daughter put on 6mp

6mp is an immunosuppresant. It generally takes a while for it to kick in, if it's going to work. I was told it could take 3-4 months. I didn't see any improvement and had alot of unpleasant side effects, so I was taken off of it.

I've been on Imuran for over a year now. Imuran is similar to 6MP - they are both immunosuppresants.

Imuran and Rowasa were the only things that could get me off of pred and out of a flare in 2006. I was steroid dependent and had been on pred for about six months when I started Imuran. It does take 2-3 months, on average, to take effect.

My 8 year old is currently on 6mp and colazal and just about weaned off of Prednisone (down to 1mg every other day for one more week and then done!!) She is doing very well! She started it in August

My 16 year old son is on Imuran since July - his liver and white blood counts did not do well on 6mp, but Imuran is a bit better. The drugs are closely related. Sometimes his liver levels are very slightly elevated, but not real bad. He is doing really well at this time, too. He had been flaring for over a year when we started the Imuran and Prednisone. He has been of the pred. since Sept. (I think).

I hope your daughter find some relief soon. This disease is so hard to deal with, especially with children!!

I take Azathioprine which is similar to 6-MP. I've been on it since summer 2002 and my GI believes that this is what put me into remission and what has kept me in remission since that summer. Your daughter seems to be on a lot of meds, but hopefully once her UC is under more control her doctor will ween her off some of those.

http://www.cnn.com/HEALTH/library/DS/00598.html

Immune system suppressors
These drugs also reduce inflammation, but they target your immune system rather than treating inflammation itself. Because immune suppressors can be effective in treating ulcerative colitis, scientists theorize that damage to digestive tissues is caused by your body's immune response to an invading virus or bacterium or even to your own tissue. By suppressing this response, inflammation is also reduced. Immunosuppressant drugs include:

* Azathioprine (Imuran) and mercaptopurine (Purinethol). These drugs have been used to treat Crohn's disease for years, but their role in ulcerative colitis is only now being studied. Because azathioprine and mercaptopurine act slowly, they're sometimes initially combined with a corticosteroid, but in time, they seem to produce benefits on their own, with less long-term toxicity. Side effects are not minor, however, and can include allergic reactions, bone marrow suppression, infections, and inflammation of the liver and pancreas.

I never personally had any success with 6mp. All it did was make in completely impossible for me to fight of mono!! However, my cousin's husband was in REALLY rough shape, almost to the point of surgery and he tried imuran and I think he's been in remission for something like 5 years. Its always different for everyone.
Hope your daughter starts to feel better!

Sam

p.s I'm 19 too and I'm sure my mom can related to worries :)

I've heard what everyone else has said, that 6mp can take a few months to really see a difference so you have to be patient with it, that some people see a great improvement on it and others don't. The dreaded Prednisone should help things settle down in the meantime so she can feel a little better although it creates its own problems, it is a quick fix that works for pretty much everybody. I hope she can get back to more of what a young woman should feel like. It is a shame she needs all those tests when she is feeling so bad as it is. Why is she getting all those tests? When was her last colonoscopy if you don't mind me asking?

PLEASE - 6-MP takes ages to "kick in". It only really even starts to take effect in the body after 3 to 4 months. For me, it took 6.

With regard to Remicade, yes - in my case I am on a trial drug called Abatacept which has similar risks involved. I am glad I did as I believe this was one of the major things that has helped reign this flare back in and help me get off prednisone.

To be honest, my take is this with regard to the risks of Biologics - I would rather live a life span of 50 years, with a full 50 years of full quality of life, rather then 80 years unhappy and stuck on the toilet all day and feeling trapped.