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Imuran Side Effect: Involuntary Foot/Hand Cramping??

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Posted 2/9/2013 12:17 AM (GMT 0)
Hi all,

Well - Although I'm still only on a very low dose 50mg/Day, and have been only for a short while - it seems as if an old side effect that I had on Methotrexate & Remicade has come back and it hits pretty hard this time...

I'm not sure how to describe it, but every now and then the muscles in my feet involuntarily cramp up. It's quite painful. To fix it or get it to go away I have to grab my feet and sort of bend them into another position for a while almost as if to stretch out the muscles or something. It makes it hard to walk when it happens. Happened today while I was dealing with all this snow outside... Sometimes it happens in my hands as well if I bend them in a certain direction - they just involuntarily cramp for lack of a better term.

When I had to stop Remicade and Metho it went away for the most part - but every now and then it would still strike. - just not as intense. Usually it hits hard when I am swimming more than anything.

Anyway - Has anyone else ever had this? Or something similar?? Or did I just happen to win the lottery for goofy, weird side effects from these drugs??

Because of the degree of it this time, I'm slightly nervous to find out what happens when I go up to 150mg/day on Imuran come Monday.
Posted 2/9/2013 1:25 AM (GMT 0)
Are you taking prednisone at all? Prednisone can do this. When prednisone is the cause it is due to a lack of potassium. Eating foods high in potassium is the cure. You could try this even if you aren't on prednisone.
Posted 2/9/2013 1:50 AM (GMT 0)
Ahhhhhaaaaa..... !! Thanks Gary!

Yes I am! 40 mg/daily. And now that I think about it a bit more - It really occurred the last time this bad when I was on all three Pred/Rem/Meth all at the same time.

Time to go buy some bananas I guess :)

Huh... I never thought though of attributing it to the pred - I just assumed it was the others.

Thanks again. To awesome! I'll try it and see how it goes.
Posted 2/9/2013 2:31 AM (GMT 0)
I learned the hard way too. I know exactly what you meant. I would wake up in the middle of the night screaming bloody murder. My wife didn't know what to think. When I brought it up to my doc he's like, "Oh Yeah. That's from the prednisone, just eat a banana every day." I'm thinking, "*#$%***###! You could have mentioned this before I had the problem!".
Posted 2/9/2013 4:02 AM (GMT 0)
It could be from the Imuran, not the pred. ii have been getting notjust nasty joint pains since I started Imuran a few weeks ago, but also involuntary soasms of my calf muscles ... None of thishappens to me on pred, even high dose pred (currently on 7.5 mg). Anyway, I am quitting Imuran- these drugs and the biologics are simply not for me- like trying to fit a square peg in a round hole for my genes, apparently.
Posted 2/9/2013 8:42 AM (GMT 0)
I had that while I was on Pred too.
Posted 2/9/2013 3:40 PM (GMT 0)
I've had a lot of hand/foot cramping as well, but was never convinced it was the Imuran.
Generally, with UC your electrolytes and potassium are low , which causes cramping also.
With all these different things going on, it's hard to find the exact cause, but it definitely could be the Imuran, just not sure...
Posted 2/9/2013 5:48 PM (GMT 0)
Its the pred its the pred its the pred! Many times I wake up in the middle of the night with my foot cramped up in pain. The natural reaction for your muscles is to tighten up and try to move your foot to get rid of that cramp. I found the fastest way to stopping them is relax your muscles, after 10s, the pain will subside and you can keep relaxing even more and soon it will be gone.
Posted 2/9/2013 6:08 PM (GMT 0)
I've never been on pred but the severe foot cramping happened to me while I was on 6mp. When I stopped the 6mp, the cramping went away. But those cramps were horrendous!!!! And like you, swimming was especially troublesome.
Posted 2/9/2013 6:44 PM (GMT 0)
I had this with Prednisone. Lots of water, potassium and magnesium help I take MagTab SR, they are my favorite for this.
Posted 2/10/2013 3:52 PM (GMT 0)
I currently have this problem and I'm not on pred or aza. I am fairly sure I am deficient in every single mineral and vitamin under the sun because this flare has lasted so long. I just put it down to mineral deficiency. Will take up the advice of banana eating!
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