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Anyone recently start 6mp with these side effects??

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Crohn's Disease
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Posted 8/7/2008 2:35 AM (GMT 0)
Hi,

I recently started taking on 7/23/08 a 6-MP (50 mg Mercaptopurine) for Crohn's.  The first week or so, I didn't seem to have any bad side effects at all, except for some fatigue!!  I was very pleasantly surprised.  But after the first week, I've been experiencing overall body aches in the afternoons (sort of like the flu) and my fatigue has gotten worse.  Also, the past few days I've had dizziness.

My blood work from the 1st week came out normal; and I'm awaiting blood work results from the 2nd week.

Have any of you experienced side effects like this from 6-MP?  I'd appreciate any comments you have.  Thanks!

Posted 8/7/2008 3:00 AM (GMT 0)
YES!

When I first went on 6mp I started off at 100mg a day. The fatigue was awful. I couldn't function, and when I wasn't at work, I was asleep. The fatigue didn't go away after a few months, so I finally got the GI to agree to a lower dosage. I'm now taking 50mg a day and the fatigue has gone away, mostly. The aches and pains were enough to send me to the rheumatologist. They never found arthritis, but with the lower dose, that too has mostly cleared up.

If the fatigue and pain keeps up, I'd suggest talking to your GI. My blood tests have always been mostly normal, so that may not be a very good indication of a problem.

Anyway, I know what you are going through, and I hope you get it sorted out quickly. The fatigue really was terrible. The good news is that the Remicade and 6mp mix has kept my Crohn's mostly under control. I hope the 6mp works well for you.
Posted 8/7/2008 3:09 AM (GMT 0)
if i had these side effects, they were indistinguishable from the symptoms i got with flares/uncontrolled crohns.
Posted 8/7/2008 3:55 AM (GMT 0)
I had debilitating fatigue, to the point that I couldn't function. I'd wake up in the morning, I'd barely make it to work. At work I couldn't do my job. I'd sleep through lunch. I'd get home and instantly fall asleep where ever I flopped down. My wife would wake me for dinner, and I'd fall back asleep until the next morning. Weekend were pretty much a blur of sleep and a few meals, light, then dark, then back at work. The only way I kept going was lots of coffee (bad for Crohn's) and being only 3 miles from work. On top of the post hospital/flare exhaustion, this was terrible. I begged with my GI to change the dose. However, once I was on a lower dosage, things got better.
Posted 8/7/2008 1:16 PM (GMT 0)
When I was taking 6mp it gave me alot of fatigue and made my nauseous. I started taking it at bedtime instead and what a difference that made. I did have alot of hair loss too, but have heard taking extra Folic Acid can help with that.
Posted 8/7/2008 1:38 PM (GMT 0)
i tried this before and it was good for 3 weeks and then had a bad case of nausea/throwing up. So had to get off from that suspecting pancreatis
Posted 8/7/2008 2:19 PM (GMT 0)
I just started MP-6 in May, started out at 50mg, no side effects or anything, doc uped my dose a few weeks later to 100mg, the past two weeks I have been so tired I cant' hardley function, blood test are normal. I was wondering myself if this is from the MP-6 or what. I feel like I'm back at square one without the pains!
Posted 8/7/2008 6:29 PM (GMT 0)
I had none of these symptoms when I was on 6mp and I took it for a few years. The only thing I did have from it was
joint pain. We didn't realize it was from the 6mp until I had come off it for awhile and then went back on it.
So doc won't put me on it again. But it worked wonders for me otherwise.
Posted 8/7/2008 6:54 PM (GMT 0)
I was on 6mp for a month and in the beginning it was fine. Then after the first few weeks, I got terribly ill. Seemed like I was living in the bathroom and my eyes and my face just ached. I would talk to your doctor about your issues.
Posted 8/7/2008 8:28 PM (GMT 0)
Hi,

Since posting my question yesterday, I got much worse and ended up with diarrhea, nausea, a fever up to 101.6, and severe body aches.  I was up all night long.  After speaking with my gastro this morning, he's unclear whether it's the Mercaptopurine OR a bug that I've caught.  (Yesterday's blood work all came out normal.)  So to be safe, he wants me to stay off the 6-MP until I'm feeling back to normal.  Then in about one week, he'd like me to try the 6-MP again.

Thanks to all of you for your input.

Posted 8/7/2008 8:30 PM (GMT 0)
Started taking 75 mgs of 6mp six weeks ago and definetely experienced fatigue and dizziness.  Told my GI about it and he said we should monitor this but still wants me to increase dosing to 100 mgs.  He said 'normal' therapeutic dosing is between 100 and 150 mgs.  Funny but most posting here indicate lower doese.  Should I be worried about going so high?  Will the fatigue become more pronounced??
Posted 8/17/2008 6:31 PM (GMT 0)

Hi,

Just thought I'd update everyone on what happened.  After developing flu symptoms, including a fever, I ended up with lesions on both shins that looked and felt like raised, red, bruises.  I was diagnosed with Erythema Nodosum.  According to my gastro (and per research references) I am one of those extremely RARE ones in which 6-MP actually caused my E. Nodosum and flu symptoms!!!  I have a hypersensitivity to mercaptopurine, even though I tested out fine with the TPMT enzyme.  Doctors learn something new every day.

After stopping the 6-MP on 8/7, my E. Nodosum lesions and flu symptoms have subsided greatly.

Note:  I posted the above info on another thread "Diagnosed with Erythema Nodosum---Questions" for those who want to follow this.

Thanks for your responses to my original posting!!

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