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How much Imuran do you take?

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Crohn's Disease
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Posted 4/21/2009 5:41 PM (GMT 0)
I am wondering now if I would drop to 50mg from 100mg if I would be still dead beat tired. When I was on 50mg, I did not notice exhaustian as a problem. I weigh around 175 or so. I am not sure if that is what determines the dosage.

What is your Imuran dosage and how much do you weight?
Posted 4/21/2009 5:51 PM (GMT 0)
Yes, I was still tired when I dropped my dose. I am now totally off of it due to Remicade, and still drop dead tired because of the unavoidable symptoms of this disease. I weigh 180 lbs. Good luck. If you find the magic no more tired cure, please let us all know. LOL!
Posted 4/21/2009 9:42 PM (GMT 0)
Is Imuran mercaptopurine? I'm confused...
Posted 4/21/2009 10:47 PM (GMT 0)
I am female and weigh  just under 140 and I have been taking 100mg for the past several years. I will be stopping it in a few months because the Humira is working. I have never experienced fatigue with Imuran.

Posted 4/21/2009 11:19 PM (GMT 0)
Imuran is usually prescribed based on weight. Dosage range is from 1.0 to 2.5 mg per kilogram of weight. My GI prescribed 100 mg and I am 58 kilos. If you are having lots of fatigue from the Imuran, have you tried taking it in the evening? That might make your waking hours feel less tiring.
Posted 4/22/2009 2:27 PM (GMT 0)
My GI started me on 50mg after he determined the pentasa and endocort were not enough to put me into remission. I weigh 246 pounds....why didn't he start me out higher? I will be asking him that at my May appt. I get tired from the 50mg dose--my GI says I don't rest enough, however I rest a lot in my opinion.
Posted 4/24/2009 3:50 PM (GMT 0)

HM said...
My GI started me on 50mg after he determined the pentasa and endocort were not enough to put me into remission. I weigh 246 pounds....why didn't he start me out higher? I will be asking him that at my May appt.

I get tired from the 50mg dose--my GI says I don't rest enough, however I rest a lot in my opinion.

It's not unusual to be started out at such a small dose. The goal is to get a good response from the lowest possible dose. So they start you out on a very small dose, wait about five months (azathioprine/imuran/azasan/6mp whatever you want to call it, it's all the same), and evaluate how you're doing on that particular dose. It usually takes between three and five months to realize the full benefit from azathioprine. I started at 100, then 150, and am now at 200 mg/day. The potential nasty side effects go up as the dosage goes up, so they really want to keep you at the minimum dose they can that still helps you.
Posted 4/24/2009 10:20 PM (GMT 0)
I am at 100 mg and I weigh about 95 lbs. I started on 50 mgs for a month, and then it was increased to 100 mg.

Do you feel like the Imuran is making you tired? Have you had your vitamin levels checked? You could be lacking B12 or sufficient nutrition in general. Otherwise, as pp said, being tired is just a side effect some people suffer from Crohn's in general.
Posted 4/25/2009 1:13 AM (GMT 0)
I had to take 200 mg to get in the theraputic level. My gi uses the Prometheus propredict metabolite blood test to determine when I have reached my theraputic level. I started out on 50 I think, and then every 6 weeks we did a blood draw and upped it until I was in my theraputic level. And I did notice a difference...for the good...I felt better.
Posted 4/25/2009 4:11 PM (GMT 0)
CrohnsDaddy said... HM said... My GI started me on 50mg after he determined the pentasa and endocort were not enough to put me into remission. I weigh 246 pounds....why didn't he start me out higher? I will be asking him that at my May appt. I get tired from the 50mg dose--my GI says I don't rest enough, however I rest a lot in my opinion. It's not unusual to be started out at such a small dose. The goal is to get a good response from the lowest possible dose. So they start you out on a very small dose, wait about five months (azathioprine/imuran/azasan/6mp whatever you want to call it, it's all the same), and evaluate how you're doing on that particular dose. It usually takes between three and five months to realize the full benefit from azathioprine. I started at 100, then 150, and am now at 200 mg/day. The potential nasty side effects go up as the dosage goes up, so they really want to keep you at the minimum dose they can that still helps you. I agree with everything you said and know that is what he is doing.  He is planning to start tapering me off endocort the middle of may.  I am wondering if he will up the dose of imuran or see what happens.  If I get a vote I am going to say we wait to see what happens.  The bigger issue really is that the two times I have went off the endocort my SED rate and other numbers have went way out or wack and I have went directly back onto the endocort.  I am wondering if he will do that again or just increase my imuran --if the same thing happens.  I am hoping that the imuran will help me be able to stay off the endocort without increasing the imuran dose.
Posted 4/28/2009 2:17 PM (GMT 0)
I've been taking Entocort concurrently with azathioprine for 18 months now. Right now I'm taking 200 azathioprine, 25 prednisone, 9 mg Entocort, 4 gms Pentasa. That cocktail is keeping me in pretty good shape. Honestly, I hope your doctor doesn't take you off of the Entocort after he gets your azathioprine nailed. Entocort is a very benign medicine, and if it helps you... well, then you should consider staying on it.
Posted 4/28/2009 2:54 PM (GMT 0)
CrohnsDaddy, did you stop the Cimzia?
Posted 4/28/2009 3:44 PM (GMT 0)
Yes, I stopped the Cimzia. The fatigue from it became intolerable.
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