Mercaptopurine

I take 100 mg's a day of it. I dont have any side effects, and my liver handles it well. The only thing I ever noticed in the past was that it made me a little more tired throughout the day, but it doesnt seem to do that to me now.

It takes at least a month to see any results from this medicine, and its full effects wont be seen for 8-12 weeks. So dont expect it do anything for you for a while. However assuming it works as well for you as it does for me, your UC will practically disappear once it takes full effect.

I started taking 6-MP in July 08 after having no luck with steroids and other drugs. Symptoms came under control - not cured -within about 6 weeks. I put back on 10 lbs that I really needed. Main side effects are extreme fatigue, insomnia & white blood cell count is low. 50 mg per day. It has been more effective than anything else I've tried and when I've attempted to stop taking symptoms return within days. It's not perfect, but it's keeping me together and that's all I'm taking.  

Female, 39 - diagnosed with UC in 2000

I have been on 6-MP for 6 weeks now.  No side effects when i started out on 50mg, but when i increased to 75mg i have had nausea all day long.  My blood work also came back with very elevated liver enzymes.  Doc had me break dose up to twice a day to see if it would help, but it did not.  They have now dropped me back down to 50mg to see if they can bring my liver enzymes back to normal and get rid of the nausea.  Have to go back for blood work in 2 weeks to see if it is helping, if not they are going to try Imuran which i guess is the same but breaks down differently in your body than 6-MP and some people who can't tolerate 6-MP do better on Imuran. 

I am taking 6-MP to try and help me taper off of Prednisone (i am steroid dependant at this point) so i am not sure if it is helping my UC at all or not as i am still at a 'good' dose for my UC on the prednisone.... 

I have been on 6MP since March. My Dr. did a Prometheus test to see how my body was handling my dosage. It showed I was at higher risk for liver problems but my blood work always shows my liver is fine so he said that's all that matters. I started out on 50mg but we didn't see any result. My regular GI insists that 6MP takes 5 weeks to work but I then saw a specialist at Shands and he said it takes 3 months to work and I needed to increase to 75mg for my weight. Sure enough, by July I was in complete remission. I have since been able to lose 20 pounds and am hopeful of being able to come off the 6MP one day. I see my GI in November and he wants to do another Prometheus test and I want to see if we might be able to go back to 50mg. I haven't noticed any bad side effects. My dream is to be able to come off of it in the next few years and have another baby because I don't want to be pregnant on 6MP. I am very nervous headed into cold/flu season about getting sick. Everyone in my family got the flu shot, but I still feel like I'm going to catch everything from my immune system being compromised.