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6mp short term

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Ulcerative Colitis
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Posted 2/20/2012 5:22 PM (GMT 0)
Has anyone ever tried to use 6mp and tapered off without flaring?  My ob said if I wanted another baby to get on it for a while and then taper off while I was pregnant.  I was better symptom wise during pregancy and nursing. 

I have not started 6mp yet but it seems like I'm going to have no choice soon.

Posted 2/20/2012 6:33 PM (GMT 0)
I know of children who have been on 6mp and have gotten off after going into remission but they stayed on the drug for at least two years before tapering off. I've interrogated various GIs about this and most don't want to leave their patients (in our case children) on it for too long if possible. The goal is endoscopic remission 2-3 years then taper. But that's no guarantee that they won't flare, it's basically up to the parents/patients and many decide to stay on the drug apparently.
Posted 2/20/2012 6:37 PM (GMT 0)
I believe 6MP & Imuran take a long time to get up to a therapeutic level also, like months & months. So it doesn't seem applicable as a short-term med. I know when I started it, my GI wanted me on it at least 6 months prior to starting Remicade, he said that it can take that long for the immune suppressants to build up to a therapeutic level. How short-term is your ob/gyn talking about? You may want to ask your GI also, get their take on it.
Posted 2/20/2012 6:57 PM (GMT 0)
My GI has never mentioned tapering off of the drug. I have seen people who have had children while taking 6mp but it's not ideal. I can understand wanting to be medication free if possible. If you feel better during pregnancy, maybe it will work out that you can stabilize with 6mp and then stop it while you're pregnant and get back on it after the baby is born if necessary. Unfortunately for me, it took a very long time to respond to 6mp, I wasn;t able to get into the theraputic range easily, it took time and monitoring... This isn't the case for everyone, hopefully you will respond quickly and get things under control so you can focus on having a baby,
Posted 2/21/2012 2:00 AM (GMT 0)
i will be off 6mp by march and i started it aug. 2011. my doctor said 6mp is a dangerous drug and it shouldn't be taken long term- just enough to get you into remission.
Posted 2/21/2012 3:13 AM (GMT 0)
I don't think 6 mp is meant to be used like pred with a taper off. It's a maintenance med.
Posted 2/21/2012 3:13 AM (GMT 0)
Just to let you know that every pregnancy is different. With my son my UC symptoms got better and I had energy throughout my pregnancy. I would have a sudden urge to go to the bathroom each morning when I was nursing but other than that everything was fine and manageable. I had a colonoscopy and my GI said that my colon looked like I had never been sick. With my daughter I was sick from day 1 with morning sickness for 4 months and then the last 2 months I had lots of mucous in my stool and used cortifoam to reduce the inflammation. After giving birth my UC symptoms improved immediately. Hopefully you will not have these issues and have a healthy pregnancy to come.
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