Has anyone on 6MP NOT experienced hair-loss/thinning?

Hi everyone, I hope you are all welll and happy and looking forward to Christmas!   Ok, so here’s the thing.   I’m on remicade; and have been since October of 2009. I have had a really good response to the drug, which I was granted access to because I have severe fistulising Crohn’s and because my condition wasn’t responding to other treatments. Also, I had an abscess which was not healing. Within a day of my first infusion, my abscess wound from surgery began to rapidly heal…   One year on, and remicade is still brilliant.   However, I was put onto 6MP as well as remicade, and I had heard such horror stories of hair loss from just about everyone who seemed to be on it (not to mention the risk of lymphoma and lack of long-term outcome studies for this drug), that I was too scared to take it. I know it sounds extremely vain and stupid, but with a year of hobbling along suffering from an abscess, I don’t know if I could handle any other humiliating side-effect such as hair loss. The one thing that really keeps me going through all of the extremely hard times is the fact that outwardly I appear fine, I have managed to maintain my full-time job even with an abscess and two surgeries etc. normality keeps me going.   What I’m asking is:   For those of you who are on 6MP – have any of you not experienced hair-loss as a side effect?   I have this constant worry at the back of my mind, that the 6MP, scary as it is, is there to prolong the remicade, and I am scared that remi might ‘wear off’ – and I will be to blame. I know it sounds irrational, but I am so petrified of the 6MP.   Your experiences re: side effects would be greatly appreciated…. I feel like a liar for not letting my specialist know I have not been taking this medication, but I respect him so much and so appreciate everything that he has done for me, and I kept thinking ‘one day I’ll be brave enough, suck it up and take it’… I have since found out he knows I have not been taking it, and so the guilt is even worse now!   Thanks so much,   P

You will be pleased to hear that I took 6 mp for several years with no discernable side effects. Certainly no hair loss and I can honestly say it seemed to work for me :)

I have been on 6MP for over 12 years and have had no side effects other than the occasional odd liver level test. No nausea, no hair loss, no extra tiredness, nothing except it has kept me out of the hospital and more importantly, out of the operating room. Keep in mind that they have to list all POSSIBLE side effects, it doesn't mean they are all PROBABLE.

Oh RiddleMeThis, I'm so sorry to hear that. What kind of cancer is it? Do you think the 6MP could have any correlation to the cancer?

I haven't used 6mp but I have a sister that has UC and has been on 6mp for several years and never lost any hair from it. I am on methotrexate which is another one they say you can lose hair from but I've not lost anything more than normal. I also think that most of these drugs have lots of side affects that are not nice but it doesn't mean it will happen to every person that takes that drug, and finding what one suits you best, the only way you will ever know is to try it. Crohns/colitis has changed all of our lives in some way or another but to continue the fight we have to take the advice of our doc, especially when you trust them as much as you do, and I know your doc and surgeon personally and your right they are brilliant, doc clark has performed 4 surgeries on me in the past 18 months and he is amazing, 2 of those surgeries were major and all done laproscopically. All the best and hope you make the decision thats best for you. take care
Doreen

thanks so much for the replies everyone, sometimes I don't know what I'd do without this place. :)

Been on 6mp for about ten years now and the only hair thinning/loss I can detect probably has to do with being ten years old, not the meds.