Anyone have permanent damage from 6MP?

I start my 6MP today and have to admit I'm scared to start.  I have been on prednisone 20 mg for 5 months and have every bad side effect you can get: anemia, hair loss, ulcers from steroid use, high blood pressure, diabetes from the med., edema, weight gain, insomnia, mood swings, and now joint and muscle pain.  The treatment is killing me.  The docs  won't taper me off the pred until I have been on the 6 MP for a few months.  After my experience with the pred., what do I have to look forward to with the 6MP?  Any permanent damage.  And if you have to stop taking 6MP due to side effects, how fast do they go away?

I have been on 6MP for over 13 years. The only side effect I have is that my liver function tesst go wonky sometimes. They always come back in line by the next test, so it is something that my doctor just watches. It is the one drug that has remained consistent for the last 13+ years and I believe kept me in remission. I have been on other medications, but 6MP has always been in the mix. When I was on a higher dose (100mg), I had my blood work sent to Prometheus labs for testing. At that point, it was shown that I was in the toxic range, but not in the therapeutic range, so my dose was lowered. I am still not in the therapeutic range but my toxic level is back in line. I had a conversation with the specialist about my dose last week and he is considering raising it again. Apparently if the dosing is split, half in the morning and half at night, the body can metabolize it better and the toxicity is not as much of a problem. They are considering doing this because I can not get off prednisone entirely. 5mg seems to be my threshold. I am one person who has been on prednisone for WAY too long. I have lots of the same side effects you describe, and I doubt I will ever be off. I have some doctors who think the 5mg dose is fine to stay on, and some who want me off. So at this point I really don't know where I stand. I just know that I feel awful when I try to taper any lower.

i was on it for like 14 years. all my blood work always came back "good". however, before the time i chose to discontinue it as i always doubted its efficacy for my treatment, i started to become anemic even though i felt great, saw no blood in my stool, and was not symptomatic. this was the opposite of things for the past 15 years where i felt miserable, was bleeding off and on, and always had a stomach ache. in that time i was never anemic. so what gives? i suspect bone marrow suppression brought on by the 6-mp. cant prove it though. been off of it for almost 4 years. in that time i've had 2 transfusions and been on iron supplements daily for about 3 years. just stopped the iron supplements as i seem to have stabilized. i still get my ferratin levels checked every few months to be sure though. again, no answer as to why this happened. camera pill and colonoscopies showed things mild at worst with the docs recommending no change in my protocol, which is diet only and no meds. thus the only culprit i see is the 6-mp causing this as it can cause problems with bone marrow which is what produces the red blood cells. i am open to other opinions but alas no one can offer me any except it must be the crohn's...

No, I blame the prednisone for that as that is when I started to get anemic - when I started the prednisone. All the symptoms I have listed are from the prednisone. My doctor says some will go away when I get off it, but some may not.