6mp & the sun

I was hoping to get some advice. I've been on 6mp on and off for a few years. I seem to always go off of it during the summer because I don't like how my skin reacts to the sun when I"m on it.... Well it's starting again, my nose if covered with red dots and the skin that was exposed to the sun it SO itchy. I'm tempted to stop taking it but then I know I get my system all messed up for several months.

Does anyone have any ideas or hints on how to counteract these effects. I wore sunscreen on my face, not even sure if it helped.

Thanks :)

Hey there,

I don't usually post on this forum as I have Crohn's but look on here anyway sometimes and your post caught my eye as last year I had a severe phototoxic reaction to the sun (I am on methotrexate) even with high strength sunscreen and I was prescribed Plaquenil (hydroxychloroquine) to take during the spring/summer months to prevent another reaction, even though I now avoid the sun it is impossible to avoid it completely, I went to Greece about a month after the reaction and on Plaquenil (very, very afraid I might add!) and although stayed in the shade still had to face sunlight to walk to the shop etc and didn't react.

From what I can gather its very effective in preventing sun/skin reactions as when I saw a skin specialist a few months later he wanted light testing done but said I had to have the Plaquenil well clear out of my system as otherwise the testing wouldn't show anything which helped reassure me that it works well! So just thought that may be something you might find worth looking into, nearly a year on and I still have pigment colour damage from the phototoxic reaction and it was horrific at the time, sunsensivity really isn't something to take lightly! Hope that may help.

     Really Judy?  Wow, I thought it was just because you are more sensitive to the rays.  I am olive skinned and never had to worry about exposure to the sun before but now I better watch myself.

I never used to have issues with the sun until I went on the 6mp. I was in Mexico this past winter break and had a HORRIBLE sun reaction after constantly applying 50 SPF. I would go into these rages of itching that wouldn't calm down unless ice was immediately applied. It was such a bad reaction that my skin was numb to the ice and I couldn't feel the cold. I was planning on talking to a doctor before the summer started to see what I could do to help myself this summer. I went to Vegas this past week and laid out for only a few hours wearing SPF 30 and got a sun rash on my arms and neck. I don't know how to avoid being in the sun all together all summer but any ideas that anyone has to help would be greatly appreciated. I can't go off the 6mp but really love the sun...

It doesn't matter if you are olive skinned or fair and freckled, skin cancer crosses all pigmentation. My mother, and olive skinned woman has terrible facial skin cancer and has become disfigured with the several surgeries she has endured. The last time she had surgery for skin cancer I went with her to the surgeon's office. Yikes, everyone in there was terribly disfigured on the face due to skin cancer. It scared the bejeezus out of me. Please people, do not sit in the sun! Either stay out of the sun between 10am-4pm or use sunscreen and wear a hat!

Sue

 have a horrible time in the sun now that I'm on 6mp. I also get a rash on my face, mainly across the bridge of my nose and across my cheeks (docs thought it was a lupus rash) and if the temps are high and I'm in the sun for too long I get cold sweats and shaky. If at all possible, do not stay in the sun longer then necessary and if you do have to be in the sun be sure to go into the shade as often as possible

My question is not about exposure to the sun but about these cold sweats and shakeyness.  I have just increased my 6MP to 150 mg/day from 100.  Any time I exert myself at all physically I get weak, shaky, short of breath and begin sweating.  I have to sit and recover each time.  Is this the 6MP?  Is this a normal reaction or does it mean the drug is lowering my blood counts?  Do I report this to my GI?  It's getting scary.

As Judilyn mentioned, immunosuppressive drugs (including 6-MP/azathioprine) increase the likelihood of developing cancer in general, most notably of the skin. Direct exposure to sunlight should be minimized if possible.

Sun block, hat with a brim. I assume you try to stay in mid-day when the sun is hot enough to broil your brain anyway.

(My father lived in Phoenix after he retired.)

The tanning bed isn't safe either.  Do some research on it.  Notice that they make you sign a waiver when you start going, that's so you can't sue them later.

I'm on Asacol and Remicade, and I have to put sunblock on whenever I go outside. 

Christine1946 said...
     Jessiesmom....150 mgm of 6MP!!!  Wow, that sure is a high dose.  I didn't like the reaction I got from taking 75 mgm of 6MP and decreased it on my own to 50 mgm one day and 25 the next.  My white count is still 2.9.  Little improved from the 2.4 it was when I was on 75 mgm.

Iam also on 30 mg/day of Prednisone.  My GI is trying to get me off the Prednisone by increasing the 6MP.  I am having bloodwork done next week.  I just increased tha 6MP two weeks ago and now I really feel like my blood count is way down.  BTW - I had my annual eye exam a couple of weeks ago and my interocular pressure has increased.  That usually means Glaucoma but my opthamalagist says it is probaboy secondary to steroid usage.  Another reason to get off Prednisone.  I feel like I am in a downward spiral.

my son's doctor never mentioned the sensitivity to the sun. of course on the day it was prescribed it was snowing. didn't know this at all. thanks all for sharing.

I, personally, don't find skin cancer is as scary as the very rare side effect Lymphoma from 6mp. 9 times out of 10, the skin cancer is caught early and removed. My father and my MIL both had skin cancer and had it removed. My MIL has a scar about the size of a quarter on her back but my father - well let's just say he was that 1 out of 10 that let it go for too long and now he has a scar about 1 1/2 FEET down his shoulder and into his back. But yes, skin cancer from 6mp is a very real possibility. My doc didn't tell me this info either when I started it.

Moles that are turning different shades, shape and size. Skin that is rough or raised. Basically anything that looks out of the ordinary.