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how are you tolerating imuran (azathioprine)

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Ulcerative Colitis
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Posted 12/18/2012 11:06 PM (GMT 0)
I recently spoke with a women with crohn's diseases who got toxic from imuran and had to have surgery to remove parts of her body. i am on it and was wondering if others have had issues with it?

I had coffee today, bad, bad, bad...
Posted 12/19/2012 1:30 AM (GMT 0)
I had liver problems from Imuran. It took several weeks but it really had me in a bad way and scared me. I stopped and my symptoms went away. Read about it in this thread.
www.healingwell.com/community/default.aspx?f=38&p=1&m=2580270#m2585216
Posted 12/19/2012 1:38 AM (GMT 0)
I took Imuran for almost 7 years w/ no problems.
Posted 12/19/2012 2:56 AM (GMT 0)
I take 6mp, which is similar to imuran, and I've had no major problems.
Posted 12/19/2012 1:21 PM (GMT 0)
I'v been taking it for 6 months now. No problems :) I just get blood work done every 2-3 months to make sure my liver is still dapper ;)
Posted 12/19/2012 3:05 PM (GMT 0)
Hi Imuran gave me pancrea*** so I stopped and my lipase came down. Now a friend of mine has been taking it for years 150mg and no problems, either your body can or can't tolerate it, you'll know my doc said in 14 days it was the 15th day I started with pain and I stopped two days after it was so bad. So your body will tell you, please listen to it.
Posted 12/19/2012 3:09 PM (GMT 0)
Almost 3 months with no problems so far.
Posted 12/19/2012 4:46 PM (GMT 0)
thanks for the replies. i took it for about a year at a dose of 100mg. my hair thinned but there were no other issues from it. i stopped taking it for a while and used diet and herbal remedies to manage my disease with fairly good results. i recently flaired in august though and started back on it to achieve remission. now i'm on 150mg.

anyone else get the hair thinning thing with imuran?
Posted 12/19/2012 5:00 PM (GMT 0)
did any of y'all have joint pain before taking Imuran and did it help at all?
Posted 12/19/2012 9:13 PM (GMT 0)
Oh gosh. I've actually lost quite a lot of hair. I never thought that it could be the Imuran but perhaps that is why :/
Posted 12/20/2012 2:13 AM (GMT 0)
I know!! The hair loss is crazy!! I have been on imuran for three years and no bad effects except the hair. I am very glad I have a lot of it. The folic acid helps to control the loss of most of my hair.
Posted 12/20/2012 5:49 PM (GMT 0)
Ohh I'll ask my doctor about the folic acid. I heard of a lot of people talking prenatal vitamins for hair loss. I think my doctor will laugh if I suggested the idea -_- He thinks I'm delusional most of time. I go to his office and I tend to self-diagnosis myself. The UC has made me crazy.
Posted 12/20/2012 11:00 PM (GMT 0)
thanks for the folic acid suggestion. i do take a prenatal vitamin so maybe that will help!
Posted 12/21/2012 3:31 AM (GMT 0)
I have a ton of hair. I noticed some hair-loss when I began 5ASAs, but over time, it stopped falling out and grew back. I have a lot of hair so even if I lose half, I still look perfectly normal. I haven't noticed losing any with 6mp. I have to wonder if hair loss may be a side effect of general stressed health.
Posted 12/21/2012 6:44 AM (GMT 0)
Prenatal vitamin and folic acid might help. Biotin may also help with hair loss. At the beginning I notice some hair loss, which was a lot given that I have baby fine hair.
Since I've been off of it, my hair is a bit fuller.
Posted 12/21/2012 2:50 PM (GMT 0)
     I took 6MP for seven years prior to surgery.  My initial dose was 50mgm.  My bilirubin was always twice the normal limit but everything else was ok.  It didn't keep me in a long term remission and during the summer of 09, my doctor decided to increase my dose to 100 mgm shocked ...OMG...thought I was gonna die!  I had terrible flu like symptoms.  We were camping up in PA and my doctor had me go to a lab up there.  My pancreatic enzyme levels were 4 x the norm and my bilirubin was sky high...ugh.  He had me stop the 6MP immediately.  Two weeks later I was retested, and, thankfully, all the labs returned to normal and I was placed back on the 50 mgm.
Posted 12/29/2012 1:02 AM (GMT 0)
After reading quite a bit here I believe it is safe to say that my intense joint pain from the ankles to my hips is probably symptoms associated with tapering off Prednisone and taking Imuran for UC. Ay takers?

Thanks
Posted 12/29/2012 2:46 AM (GMT 0)
Hi- Can't comment on the Imuran, but I wanted to say w/ hairloss--it may be worth trying Biotin 5000mcg/day. You can get it anywhere, shop rite, drug store etc...
B
Posted 12/29/2012 3:14 AM (GMT 0)
It was impossible for me to tolerate the nausea, malaise and fatigue that I got from taking azathioprine. To me, those symptoms were far worse than the UC symptoms, so I stopped taking it.

I may consider trying the brand name since I am running out of options at this point.
Posted 12/29/2012 3:57 AM (GMT 0)
I had tried it years back and recall getting more and longer colds, fatigue, a little nausea, and a few mysterious bouts of bursitis. I am running out of options but surgery does NOT seem an option for me, in my view, as there are too many conflicting, indeterminate indications that it might be crohns (eg there is a bit of confirmed ileitis shown in colonoscopy biopsies), so I am starting to consider suffering through that garbagevagain, for want of better options (failed biologics in the past). If I try them again, I'd orobably try 6MP instead, though The same side effects would be likely, i imagine.
Posted 12/29/2012 4:35 AM (GMT 0)
i've been on it over 6 months, 100 mg, i have no side effects, and I am pretty much in remission now.....also, despite working in a healthcare facility and being exposed to alot, i have not come down with anything
Posted 12/29/2012 5:12 AM (GMT 0)
I ended up in the er every time I tried it. I wish I had tried Humira first.
Posted 1/2/2013 3:12 AM (GMT 0)
SGMJIM...I have been on Imuran for 4 weeks and am tapering my pred (at 20 mg down from 60). I am getting the weirdest joint issues..I had lockjaw the other day and my fingers and toes start to cramp and spread. I can't tell if it's the pred or the Imuran. The last 2 weeks have been really hard on the pred..moon face, edema, etc..I think when you go over 2 months on pred the bad side effects kick in..plus, I'm tapering now..so, instead of high energy, I'm tired. I am sleeping more ( the past 6 weeks I was getting by on 4-5 hours a night and REALLY full of energy). Now, I'm more tired and ridiculously hungry. I hope to be off the pred within the next 4 weeks with a 5mg/week taper. I'm calling the doc tomorrow about the joint pain, but I don't know what he can really do. I have to taper the pred. I think the Imuran is starting to work..UC symptoms MUCH better...it's just hard to tell when you're on 2 strong drugs...
~Cita
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