6MP side effects

Hey there, im new to the forum and it's my first post so sorry if this questions been addressed already, but I figured i'd ask as well as kinda introduce myself. :)

Quick background info, I'm 27 and have severe crohn's. I've been flaring for about 3 years (pretty much since I had my son) with the exception of a couple months of peace after to my last surgery. I just stopped Humira after over 3 months because it wasn't doing anything but giving me a "hangover" after my injection. I just started 6Mp/mercaptopurine, 100mg and been taking it for about a week now. I also started prednisone 40mg slow taper, which usually makes me feel a lot better in general when I start it (before the long term evil side effects start anyway) but this time i'm just so sick. Every morning I wake up with a headache and bad nausea. This lasts pretty much all morning/afternoon and sometimes i'm a lil better by evening. I'm also EXTREMELY fatigued. I am home all day with my 3 year old son so I can't exactly rest so i'm sure that's not helping, but I was wondering if anyone else experienced this initially and how long until these side effects calmed down. I literally feel "chemo sick" and it's really hard to get through the day. Thanks in advance to anyone with helpful info. :)

Thanks for the reply :) Its good to know its not just me, and you were on half my dose and had similar effects. I weigh about 125lbs so from what ive read 100mgs a day is a high dose anyway. I suppose I should let the dr know but since its only been a week I figured id try and stick it out if it might get better. Anyway, how long after stopping it did you feel better?

Thanks for the suggestions. :) I tried taking it at dinner time the first couple days and then have been taking it before bed now, was hoping to sleep through the nausea but it seems to still hang around all day regardless. I actually took 6mp (same dose) a couple years back for a short while, and i dont remember feeling so sick, but I also weighed 50lbs more than I do now and didn't have a toddler to chase around so I didn't really have to push myself to do much. I think I might ask the dr about lowering the dose and tapering up. Now that I think of it, I kinda remember starting on 50 last time and then going up to 100. Maybe the dr telling me to start on 100 was an oversight or based on the severity of the disease he figured go hard or go home lol my crohn's is very aggressive and seems to be resistant to everything :/

The 6MP takes 2-3 months to start working, so it's not even doing anything at 100mg for now apart from making you sick. I had problems with nausea on that drug, but found that starting at 25mg (you have to cut a 50mg tablet in half) helped a lot - stayed at that dose until the nausea stopped, then moved up to 50mg.

Good luck :p

Thanks for the support and info. I'm glad I called my dr today, turns out I probably have liver toxicity. Most likely the Humira had already put a strain on my liver and then starting the 6mp did it in. I'm sure all the tylenol ive been taking recently for the headaches hasn't helped either. So he added tests to the bloodwork I had the other day to confirm but told me to stop the 6mp regardless. So for now I guess i'm gonna let me liver recoop and then it looks like Cimzia is next in line. Thanks again for everyones suggestions and especially the extra nudge to contact my dr. :)