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Allopurinal?

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Ulcerative Colitis
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Posted 1/20/2012 4:19 PM (GMT 0)
Has anyone been on it? Just got a call from my GI's PA and she said I need to start taking this drug as my liver is in the high abnormal range for my current dosage of 6MP. Apparently if you take this and a lower dose of 6MP it is better for your liver. I'm also concerned b/c my husband and I are trying to conceive and now here goes yet another drug that I have no idea about and don't know whether it is safe or not. I was finally adjusting to be on 6MP. This totally sucks. Ugh. I'm about to just throw it all out the window and just hope for the best at this point. Anyway I've never really seen any info on this site about the Allopurinal and wondering if anyone had any experience with it. Thanks guys!
Posted 1/20/2012 4:44 PM (GMT 0)
I was on Allopurinol for a short period. I can't get into the therapeutic range with 6mp needed without going into liver toxicity. Allopurinol raises the positive benefit of 6mp while lowering the toxicity. I did really well on it for a short while but than I started getting painful twinges in the middle of my lower rib cage; I believe it was my liver but my GI thought it was my acid reflux and increased my Prilosec. It helped a little but the pain never went away. Than I developed an all over body rash and was hospitalized for a swollen colon - turned out that I had a diverticulitis attack but the rash seemed connected to the Allopurinol.

This drug, if I am correct, is a big no no for pregnancy. But I am not 100% sure about that.
Posted 1/20/2012 11:57 PM (GMT 0)
Hi pooopystar!
Allopurinol was my life saver! I too don't metabolize Imuran well and was put on Allopurinol after metabolite testing. I was originally on 200mg Imuran alone which wasnt working. I started on 50mg Imuran and 100 mg Allopurinol. After further tests I was put on 100mg Imuran with 100mg Allopurinol which got me off the pred and in remission. I had blood work done weekly then fortnightly and now monthly. My wcc has suffered and Imuran has been adjusted to 75 mg. I Haven't noticed any extra side effects from taking the allopurinol.
I too questioned the safety in pregnancy and was told of all the drugs I was on it was probably the least safest one but didn't think it should be a problem. Mostly they classify drugs that have little research in pregnancy as unsafe whether or not they truly are. I personal haven't looked into any.
I have 2 children born before UC was diagnosed even though the bleeding (mild) was there. So I don't have the experience of being on the meds while pregnant but I did find that the colitis was in remission during my pregnancies! Who said pregnancy hormones were a bad thing!
Good luck!
Posted 1/21/2012 1:18 AM (GMT 0)
I used allopurinol for a while. When I began 6mp, I didn't have much benefit from the medication and I couldn't increase the dose because it was showing toxicity to my liver. I was able to get a huge increase in benefit from the medication by using allopurinol. Unfortunately, with allopurinol, you can get way above the theraputic dose on a very low dose of 6mp/Imuran so your WBC can become depressed. You should get frequent blood testing while on the combo. My WBC dropped too low and I had to stop allopurinol but I was able to get into remission and I've been doing well.
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