Stopping azathioprine for a few days

My cold/flu symptoms kept getting worse to the point I couldn't think straight so I stopped taking it, at least until my cold goes away. I feel better already. I am so disappointed that I haven't been able to tolerate it bc I think it helped me but I can't live with the perpetual flu. It is a horrible quality of life. I am hoping it was just a fluke...maybe I happened to get a cold the same time I started Aza although I am pretty certain this was caused by the Aza.

Today my colon is calm. Not sure why my crohns is feeling better. Maybe the Cimzia is kicking in....I sure hope so. I need to catch a break.

Thanks for listening.

^^^^ yeah, what gumby said. I would wait until those symptoms go away and try again. That's the only way you're going to know. I did pretty well with 6mp and Cimzia together. It brought me into a two year remission which I only recently fell out of (and I stopped taking it after about 4 months because I just couldn't tolerate the side effects) The 6mp is always very hard for me to tolerate, though. It literally wipes me out and leaves me feeling exhausted. I honestly have to lay around all day long when I take it.

A least your colon is calm. Lets pray it stays that way and hopefully the Cimzia really is kicking in! You definitely deserve things to go your way! I hope they do. Keep us posted!

Yes, I was on the Cimzia and alone... It just wasn't cutting it. Since I had had a degree of success with other biologics and 6mp my GI at the time thought it would be good to try again. So, I took the 6mp with Cimzia for about 3-4 months. It worked. I know that it takes about 3 months to really start to see a full effect, but I could tell it was working and had brought me to a level I could feel good about so I just stopped it on my own and prayed that the Cimzia would maintain what I had just gained. It did.

You know, something to remember, which oddly enough never ever occurred to me.... 6mp is a chemo therapy drug!! If someone had cancer and was utterly wiped out, no one would bat an eyelash. It would just be a given that their meds would wipe them out. Well, this is no different. It's the same drug, with the same rotten side effects. It's just treating a different disease. I used to feel so guilty that I couldn't function. That it was all I could do to feed my kids. That I had to lay around on the couch and actually take naps. Then i realized the reality if the situation and it hit me like a ton of bricks! I just wanted to cry because I would have never let myself feel the pressure to function if I had realized it was taking the same toll on me as someone with cancer. My hubby has always been supportive, but I don't think even he understood how horrible it was. Anyway, that may just be my emotional baggage, but... I'm throwing it out there because its worth noting.

These meds are heavy. They have great potential to help us and I think it's definitely been worth it for me. I hope that it is for you too, but yes.., it really does wipe you out big time. You may decide that it's not worth it. Or, you may tell yourself it's worth the 3-6 month sacrifice to see if you can go into remission. I hope that it works for you. And I hope that you won't have to stay on it for long.

I'm here for you! You are definitely not alone. I'm just sorry any of us has to deal with this garbage. It definitely sucks.

When I was taking aza I was also on prednisone 50+mg a day plus assorted blood pressure meds and anxiety/sleep pills so I had quite a cocktail in me. I was in the er every week with horrible wheezing and coughing. They kept throwing puffers at me and told me I had smokers cough. I just did not believe that answer. I have smoked for 14 years and never had an issue like that. Also it came overnight and 4 months before I was in the gym 2 hours a day and an amateur body builder. So after toughing out the 3 months I needed to be on it to qualify for coverage for remicade I stopped the aza cold turkey and within 1 week my lungs cleared up and I have not wheezed since. Everyone's body works a little different and from this result I had a new doctor put 2and 2 together and that I have reactive airways and the imuran was wreaking havoc on my lungs which my GI told me was in no way possible for the imuran to do. So I understand where youre coming from with the flu like symptoms we all know our own bodies best and when something's wrong we know. If you do go back on the aza and come up with the same symptoms I would talk to your GI about another med along with the cimzia if the cimzia isn't holding you. I have been lucky to have remicade work well solo other than needing lomotil here and there

You might also consider reporting the side effect to the fda if your levels do go back down even more. Thats the only way that doctors will ever consider anything a side effct , it has to be written in the drugs literature otherwise it isn't a real side effect...if you know what I mean