6MP or Imuran?

Time for a change in therapy and I'm running out of choices. I been tested and can take Imuran but wanted to get opinion of people who tried both 6MP and Imuran. The only difference I can tell between the two is Imuran had an additional agent that needs to be converted. Not sure if I want the extra complication as I tend to be highly sensitive to these meds!

here are some additional question I have:

Is one supposed to be better tolerated than the other?
Are there less side effects with one or the other?
Do the therapeutic results last the same?

Got an appt tomorrow with my GI to discuss. Would like to e prepared.

Also I'll be combining it with LDN. Is anyone is doing this too, please let me know how it's going!

well I'm benefiting from the LDN so there's no reason to stop that and my GI agrees. According to Jill Smith's LDN research the patients who were on 6mp or Imuran along with LDN had an 88% result of had at least a 70-point decline in CDAI scores compared to 40% of placebo-treated patients....so it's definitely worth the try!

I was able to do some research and it appears the 6mp is better tolerated as it doesn't have the extra step to go through to be converted such as in Imuran. I was tested and learned I could take either of the drugs. Since I tend to be very sensitive to the meds, tolerance is a big issue with me. There are also tests through Prometheus labs to help with dosing http://prometheuslabs2007.egofactory.com/Resources/PTM/DX06045_Patient_Brochure_PTM_PRC_Approved.pdf

Also was provided with a copy of two articles from the Inflammatory Bowel Disease magazine, Vol. 16, No. 6, June 2011. They talk about these lab tests and also mention that by adding a low dose of allopurinol to overcome nonhepatic side effects and how 5-ASA drugs interfer with thiopurine metabolism. Best not to combine these.

Was on imuran once but gave me bad sides, worst oily hair/skin and started getting acne etc so came off it.
Now on 6-mp works a lot better I have v bad colitis and flares up constant but I got 5 months flare free with 6-mp at 50mg but now on 125mg but still on pred atm so only time will tell?

notsosicklygirl said...
I was on 6mp with allopurinol and it caused my WBC to drop drascitally low. I am not saying don't do it but I am saying be careful and get your blood checked very frequently in the beginning. I have had the tests to check my levels multiple times and while I was in the correct zone with allopurinol, I was never able to get there without it... This is all very uncommon, most people do well with 6mp alone and don't need to add allopurinol. It's interesting that you can get better results while combining with LDN. I wish I could try it but my GI is not open to prescribing LDN, I have asked. I may see another doctor in the future and try to get on it, ideally I could get off 6mp because it's not working well for me. It did help me to get off prednisone and for that I am thankful.

What is this allopurinol i've not heard of it?
Also is ldn worth it, i.e. any negative side effects as such?

I have not tried LDN but there are a few active threads on this board that discuss it much more indepth.

Allopurinol is a medication used for Gout (I think) that can increase the benefits of imuran/6mp and lower the toxicity but the combo can also cause lowered WBC. It's not the most common combination of medications but it can be helpful if you can tolerate it without becoming neutropenic.

Did your doctor test your blood to see if you're in the theraputic range? If you are, I am not sure if adding allopurinol would help. It was good for me because I always had very low theraputic benefit and high toxicity.

I love my doc! No 6mp or Imuran!! She's adding Apriso and Budesonide enemas while I taper off Pred.

I did have improvements on Pred so hopefully this wll just be enough!

Started tapering on Sat. Doing ok so far...holding steady!