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Reaction to Imuran (azathioprine)

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Ulcerative Colitis
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Posted 8/28/2008 11:45 PM (GMT 0)
My son has had diarrhea for a year.  He is diagnosed with ulcerative colitis and PSC.   Prednisone (orally and via IV) and 5 ASA did done nothing to decrease the diarrhea.  He is now taking a low dose of 5ASA and on Monday night he started taking azathioprine.  It has decreased his appetite and made him very sleepy.  We woke him up this morning at 11:00 to have some breakfast but he ended up throwing it up.  He went right back to sleep and is still sound asleep now and it is 5 p.m..  He says his diarrhea is no better. These side effects are awful.  Does anyone have any experience with taking this drug?  Might things get better?  I can't reach his gastroenterologist or his GP so I think we will skip the pills tonight and talk to the doctor in the morning.  It seems crazy to be taking a drug that does this to your body.  He is planning to go back to university in two weeks!
Posted 8/29/2008 12:48 AM (GMT 0)
I dunno, I do not have those problems with Azathioprine and I am at 175mg. I do get a little tired now that my dose has raised, but I haven't been getting nauseous very often - just a little bit in the evening (I have a prescription for phenegren for the times it gets too much to want to deal with). The phenegren on the other hand wipes me the hell out, and I am glad I only have to take it in the evening.

He may just be hypersensitive to side effects. Talking with the doc sounds like a good idea.
Posted 8/29/2008 2:14 AM (GMT 0)
I've been on Imuran for over a year, and haven't had any problems with it, but I have had problems with Asacol. Maybe you should look into the Asacol symptoms, maybe he needs to try something else. I had a reverse reaction to the Asacol, once I got off them the second time I went back into remission the next day.
Posted 8/29/2008 4:26 AM (GMT 0)
Yeah,  i had a reaction to Imuran.   Everytime I took my Imuran,  within a half hour or so,  I had to throw everything up.  I'd throw up until everything was out of my tummy.  Then I'd feel fine.  Even felt fine before I'd throw up,  no nausea,  just my tummy would say NO IMURAN!   It never got better,  so then my GI changed me to 6mp, and I"ve done fine with it.  
Posted 8/29/2008 1:27 PM (GMT 0)
I was taking Imuran for about 5 weeks when all of a sudden within 30 minutes of taking it I would be violently ill.  Vomiting and diahrea lasting a couple of hours then I would be fine.  My doc lowered my dosage in half and it still happened.  Stopped taking it and now taking Pentasa (1000mg x 2) and doing fine.  Doc explained that it usually takes that long for the Imuran to actually start working in your system so that was why I had no side effects until then.
Posted 8/29/2008 8:48 PM (GMT 0)
I took 50 mg of imuran for a year with no side-effects. Then based on my blood work, a new GI doctor said it wasn't in the therapeutic range so it wasn't really helping. He increased to 150 mg/day and within a few days i was tired a lot and nauseated most of the time. This lasted about three weeks. My blood work was ok though so my body just needed to adjust to it. After the 3 weeks, I didn't have any more naseau, fatigue or UC symptoms. However, I had to be on antibiotics after a few months and the imuran didn't prevent a flare. That happened twice in 6 months so I finally just stopped taking it cuz it wasn't really controlling the UC when I needed it to - when I got sick with something else.
Posted 12/9/2011 4:40 AM (GMT 0)
I had a similar adverse reaction to Imuran. My GI first tried building it up from 50mg to 125mg over the course of three weeks (while I was tapering off Prednisone). Just after hitting the 125mg and tapering down to 20mg of prednisone, I had a massive flare-up of an abscess, fever, lack of appetite, etc. Unsure as to whether it was the Imuran or the abscess, my GI told me to stop taking it.

After the abscess was taken care of, we decided to jump right back in with the Imuran at 125mg. The very night that I took it, about three hours after, I began vomiting like no tomorrow. The being sick continued for twelve agonising hours, with a mild fever (100-101F) and overall weakness setting in late in the game. The fever cleared up four or five hours after the vomiting ended, but BAAH - I have never been sick like that before, and never want to again. Needless to say I didn't take any more Imuran after that! I'm now looking at Humira as an alternative.
Posted 12/9/2011 2:24 PM (GMT 0)
I had some nausea issues with Imuran early on, then I started taking it in the morning with food. For me it's important that I have food in my stomach and sort of surround the pills with bites of food to prevent any ill effects.
I've been on 150mg of Imuran for 8 years now and it's been a wonder drug with very few side effects.
Don't forget to have your son's blood work done regularly to head off any problems before they manifest themselves.
Best of luck.
Posted 12/9/2011 3:46 PM (GMT 0)
I have been on Imuran for a little over a year with no side-effects ever. 

This time of year there are lots of virusus going around so he could have caught something.  Sudden symptoms of vomitting, loss of appetite, fatigue, fever sound like the flu or a bad virus. 

However, you do need to be careful with all medications and he should report this to his doctor ASAP.  Although most people have no side effects from Imuran it is possible to be alergic to it and that can be dangerous.  I would get him to a doctor soon.

Lastly, Imuran take a long time to work.  If he does continue to take it (after consulting a doctor) please remember he should not expect to see any improvement for 6-12 weeks.  It is not an immediate fix.  It is a slow working drug that has to build up over time to work.

Wishing you the best -

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