Crohn’s disease medication list: All 6 drug classes + template

A crohn’s disease medication list is a single record of every drug a patient takes for inflammatory bowel disease, grouped by class. It carries the dose, the route, the side effects reported, and the monitoring each class needs. Six classes make up that list: aminosalicylates, corticosteroids, immunomodulators, biologics, JAK inhibitors, and antibiotics.

Treatment steps up rather than following one fixed path. Mild disease usually starts on aminosalicylates. Moderate-to-severe disease moves to biologics or immunosuppressants, and JAK inhibitors give an oral route when injections are unsuitable.

Each class also brings its own monitoring burden, from one blood test a year to labs before every infusion. The template below tracks all of that in one place. The sections after it give the dosing and clinical detail behind each row.

Key takeaways

A Crohn’s disease medication list spans six drug classes: aminosalicylates, corticosteroids, immunomodulators, biologics, JAK inhibitors, and antibiotics.

Treatment is stepped, so mild disease starts on aminosalicylates and moderate-to-severe disease moves to biologics or immunosuppressants.

Each class has its own monitoring schedule, from annual blood work to labs before every biologic dose.

Upadacitinib is the first JAK inhibitor approved for Crohn’s disease, dosed at 45 mg daily for induction.

Bring the list to every gastroenterology appointment and date each update, so the record stays current.

What is a Crohn’s disease medication list?

A Crohn’s disease medication list is a structured record of every drug a patient takes for inflammatory bowel disease. It holds the dose, frequency, route, side effects experienced, and the date of each review, grouped by drug class.

What makes it Crohn’s-specific is the monitoring column. Biologics and immunosuppressants need lab work, infection screening, and cardiovascular checks on a schedule. The list records what is due and when it was last done.

According to the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation, medication goals focus on reducing inflammation and holding remission. Reaching either one takes coordination between the patient, the care team, and the gastroenterologist.

The form serves two readers. A patient or caregiver brings it to appointments so nothing is forgotten. The gastroenterologist uses it to track response, adjust therapy, and spot interactions.

Clinical practice guidelines from the American College of Gastroenterology emphasize shared decision-making, and a written list is what anchors that conversation.

How to fill out the template

The form is built to be completed during a visit. Start with the patient’s name, date of birth, primary gastroenterologist, and emergency contact. Then work through five steps.

1. List current medications by class. Under each section, write the drug name, brand name, dose, frequency, and route. The sections are aminosalicylates, corticosteroids, biologics, JAK inhibitors, antibiotics, and supportive.
2. Record prescriber details. Note who prescribed each drug, their contact number, and the date started. This prevents confusion when several specialists are involved.
3. Document side effects experienced. Capture what the patient has reported, including rashes, bowel changes, infections, and mood shifts. Patterns only become visible once they are written down.
4. Flag monitoring requirements. Each class has its own checks, such as liver function tests for azathioprine or TB screening before a TNF inhibitor. Check them off as they are completed.
5. Update at every gastroenterology appointment. Bring the printout or digital copy, review the changes with the doctor, and date the update.

Dating each update is what keeps the form useful. An undated list tells the next reader nothing about whether it is current. This form records what is prescribed. For a record of what the patient actually took, the medication log template covers that side.

The six drug classes, in escalation order

Crohn’s therapy steps up rather than following one route from diagnosis. The class in use sets how the drug is given and how closely the patient has to be watched. That is the part a medication list has to capture.

Aminosalicylates (5-ASA)

Aminosalicylates are oral anti-inflammatory agents used mainly for mild Crohn’s disease and for holding remission. Common agents include mesalamine (Asacol, Pentasa, Apriso), sulfasalazine, and balsalazide.

• Dosing: Mesalamine 2.4 to 4.8 g daily in divided doses. Sulfasalazine 3 to 4 g daily.
• Route: Oral only
• Mechanism: Reduces intestinal inflammation, by a route that is still not fully understood
• Common side effects: Headache, diarrhea, abdominal pain, rash
• Monitoring: Annual renal function tests and a complete blood count (CBC)

Corticosteroids

Corticosteroids bring a flare under control quickly, but their side-effect burden rules them out for long-term maintenance. Agents include prednisone, methylprednisolone, and budesonide, which is formulated for ileal and ascending colon release.

• Dosing: Prednisone 40 to 60 mg daily, tapered over 8 to 12 weeks. Budesonide 9 mg daily, using an ileal and ascending colon-release formulation.
• Route: Oral, or IV for hospitalized patients
• Mechanism: Suppresses the immune response broadly
• Common side effects: Insomnia, mood changes, weight gain, infection risk, and osteoporosis with prolonged use
• Monitoring: Blood glucose, infection screening, and bone density if used beyond three months

Immunomodulators and immunosuppressants

Immunomodulators are used for moderate disease and for maintenance, often paired with a biologic. They work more slowly than steroids but carry a lighter side-effect burden. Common agents are azathioprine (Imuran), 6-mercaptopurine (6-MP), and methotrexate.

• Azathioprine: 2 to 2.5 mg/kg daily. Requires thiopurine methyltransferase (TPMT) testing before starting, then CBC and liver function every 8 to 12 weeks.
• 6-MP: 1 to 1.5 mg/kg daily, with the same monitoring as azathioprine
• Methotrexate: 15 to 25 mg weekly, oral or intramuscular. Monitor CBC, liver and renal function, and supplement with folic acid.
• Route: Oral or injection
• Common side effects: Nausea, infection, elevated liver enzymes, and bone marrow suppression

Biologics for Crohn’s disease

Biologics target specific immune pathways. They are used for moderate-to-severe disease when aminosalicylates and immunomodulators have failed. Four subclasses are in routine use, and they differ mainly in what they block and how they are given.

Infusion dates, response, and side effects all have to land somewhere. An AI medical scribe writes them into the visit note as the conversation happens, rather than at the end of the day.

TNF-alpha inhibitors

TNF-alpha inhibitors were the first biologic class approved for Crohn’s disease. The agents are infliximab (Remicade), adalimumab (Humira), and certolizumab pegol (Cimzia).

• Dosing: Infliximab 5 mg/kg IV at weeks 0, 2 and 6, then every 8 weeks. Adalimumab 160 mg at week 0, 80 mg at week 2, then 40 mg every 2 weeks from week 4.
• Route: IV infusion or subcutaneous injection
• Mechanism: Binds TNF-alpha, reducing inflammation
• Black-box warnings: Serious infections including TB and fungal disease, malignancy, and demyelinating disease
• Monitoring: TB screening before starting, then CBC and liver function before each infusion. Watch for any sign of infection between doses.

IL-12/23 and IL-23 inhibitors

These newer agents target interleukin pathways. Ustekinumab (Stelara, approved 2016) and risankizumab (Skyrizi, approved 2022) are both options when TNF inhibitors fail or are not tolerated.

• Ustekinumab: Weight-based IV induction, then 90 mg subcutaneously every 8 to 12 weeks
• Risankizumab: 600 mg IV induction, then 180 mg subcutaneously every 8 weeks
• Route: IV or subcutaneous
• Mechanism: Blocks IL-12/23 signaling with Stelara, or IL-23 signaling with Skyrizi
• Side effects: Infection, headache, and upper respiratory infection. Both are generally better tolerated than TNF inhibitors.
• Monitoring: TB screening, CBC, and liver function at baseline, then as clinically indicated

Integrin receptor antagonists

Vedolizumab (Entyvio) is gut-selective. It targets the α4β7 integrin on immune cells in the gut, which keeps its effect largely out of the rest of the body.

• Dosing: 300 mg IV at weeks 0, 2 and 6, then every 8 weeks
• Route: IV infusion only
• Mechanism: Gut-selective, so systemic immunosuppression is lower than with TNF inhibitors
• Side effects: Headache, arthralgia, and pyrexia. Infection risk is lower than with TNF inhibitors.
• Monitoring: Baseline TB, CBC and liver function, then watch for infection even though the risk is lower

JAK inhibitors and small molecule drugs

JAK inhibitors are the newest oral class for Crohn’s disease. Upadacitinib (Rinvoq) was FDA-approved for Crohn’s disease in May 2023, the first JAK inhibitor cleared for the condition. It gives patients an oral alternative to injections and infusions.

• Upadacitinib: 45 mg once daily for 12 weeks of induction. Maintenance is 15 mg once daily, or 30 mg once daily in refractory or severe disease.
• Route: Oral
• Mechanism: Inhibits Janus kinase signaling, which dampens several immune pathways at once
• Black-box warnings (FDA 2021): Serious infections, malignancy, cardiovascular events, and thrombosis. Risk rises at higher doses and in patients who already carry risk factors.
• Common side effects: Headache, diarrhea, nausea, and upper respiratory infection
• Monitoring: TB screening, CBC, liver and lipid panels at baseline and regularly, plus a cardiovascular risk assessment

The oral route matters most for patients who cannot tolerate injectables, or who struggle to get to an infusion center every eight weeks.

Antibiotics for Crohn’s disease

Antibiotics are adjunctive. They treat specific complications such as fistulae, abscesses, and bacterial overgrowth, rather than the underlying disease. Common agents are metronidazole (Flagyl) and ciprofloxacin (Cipro).

• Metronidazole: 500 mg three times daily for 4 to 12 weeks
• Ciprofloxacin: 500 to 750 mg twice daily for 4 to 12 weeks
• Route: Oral
• Indications: Perianal fistulae, abscesses, and bacterial-driven disease
• Side effects: A metallic taste with metronidazole. Photosensitivity and tendon rupture risk with ciprofloxacin, particularly in older patients.

Supportive and symptomatic medications

Symptom relief sits alongside the disease-modifying drugs, and it belongs on the same list. Keeping one complete patient record means the supplements and painkillers sit beside the biologic, not in a separate note.

• Antidiarrheals: Loperamide (Imodium) 2 mg as needed. Avoid in severe disease because of the risk of toxic megacolon.
• Analgesics: Acetaminophen is preferred. NSAIDs are contraindicated because they worsen inflammation.
• Nutritional supplements: Iron, vitamin B12, calcium, and vitamin D, guided by the patient’s own lab results
• Antacids and H2 blockers: Where there is upper GI involvement or medication-induced reflux

Side effects and monitoring at a glance

Every Crohn’s medication carries its own checks, and they exist to catch toxicity early. The template groups them by class in the same order as the table below.

Keeping the list current in your practice

A medication list is only as good as its last update. Four habits keep it accurate between appointments, and all four are things a practice can build into its own routine.

• Review the list at every appointment, noting dose changes, new side effects, and labs completed since the last visit
• Use it to check for interactions and overlapping therapy, particularly where a biologic and an immunomodulator run together
• Share it with everyone treating the patient, including the gastroenterologist, primary care, and rheumatology where relevant
• Give the patient their own copy and ask them to bring it to every medical visit

Medication questions can sit inside the intake forms patients complete before a visit, so each appointment starts with current therapy already on the screen.

What to ask at your gastroenterology appointment

The form works best as a shared decision-making tool. Print it, bring it to the appointment, and go through it with your gastroenterologist. Five questions are worth asking every time.

• Are there any new medications to add, or existing ones to stop?
• What labs do I need before starting or continuing each medication?
• What side effects should I watch for, and when should I call you?
• How often should my medication plan be reviewed?
• Do any of my Crohn’s medications interact with my other treatments?

Working from the same document improves adherence and catches problems earlier. It also saves appointment time that would otherwise go on reconstructing the history.

Keeping medication records private

A medication list is protected health information, so it needs the same handling as the rest of the chart. Compliance management software encrypts the record, logs every view, and limits access to the clinicians who need it.

A printed copy needs a locked cabinet and a private room for updates. Paper is easier to lose than a record, and far harder to audit afterwards.

How Pabau keeps medication records current between visits

Most practices hold medication information in more than one place. Some of it sits in the clinical note, some in a scanned letter from the gastroenterologist, and some on a printout the patient carries.

Practice management software like Pabau keeps the medication list inside the patient record itself. The intake form a patient completes before the visit writes into that same record. The clinician then opens the appointment with current therapy already on screen.

Monitoring is where that pays off. Lab reminders, recall dates, and follow-up tasks all run off the record. An overdue CBC or TB screen surfaces before the next dose is due.

The outcome is a single current list that everyone treating the patient can see. No second spreadsheet, and no chasing a printout the morning of the appointment.

Keep every medication list current and shared

Pabau keeps the medication list inside the patient record and updates it from the patient’s own intake form. Your team gets a reminder when monitoring labs fall due.

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Conclusion

Crohn’s therapy changes often, and it changes across specialties. A patient can leave gastroenterology on a new biologic, see their primary care physician a week later, and be the only person carrying that information.

So decide where the list lives, and treat that copy as the only one. A printout and a chart entry that both get edited will disagree within a month.

Then date every update. An undated list gives the next clinician no way to tell current from stale. Book a demo to see how Pabau keeps a patient’s medication record current between gastroenterology visits.

Continue your research

Need a record of the doses actually taken? Medication log template gives patients a daily line to fill in between appointments.

Building a dosing timetable with a patient? Medication schedule template sets out what is taken when, across the day and the week.

Studying or teaching a single drug? Drug card template covers mechanism, dosing, contraindications and nursing considerations on one page.

Need to document a reaction to a biologic? Adverse reaction form captures the drug, the reaction, and the action taken.

Assessing the symptoms behind the prescription? Gastrointestinal assessment walks through the history and examination that inform treatment decisions.

Frequently asked questions