Imuran=BAD I am not interested in trying it again. I will keep my asacol and ulcers

I had high hopes that this drug would kick the ulcers.  I had procrastinated and put my doctor off as long as I could use the quality of life argument.  I am very fortunate the as long as I take asacol or lialda I am light on pain and have 3 to 4 normal bowel movements a day and can eat salad and raw vegetables most of the time.  The problem is the chronic ulcers that never go away even with prednisone leave me with the elevated risk of colon cancer and possibly one of these bad boys the have take permanent residence in my colon might chose to eat completely through it.  After 10 years and one bought in the hospital for a week in 2005 when I wasn't on any medication and a round of prednisone that did not work,  I finally agreed with my doc to try one of the alternative meds.  I was still reluctant, given the fact that a friend of mine with a compromised immune system died from h1n1 last year.  Long story short; I started imuran about 2 weeks ago, caught a cold, ended up with swollen gland in my neck and a swollen lymph node under my right arm.  It felt like someone punched me under the arm. I couldn't put my arm all the way down.  That was Tues by Thurs I was running a fever and had pain in my back, by Friday the pain was from the base of my head down the entire spine to my hips. Sat the pain was severe, went to the ER with tested me for flu and everything gave me a bag of iv fluid, morphine and some anti-inflammatory drug, brought my fever down from 102 and sent me home Sunday night in spite of my round the clock dosing of Ibuprofen I woke up with pain on a scale of 1-10 it was a 20.  I used the wall, the dresser and the counter to stumble to the bathroom, then realize after I finally sat down I could barely get up and I sure as heck could not bend to retrieve my undergarments.  I called to my DH who was happy to be woke up again, as if my moaning and tossing and turning were allowing him a wink of sleep.  Mon I chose not to take my Imurn by now I was convinced it was the culprit.  My fever was now creeping up to 102.6. In addition to my back pain my entire abdominal region was in pain.  It was distended and hard and sore from my ribs to my pelvis.  By the time the Doctor called me back well after 5 she also believe it was the imuran. 40 hours after my last dose of imuran I was fever free and pain was gone from my head.  And 60 hours later only my back, knees and thumb hurt, but I slept through the night!  Below is a list of Imuran side affect the ones in yellow were mine. ·          Cough, hoarseness ·          fever or chills ·          lower back or side pain ·          painful or difficult urination ·          unusual tiredness, weakness Less Common ·          Black, tarry stools ·          blood in urine or stools ·          pinpoint red spots on skin ·          unusual bleeding or bruising Less Common or Rare ·          Fast heartbeat ·          fever (sudden) ·          muscle or joint pain ·          nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea (severe) ·          redness or blisters on skin ·          shortness of breath ·          sores in mouth, on lips ·          stomach pain ·          swelling of feet or lower legs ·          feeling of discomfort or illness (sudden) Other Notes: Your doctor will watch for any liver problems this medicine may cause. Because of the way this medicine acts on the body, there is a chance that it might cause other unwanted effects that may not occur until months or years after the medicine is used. These delayed effects may include certain types of cancer, such as leukemia, lymphoma, or skin cancer. The risk of cancer is lower in people taking azathioprine for arthritis, and you should discuss these possible effects with your doctor. After you stop this medicine, there may still be some side effects. During this time notify your doctor as soon as possible if you notice any of the following: ·          black, tarry stools ·          blood in urine ·          cough or hoarseness ·          fever or chills ·          lower back or side pain ·          painful or difficult urination ·          pinpoint red spots on skin ·          unusual bleeding or bruising Other side effects not listed above may also occur in some patients. If you notice any other effects, check with your doctor. This information is meant only as a guideline - always consult a physician or pharmacist for complete information about prescript ion  

Just wanted to add, that I've never heard of symptoms like that with imuran. That is weird.
I took it for years with no side effects until I increased my dose. I started at 50 and went up to 75.
What dose were you on?

Hi, sorry you were disappointed by Imuran. Not sure it works so quickly though, it takes 3 months for it to kick in, says my doc. Am on 150mg/day, even pregnant on it, never had any problems.

Ibuprofen is dangerous for people with stomach+intestinal problems though, it may cause bleeding into intestines as I was told.

Good luck!

It's possible that the body might reject meds before they start to work. It could happen very quickly too.

about ibuprofen, my GI said it doesn't just cause direct damage but also chemically changes the intestinal lining and reduces blood flow which aids in healing.

I took it for menorrhagia and it worked great at reducing menstrual flow, but I'm not sure how it affected my CD. I will do my best to never take it again, though.

When first diagnosed I used Sulphazine and it worked well for me. I am allergic to sulfa meds now, so can no longer use it. But it is in the same family as the 5asa's. By the way 5 asa's are NOT NSAIDS. We are not to use NSAIDS as they can cause bleeding. I think that is what partially caused the end of my 20 year remission. I will tell you this is a disease that must be treated at all times, or you could end up like many of us here have and that is with emergency surgery due to complete obstruction and it taking forever to get the disease back under control. Good luck, I hope you find something that works well for you. Hugs!

I'm on pentasa which is a 5 asa drug, different than NSAIDs somehow. I think it helps, but I have a stricture too, so it's hard to say for sure.

Don't assume God has said no. He might only be saying, "not yet." ;-)

Keep praying and if you haven't already, get your name and DS's on regular prayer lists too. Pray without ceasing.

Spirited...I know just how you feel. I took Azathioprine in 2009 and was on it for 3 weeks when I suddenly developed a fever, neck pain/body pain, and I was not functioning. I went to the doctor 3 days in row because my fever was at least 104. My blood levels were all of the place but no one knew what I had. I was sent to the hospital and had a spinal tap and it came back fine. So they admitted me. One smart doctor took me off Azathioprine because she had read a study about people reacting poorly. Within 1 day I was already feeling better. I went to my GI the day I was released and he told me it was called a serum sickness reaction and that we would never try it again because most likely it would happen again.

It was an awful experience...so I understand not wanting to try it again

No I didn't have a reaction to remicade. I stopped taking it because it wasn't working effectively and then I got pregnant and don't have any issues when I am so I decided to get off of it....I go back to the GI on the 9th and will see what our next step is. I am currently weaning off pred and doing bad....almost lost 10 lbs in a couple weeks....but im fed up with dr and there crap so im just waiting til the 9th to go in.

lovemyboys, thx for sharing about the serum sickness. Reminded me of my daughter's experience...trying to taper off Entocort, she landed in ER, where without her knowledge they gave her Cipro (she thought the IV had only fluids). She was then hospitalized for the first time in her life, because her fever kept going up (it was all I could do to keep it just under 104). The docs assumed she had a bacterial infection somewhere because of the fever, so they were afraid to restore the Entocort, because it would reduce the body's ability to fight the infection. But I pointed out to the docs that, for two days, the rise and fall in her fever mirrored when she was given Cipro (every 12 hrs)...sure enough, they discovered she had developed a serum sickness reaction toward the Cipro. Ironically, it was also the Cipro that had caused her to be hospitalized, since she was given it in the ER, where it spiked her fever.