cant get of imuran

Hello I'm a 32 year old male who has had uc for 17 years for 14 of those I've been on imuran it has changed my life by giving me my life back but I'm on it to long and can't get off it has any body any suggestions would be great to find out
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what do you mean you can't get off it? Do your symptoms return when you stop the med? My GI recently wanted me to try to get off Imuran, I too have been on it a long time, & I also feel it's done wonders for my UC. So I went from 150mgs down to 100mgs, & within a matter of days, got increased gas, mucous, rumbly stomach, etc. I tried it 3x, dropping from 150 to 100, same results. So... I'm back at 150mgs, where I plan to stay. Long-term use of the med is not harmful, & ppl. with IBD take a pretty low dose of it, overall, when compared with transplant patients who are on high doses for the rest of their lives. I just wonder why you want to get off it at all, if it's helping?

I wonder if you alternated days or had it compounded to be a smaller decrease in dose instead of a big drop. 150 to 100 is a big decrease.

Also have you tried LDN while you were still on Imuran?

I feel for you. I live in the rock and a hard place too :( Hope you are able to get off it.

Have you tried to get off in the past with bad results? When was the last time you tried? Do you scopes you any inflammation at all or are you in remission?
I think different docs have different opinions on this - some feel if it's working stay on it, others want the patient to get off since it is a strong drug with serious (but rare) side effects. Our GI told us she would want remission confirmed by scope for three years and then to wean. As others have said the dose for UC is pretty low compared to transplant patients etc who use it for life, but then these drugs save their lives and they have no choice where as for UC there is one (a bad one but still..).
LDN is Low dose naltrexone which some people use to treat their IBD and other AI diseases. There are some preliminary studies which support this. You might have to investigate how to do get in Ireland though as most GIs will not prescribe it.
You might want to look into fecal transplant as well - it's another "fringe" therapy which is becoming increasingly mainstream and there's a lot of information on this site about different protocols and results.
Good luck, I hope you figure something out

Many thanks for your time and help