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Posted 5/25/2010 6:30 PM (GMT 0)
I'm really sorry to keep coming back with questions about this...I'm just not sure what to do. My GI is taking me off Remicade and trying to get my on 6MP as fast as possible. I started 6MP last week and the nausea gradually got worse each day. Now I am the point where I am throwing up anything I eat. I am concerned that the medicines I take may not be getting completely absorbed before I throw it up. Zofran is not helping as much as it usually does so maybe I need a higher dose or should switch to the sublingual tabs. I cant wait for the nausea to subside some.  I am taking 75 mg and when I started I weighed right around 100 pounds. Because of all the vomiting I now weigh 94. So it seems like a pretty high dose for my size. I am just starting to worry that it isn't doing me any good to take this dose if I can't seem to keep it down and in my system.

Any help/thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Posted 5/25/2010 7:25 PM (GMT 0)
JAS have you spoken to your doctor about this? Some folks just have problems with these meds and just can't continue on them. Have you tried taking it at bedtime instead? Thats what I did and the nausea was greatly relieved. Hugs!
Posted 5/25/2010 7:58 PM (GMT 0)
hi jas, im so sorry you are going through this!
i would mention this to your doctor as you can't really afford to lose any more weight through the Crohn's or the vommiting! I'm on azathioprine, not 6-mp but i think they r similar. With aza the dose is 2mg/kg/day and so if it is the same with 6mp, then it shouldn't be anything to worry about :)
when i was started on the aza, i was just coming out of a flare and so my GI started me on a dose os 25mg and then i slowly worked my way up. This way is supposed to minimise any side effects and so although i did suffer from nausea, it was mainly only when i increased my dosage. Are you flaring at the moment?! it may be a good idea to see your Dr and talk about reducing the dose and then working your way up to that. dont do anything without talking to your Dr first!! i agree with nanners too, maybe try taking them at night and then hopefully you'll sleep through any nausea and make sure you take the tablets with food as this should decrease any side-effects! :)
I hope this goes away soon for you! good look! Let us know how you get on!
Posted 5/25/2010 8:24 PM (GMT 0)
I just spoke with my doctor and she is going to let me try taking them at bedtime. I had not tried that before because it specifically says on my RX to take them in the morning. She also is calling in the sublingual dissolving tablets of Zofran for me so hopefully this will help since I would start throwing up as soon as I sallowed the pill type.

I am not flaring right now. I was diagnosed last february(09) and then spent most of march, april, and may of 2009 in the hospital. I am allergic to mesalamines and tried 6MP last year but stopped a few days last year since they said it wouldn't work fast enough. Given how fast I got sick they decided at the time Remicade was right for me. I love that drug...within weeks I was off steroids and could eat whatever I wanted. However, over the last few months I have developed a rash (possibly a light rebound reaction of psoriasis from the Remicade) so they agreed to give me one more infusion last week to buy me time to get the 6MP in me. She doesn't want to lower my dose because she thinks I need to get as much as I can in me before the Remicade wears off. Im just worried that if I continue to lose weight and then the Remicade wears off and 6MP isnt enough....Im really going to be in trouble. When I flared last year, at my lowest I weighed 78 pounds (Im 5'5''). It took me nearly a year to completely recover from how weak I was so hopefully these suggestions will help me out and keep me healthy. Thanks to all of you for your help!
Posted 5/25/2010 9:54 PM (GMT 0)
I had to stop both 6mp and aza because, after a couple weeks on them, I was so nauseous and started vomiting non-stop... I just can't tolerate the meds. Hopefully taking it at night will help and maybe the antinausea will be able to help too. Good luck!
Posted 5/25/2010 10:18 PM (GMT 0)
Jas, 6mp can effect the pancreas in some people. Vomiting and midline pain can be one of the symptoms.
Make sure you stay on top of this, and tell your doctor on a regular basis, if you don't improve.
I don't want to alarm you, just giving you the heads up. Good luck.
Posted 5/26/2010 12:40 AM (GMT 0)
100lb and a starting dose of 75mg of 6MP? Honestly, it's no surprise to me that you're as sick as a dog, unfortunately. And "getting as much inside you as quickly as possible" is a flawed concept for a drug that takes a minimum of 2-3 months to kick in, no matter what dose you're on.

I'm around 90lb (88 now..) and twice in the last year I've started 6MP from scratch. Both times I was put onto a starting dose of 25mg to go up to 50mg as tolerated. The last time my GI refused to even let me go above 50mg. But this time she is letting me, I suspect because basically there isn't much left to try and I have bad Crohn's.

The first time I took 6MP I was really sick to begin with, even on the 25mg dose and taking it at night. But I did get used to it. Then I became sick all over again on the 50mg dose, and got used to that. The thing is, if I'd started with 75mg off the bat and in the morning to boot, I'd have been so thoroughly sick I'm sure I would have stopped taking it. But - and this is the relevant bit - increasing the dose incrementally didn't stop the 6MP from kicking in any sooner. I started noticing a change after about 2 months of starting to take it. After 3 months had passed, I felt nearly in remission. Alas, always the unlucky one, the medication began to fail for me after that point. But it did work for a while, or at least appear to.

It may perhaps be that you really can't tolerate 6MP at all. But I think it's more likely that the dose is too high.
Posted 5/26/2010 2:36 AM (GMT 0)
I was around 85 lbs post-op and started on 6 MP, 50 mg/day. I think 75 sounds a bit high, unless they saw that it wasn't working at that dose and moved you up, but 50 mg/day is really the typical starting dose, especially for someone so small. Also, do you take it in the morning or at night? I've always taken my 6mp a couple of hours before bed because I heard that if there will be any side effects, you sleep them off. I haven't noticed any, anyways.
Posted 5/26/2010 4:17 AM (GMT 0)
So far tonight I'm doing ok. They doubled my zofran dose and gave me the sublingual dissolving tabs. I haven't thrown up this evening yet so hopefully im making progress. Starting tomorrow I can take the 6MP dose at night too. I just need to be careful because I normally take a stronger dose pain med at the same time and I don't want to give my body any reason to upset my stomach. I know it sounds crazy but I bought some of those really old Popsicles (pop ice) that are really just sugar flavored water you put in the freezer to ice. For whatever reason they have helped so much with the nausea. who would have thought!
Posted 5/26/2010 5:31 PM (GMT 0)

Sugar can help with nausea, those popsicles are a perfect mix.

Peppermint can help some too.

Posted 5/26/2010 8:27 PM (GMT 0)
Thank you guys for all the help and encouragement. Yesterday, they added a medicine to my night time med routine and for some reason it made me SO dopey, which is why my post last night sounded super ridiculous. But really...those Pop Ice popsicles did help :).

I contact my doctor or her assistant pretty regularly with any issues I have and for right now I get lab work done weekly. I am hoping its a side effect and not something serious like the pancreatitis that was suggested. I feel a little less worried since I have been able to keep some food in me now. If I couldn't keep anything down or was throwing up bile...thats when I usually decide it's serious and time to go to the hospital. Now, I'm just waiting to hear if my GI will let me start on a lower dose or what her reasoning is for the 75 mg dose.

Posted 5/29/2010 12:49 AM (GMT 0)
I'm about 135lbs and I was taking 125mg at one point a number of years ago.
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