet while you are waiting for your doctor.  I happen to believe that you are on the right path with Mitchell with AP but I also think diet would help a lot.  If you are truly concerned with Minocin, I can't imagine it would hurt to stop or taper down even more for a few days and it would answer your question as to whether or not the minocin is the cause of the pain.  How old is Mitchell?

Also, on another note, I lived in Neenah for 3 years and I loved it there!!

[richie]

Hi

Couldnt it be the Crohns acting up ????–I would think reducing the dose for a few days until you call DR S cant hurt

Richie

[Mary M]

Hi Ellen,

I am going to try a bland diet today for Mitchell. He is 13 years old.  I am also going to reduce his minocycline dosage.  Neenah is about 10 miles from where I live.  I'm glad to hear you liked it in Neenah.  I have a diet book for digestive disorders called, ” Restoring Your Digestive Health”  by Jordan S. Rubin and Dr. Joseph Brasco.  It is helpful as far as the broth recipe and it has helpful hints for controlling a flare.  I hope your cousin is doing well.  Thanks for the suggestions.

 

Mary M  

[Mary M]

Hi Richie,

Mitchell's Crohn's disease is probably acting up.  He usually had lower abdominal pain when he was flaring before.  I am going to cut back the minocycline to 50 mg once daily.   I'm sure Dr. S will give us help on Monday.  Thanks for the advice.

 

Mary M

[Ellen RA-AP]

Wow, 13 is a tough age to be sick.  Hopefully what you are doing will help.  I know there are quite a few people on this site that follow a gluten free diet with great success.  I also added for some time 2tbsp of apple cider vinegar to apple juice, it reduces acidity in your stomach and body.  I have friends who have used it for stomach upset and swear by it, so I decided to try it.  You have to mix it with a liquid, there are recipes for honey and water that I haven't tried, but have heard is good.  If you put it in apple juice it makes the juice taste like cider.  If you google apple cider vinegar you will see lots of information on it as well as recipes.

The people out there in WI are so kind and I made some amazing friends while we were there.  Its so much different than the east coast where we are always racing to get somewhere!  We are a very competitive group.:crying:  When we left I cried all the way from Neenah to Chicago….

[Mary M]

Hi Ellen,

The apple cider vinegar with apple juice sounds like something I can try for Mitchell.  I didn't know it reduced the acid throughout your body.

Thanks,

Mary M

[Ellen RA-AP]

I was just doing a search for a friend on the old board about Crohns and there was a good post that I want to repeat some things said to you in case they are not part of your daily routine and you are interested.

1.Colostrum products

2.Serrapeptase

3.Dr Ohira's 12 plus

 

Recommended were an alkaline diet, lots of probiotics, and 2 websites you have probably seen.  http://www.crohns cureforkids.com, and http://www.crohns.net/Miva/educationaboutcrohns.shtml… the 3 things posted about come from this site.  The probiotics come highly recommended (#3).

 

Hope Mitchell is feeling better!

Ellen

[Mary M]

Hi Ellen,

Thanks for the websites with Crohn's information.  I will have to look into the information on those websites.  Mitchell's pain has subsided and he is back on regular AP again.  I am very happy he didn't go into a long flare.  He has taken Dr. Ohira's probiotic.  That is a very good probiotic.  Since Mitchell tested positive for mycoplasma infection, we decided to take the AP route.  I know other children who have tested positive for MAP and are taking that protocol also.  Mitchell did not test positive for MAP though. How are you feeling?  I hope you are doing well.  Thank you again.

Mary M

[DianeWI]

Hi Mary,

This is one of my greatest hurdles.  I have been on AP for nearly 16 yrs.  I say nearly because I took two years off of I.V.'s and one year off of Minocycline.  In the last two years, one of my greatest hurdles has been the abdominal pain.  I take tons of probiotics.  I'm very careful with what I eat and still, abdominal pain is severe at times.

I get some relief from papaya juice, aloe-vera gel and water.  I mix it in equal parts.  It soothes the digestive tract some.  When nothing else will help, this still does.

 

Diane

[Mary M]

Hi Diane,

Thanks for the information on the papaya juice combination for abdominal pain.  I will try that with Mitchell if he starts having problems again. 

Mary M

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