Imuran causing joint pain and nausea

My 50mg dose of Imuran is plaguing me with joint pain, muscle pain (maybe) and nausea. Not to mention some temporary stomach pain that makes it impossible to eat.

I've been on it for a month. The pain started about five days ago. At first I thought the pain was due to me laying in a hospital bed for three weeks and then walking a lot but I found out otherwise today.

The pain is so bad that when the joint pain is at it's worst, it's extremely difficult to move and it's worse if I sit down for awhile. Standing up/sitting down can take as long as 2 minutes.

I'm supposed to take Imuran every morning. This morning I didn't take it to see if it would effect the joint pain and I felt fine all morning and into the afternoon, which was when I finally took the Imuran and wham--a few hours later I'm back to joint pain and nausea.

Should I stop taking it? Should I start taking it in the evening/night time? What do you suggest?

Post Edited (Wavefunction) : 9/14/2010 2:26:10 AM (GMT-6)

To be honest I am not sure about the joint pain being caused by the Imuran.  Imuran is used to treat Rheumatoid Arthritis to some degree.  Also I have a slight increase in joint pain but I attribute that to being extremely active as of lately because I am doing so good.

Most docs will recommend taking Imuran at night before bed because it can give people nausea.  In fact my Rx bottle says to take it at night before bedtime to avoid this. 

All I contribute at this point is to take at night.  Most people do very well with it taking at night and with a small meal.

MyUC

Start taking it before bed but do tell your doctor about your side effects. I am on 6mp which is similar to Imuran and I had increased joint pain in the beginning as well. I had some nausea but it wasn't too bad. Once my body got used to it, the side effects went away. However, the stomach pain concerns me a bit. Are you taking it with food? Other medications?

Absolutely it can cause the pain and nausea...I have a friend who was it utter agony and nausea from taking it. She could hardly walk. It improved after she stopped taking the Imuran.

All you can do is stop the drug and see if it improves.

I was absolutely unable to tolerate Imuran. I was on 50 mg for a week, and when it was upped to 100 mg a week later by the end of the week I really thought I was going to die from the nausea, headaches, bruising ... my GI so wanted it to work that when I complained a day after being upped to 100 mg (I was barely able to tolerate the 50 mg quite frankly) he decided it was the Colazol causing the trouble and took me off that and kept me on the Imuran. Since the nausea seemed to ease up as the day went on, I tried taking my dose at night so hopefully would sleep through the nausea. I was up all night throwing up and couldn't work at all the next day. Called my GI and said I was going back on the Colazol, which I tolerated, even if I wasn't so sure it was doing anything, and off the Imuran. He agreed.

Next we tried Remicade, which I did tolerate, and which did work well for awhile. Then I needed to have infusions every six weeks rather than every eight weeks. Then it started to lose effectiveness after four weeks. I just struggled through the last two weeks prior to infusion for awhile rather then up the frequency (GI wouldn't up the dose). Anyway, at that point I decided I was sick of the meds and of UC controlling my life. I researched the j-pouch surgery and surgeons and had a consult. Found www.j-pouch.org forums to be a huge help. I have been more active there than here lately.

I had my first surgery Jan 12 and my 2nd surgery, the take down, April 6. Five months later I am doing great, eating everything and my life is not ruled by UC. I take no medications, feel pretty much normal, although my stool will always be looser than a person's with a colon, I don't live in the bathroom. I have complete control and go 4-8 times a day -- mostly on the lower end unless I get undisciplined about eating ... the new plumbing doesn't much like fried foods, tomato sauce or excessive veggies. I can eat anything within reason, drink alcohol, and as long as I follow a reasonably healthy diet I am fine.

The longer I was on the various medications the more suspicious I became about long term effects, which really are unknown. Taking the plunge to the surgery was scary, but I know now it was the right decision for me. I do think a lot of people try a little too hard and a little too long to find a medication that works. I know I had convinced myself that a medical "cure" was right around the corner. But I realized nothing significantly different was in the pipeline, and even if something promising was discovered it would be YEARS and YEARS before it was generally available and covered by insurance.

Even if you don't think you are ready to have a major surgery and lose actual organs, look into it, educate yourself -- surgery is ahead for many UC sufferers and the more you know the more prepared you'll be in the event you have no choice at some point.

Meesh

I had the same reaction and they took me off it. They said I was allergic. My symptoms got worse and worse so please be careful. I would call your doctor today and see what they say.