just finish pred, whan does imuran kick in

hi all.. ive just finish my pred THANK GOD, and been taking imuran just over 3 weeks, im just wondering how long does it take imuran to work? i know it can take up 3 months but can it work sooner? i just pray the pred will keep things settle down untill then, also i love the sun not that we get much in ireland,but it says i have to stay out of sun and used a high factor, does this mean i cant sunbathe? if so no use going on hoildays.THANKS

Hi Pauly - Imuran took 4 months to fully kick in for me but I did see some improvement after 6-8 weeks.  I then slowly improved every week after that.  I have been completely symptom free since the first part of Feb.  I am also now off all other meds.  Even though it takes a while for it to start to work, it was worth the wait for me. 

I am lucky to now have a very educated and experienced doctor.  He has treated MANY patients with Imuran.  According to him, I need to take the same precautions in the sun as anyone else should.  Use a good sunscreen and avoid sunburns.  Of course we should all do that anyway, Imuran or no Imuran...  :)

 

Pauly123:

MyUC here again.  Yes, the Imuran can take a few months to kick in but it started work within 3-4 weeks for me.  I was having my blood checked every week when I started.  Remember I had a high wbc due to a high eosinophil count.  What I am trying to say is that my case was unusual and not the norm.  My wbc started at around the 35k mark and each week the wbc count plummeted to the normal value, below 10k.  So I could monitor the effectiveness of the Imuran.  Please be patient.  It works for many.  If and once it works it can give you decades of colitis free life.  We are here 4 U.

MyUC

Pauly123:

Please don't pay attention to the details of my story.  My ulcerative colitis story was a lot more involved than most and I am also a dentist with some medical backround in me.  WBC stands for white blood count.  It's when doctors draw blood from you and have it run through a machine that counts the number and types of cells in your blood.  There are approximately 5 different type of cells in whold blood.  One of them is an eosinophil which is usually involved in allergic reactions.  I am of Indian descent and it's been knows for a very small percentage of Asians who have ulcerative colitis thier eosinophil count can spike.  Mine did. 

Again please don't get bogged down by my story.  I regret bringing it up.  What I was trying to say is that please be patient.  Imuran take weeks/months to kick in but once it does it can give your life back.

MyUC

Pauly, it took forever to work for me. Not to get your discouraged but I had a lot of trouble getting into the theraputic range because I had a lot of toxicity to my liver from 50mg. Red aka Sherry had the same situation. After 3 months of being on 6mp without much improvement in my condition (on pred the whole time), I was feeling like I would have to move on to Remicade. Luckily my GI had another solution. I added allopurinol to the 6mp and the levels completely swapped. Suddenly, I was above the theraputic range and the toxicity went way down. about 2 or 3 months after this, I was feeling like there was some hope. This is not a normal situation though, most seee results within 3 months, usually well before the 3 month mark. All I am saying is, try not to get discouraged, 3 weeks on pred is short, great job on getting off so quickly! If you want to go on holiday to the sun, bring a hat and sit under an uumbrella with a book and a cocktail, that's what I intend on doing :) It's better for our skin anyway.

are you experiencing any symptoms since stopping prednisone? are you just using suppositories? have you tried Asacol oral?