Hello Wegetarian,
As far as meds are concerned, your docs (hopefully a Vasculitis specialist) will determine your treatment regimen. I was also told I had "mild" wegs. My initial treatment was 150 mg/day of cyclophosphamide (ctx), 60 mg/day of prednisone, and a daily bactrim. For the first year on ctx, I had no side effects from it at all. (My wife attributes this to my "cast iron" stomach.). After about 16 months on ctx, I had my first UTI. I had a cystoscopy to rule out other problems (bladder cancer, hemorrhagic cystitis, etc.) and it was negative. After this, I decided to find a wegs specialist. She changed my immunosuppressant to 15 mg/week of methotrexate and began weaning me off prednisone (and I've been off it for almost five months).
My wegs specialist told me that their standard protocol (at Cleveland Clinic) is 2-4 months of either ctx or rituximab to knock down the disease coupled with steroids and bactrim. Once the disease is under control, they go to a milder immunosuppressant, begin tapering off the steroids, and reduce the bactrim
While most drugs do have possible side effects, you may or may not have them.
Good luck and better health!
Pete
dx 1/11
"Every day is a good day. Some are better than others." - unknown
"Take your meds as directed and live your life as fully as you can." - Michael Chacey, MD
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