HealingWell
Search Close Search
☰

Does azathioprine always cause tiredness?

Support Forums
>
Ulcerative Colitis
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply
❬ ❬ Previous Thread |Next Thread ❭ ❭
Posted 3/5/2015 2:02 PM (GMT 0)
Hello there, before I start I wanted to say this looks a great forum, I see alot of people getting good opinions here so keep it up :-)

Anyway, I'm on Asacol at the moment, I'm starting azathioprine with it soon. Is it true on it's own azathioprine makes you tired/drowsy, and if so is it minor? Anyone took it without feeling tired? Allegedly it helps to take it before you go to sleep or something. I may take natural supplements for extra energy or just have a diet to do the same.

Also, is there anyone who's taken azathioprine who had zero side effects, the same for anyone who's taken aza combined with asacol? Again, great forum. :-)
Posted 3/5/2015 2:28 PM (GMT 0)
I've never been tired or drowsy on 6mp, a very similar medication to aza (just metabolized a little differently in the body).
Posted 3/5/2015 3:01 PM (GMT 0)
I've never had side effects from aza, however I've heard of it making people tired and that taking it at night helps
Posted 3/5/2015 3:45 PM (GMT 0)
I have been on it a week last tues. Yes i am so tired! But managing. If that is the only side affect I get I will be happy!
Posted 3/5/2015 5:43 PM (GMT 0)
Not always. It is a side effect, but it's important to realize really common side effects are also where the placebo effect is strongest.

I've been taking 50mg for a few weeks now and feel absolutely fine, no side effects other than a headache that lasted for about a day and a half a while back. But that went away.
Posted 3/5/2015 8:39 PM (GMT 0)
It doesn't always make you tired, not everyone has the same side effects, but for me it wasn't good lol. Don't want to scare you away because lots of people have great success with it.

I started out on 100mg daily. It did cause me to be very tired, to the point where I felt like I could just lay down on the ground and fall asleep sometimes, never mind that it's 10 degrees outside. That wasn't the worst side effect for me though. I had dizziness and nausea with it. After throwing up a few times I called my doctor and he bumped it down to 50mg and then said after a week go back to 100mg but split into 2 doses. I didn't make it through the 50mg week though. Kept throwing up. I always took it with food and I tried different times of day, but nothing worked.

You could have zero side effects though. We're all different. Give it a whirl! :) I really hope it works for you!
Posted 3/5/2015 9:51 PM (GMT 0)
Not always. It is a side effect, but it's important to realize really common side effects are also where the placebo effect is strongest.

I'm not so sure those side-effects can be labeled as the placebo effect. People take medications with the intention of them working and not causing harm, so, if anything, those symptoms fit the definition of side-effect to a tee.

As an example, when a former doc of mine put me on imuran a long time ago he assured me there would not be any side effects. I desperately wanted to believe him and that the fatigue, tiredness, malaise, nausea, hair loss were not from the imuran. Unfortunately, they were and everything returned to normal after discontinuation.

These are documented side effects. People can't make it up or feel them. Using the same logic, would you say that our UC diagnosis is also the placebo effect?
Posted 3/6/2015 3:00 AM (GMT 0)
I know when i get real side effects, like now, since back on steriod enemas i am puffing up, getting the same rash, etc. dang i hate Steriods. The enemas are worse for me then the uceris! Gonna go back to canasa every other night for a bit.
Posted 3/6/2015 4:49 AM (GMT 0)
I was on 6mp for 6+ years, which is almost identical to the azathioprine once they're metabolized. I often had complaints of fatigue unfortunately. I was almost always on it along with a 5-asa type drug like you are.

I still was able to live my life pretty well though. It wasn't perfect, but I think a lot of people do really well on it.
Posted 3/6/2015 5:26 AM (GMT 0)
I've been on it for almost 4 months now. For me, its not that I'm tired all the time. My energy levels are fine most days. But some days I get home from work and immediately crash out for 1-2 hours. I would call it inexplicable exhaustion rather than tiredness.
Posted 3/6/2015 7:41 AM (GMT 0)
No noticeable side effects after first month. I take first thing in the morning and not with food as that suits me and has forever. Try it - only way is to see how your body reacts. Good luck.
Posted 3/6/2015 1:34 PM (GMT 0)
On 250mg day. UC in general also makes you fatigued after so many years. Really won't know the effects of the AZA till you take it.
Posted 6/6/2016 9:07 AM (GMT 0)
I have just realised that I am much more tired than usual! I've been on azathioprine for 3 months plus now and doing really well on the uc front, but I get home and crash. It's almost like blacking out. So tiredness is clearly a price I have to pay. Well worth it and much better than the ghastly steroids that don't work for me anymore. I'm happy to rest and sleep more with a calm colon!

Cx
Posted 6/6/2016 9:36 AM (GMT 0)
I've been on it for 8 years and never experienced tiredness from it. I do have tiredness when starting to flare.
Posted 6/6/2016 11:23 AM (GMT 0)
Ulcerative colitis can itself cause fatigue. Anemia (low iron levels) can cause fatigue. There are multiple possible sources.

I was on 6mp for 2 years and didn't experience tiredness.
Posted 6/6/2016 12:43 PM (GMT 0)
Long time user of aza (15yrs and counting!) - no tiredness. No side effects as such (lower immunity of course). As mentioned above ... Anaemia which often goes hand in hand with IBD can cause a whole host of symptons.
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply