Right , now i got your attention. This is actually about the *Classic Crohns Drugs* that Ben regularly takes, and I help with.
Stay with me here- to find out why Ben is high risk for covid and how I feel about injecting him every fortnight.
Living with Crohns can literally turn you into an unqualified nurse when it comes to medication and helping with pain relief at home.
In terms of medication theres fortnightly injections to keep Crohns quiet and in remission.
There is also stool thickening tablets loperamide these help because Bens bowel is so short and he has not got a colon so doesn’t have time to absorb water and nutrients the body needs to survive so the loperamide slows down the process and helps the body function as it should.
Theres also the omeprazole which helps stomach acid and indigestion stay calm.
This blog isn’t really about those things though, they are just regular tablets Ben takes to help his body function properly.
Every Fortnight Ben has to take his biologic medication.
For those that are not aware biologics are a form of medication
Biologic medicines are produced by biological rather than chemical processes. Living organisms, such as living cells, produce the active substance which is made of proteins.
Gut inflammation in Crohn’s and Colitis is caused by over-activity of the immune system. Biologic medicines act to block some parts of this, reduce the inflammation and so improve symptoms.
They do this by: Blocking the activity of cytokines (TNF-alpha or interleukins). Cytokines are specific proteins usually produced as a response to infection or injury. In Crohn’s and Colitis overproduction of these proteins is thought to be partly responsible for the inflammation in the gut.
or
Blocking white cells moving into the gut – Gut-selective integrin blocker. White blood cells are made by the immune system to fight infection, but in Crohn’s and Colitis, overproduction of these cells leads to gut inflammation. (https://www.crohnsandcolitis.org.uk/about-crohns-and-colitis/publications/biologic-medicines)
Image: Screenshot from Crohns and Colitis Website. Biologic medication.
This is what Bens drug - Vendolizumab (vendo) does.
Vedo is a treatment option only when infliximab or adalimumab (anti-TNF drugs) haven’t been effective.
In summery, biologic medications suppress the immune system to stop it from attacking itself, this weakens the immune system so other infections/ viruses such as colds are more risk because the body can not fight them. This is why many Crohns patients (Ben included) are very high risk for covid.
Every two weeks I inject Ben with his Vendo. It gets delivered and stored in the fridge, every 2 weeks (on a Friday) we take it out let it warm slightly and sanitise injection site, hands etc. then 'in' it goes.
There is an option to do this himself, however on a previous drug humira he flintched far too much and messed a few up.
So far i have only messed one up. When we discussed medications and turned some down we were left with this option and Ben had it arranged for us both to be trained so i can inject him.
Honestly, this was huge. The concept that as a girlfriend I have to administer a very expensive medication (thank you NHS) into Ben is extremely overwhelming.
I put up a good front to be fair, but inside I was terrified. I didn’t want to be inflicting pain or messing it up. As we plan to live together it was important to know the ins and outs of this medication including how to administer. Im not a nurse so of course this is going to be overwhelming.
Now I have injected it a few times, I'm confident. It's not that bad. Bens just got to beware that every two weeks I get the power to inject him so he has to be nice to me 😂.
For real though, sometimes I feel like an "under-qualified" nurse-
I help with injections, I force vitamins on him, I constantly nag about loperamide and omeprazole.
On the bad days it's hot baths and constant hot water bottle runs.
In hospital I usually helping wash, change his clothes, helping sort ”shit bags”, changing the bed, the lot.
Honestly if everything fails- I will have to go into being a top nurse 😂
Living with and illness and dealing with injections is incredibly overwhelming but actual qualified nurses are all here to help you manage and learn how deal with it all. Once you're educatated and know what you're doing and know why you're doing it and know what the medication does. It really does get easier. Its not that bad. It feels like it's a bigger responsibility than it is but at the end of the day I'm just helping, I'm not living through it. So ultimately it is a small sacrifice.