A week on Azathioprine...

It has been just over a week since I started my new medication Azathioprine and honestly I'm not sure if I can see any difference. This medication can take 8-16 weeks to start working so I will have to give it time but its so frustrating! I have noticed that some of my hair is falling out more than usual, this might just be something random but I'm going to keep an eye on it as it is one of the rarer side effects of the drug. Luckily the information I was given says that this could be reversible. 
Today I had my first of the weekly blood tests, these have just become routine now but sometimes I am still shocked by how much they take, it seems like such a lot! The reason for the weekly tests is to check my liver and kidney functions and also my general blood count. This will show if there are any problems and also if the medication is working. There was no one in the Pathology department at the Lister Hospital so we walked right in and a nurse came and took us straight into a room where it was over really quickly (I even had a pink chair!) The nurse let mum take a couple of pictures which I thought might help someone who was scared about getting a blood test. The main problem for me was that I couldn't picture what to expect, so this is what I look like getting my blood taken! 

Not very attractive at 8am with a needle in my arm! 

A month on Meds

On Saturday it will have been a month since I came out of hospital where I was diagnosed with Crohns and things are definitely much better! I'm having more good days than bad and some days when I forget i'm even ill at all. I've been able to go and visit Coventry which I didn't think I would manage for awhile but its also shown me that I do need to take it easy and i'm not as strong as I was before. I get tired quickly and my legs ache but I hope that when I come back to University in January I will be able to cope. Since coming out of hospital I've been on some medication which I think has been working for me. These are Entocort which I take 3 capsules but will only be 2 next month, 1 capsule of Omeprazole and 2 Adcal tablets (my new prescription is for tutti-fruiti flavour!)  All the tablets are fine but its taken some time to get used to not being able to eat an hour after I've taken them! It means getting up an hour before I want to eat breakfast! 

Hopefully i'm going back to see the gastroenterologist in a couple of weeks and then I have an MRI scan on Friday and that will be it until the new year which is exciting. I can see in myself the progress I've made, not just with how much better I feel but how well I can cope with things. I was terrified of needles and couldn't get a blood test but now the thought doesn't scare me, I might even look into giving blood! Things are definitely looking up!