In need of some advice regarding azathioprine

hi everyone

i am 21 years old and was diagnosed with uc in june 2010 and have been hospitalised 5 times, since i was diagnosed i have only stopped bleeding while i was on a course of steroids i am currently taking 4.8g of mezavant and 200mg of azathioprine, and a steroid foam enema as the uc is more prominent at the lower end. At the moment i am bleeding quite alot but only going toilet twice a day so not quite a flare up yet i recently had my bloods checked and strangely everything came back completely normal.

My main reason for posting was i also got the levels of azathioprine in my blood checked i was told by my GI that the marker it should be at is 250 but the levels of azathioprine in my blood came back at 233 so below the required level for it to work properly.. i would like to stop taking this drug as i have been taking it since i was diagnosed and was still hospitalised 5 times also i am aware that it has alot of negative side effects, so as its below the required level to work properly would you recommend me stop taking it.

i am a first time poster but a long time reader and would just like to take the opportunity to thank everyone on this forum for all the help

Post Edited (jakhu) : 8/28/2012 2:22:57 PM (GMT-6)

hi quincy thanks for your reply

I suppose i am flaring but compared to when i have flared up before were i was going 30 times a day, this dont really feel like a flare if you know what i mean lol.

My last c-scope was in january but i was on steroids at the time so i dont think it was a a great indicator as to the health of my colon but it came back clear on the most part just a bit of inflamation in my rectum....

initially i was taking pentasa but my GI switched me to mezavant last September i only take the rectal enema as an when i need it but atm i have been taking the steroid enema for 3 nights..

thanks for the advice i edited it

Hi.. yup i understand what you mean.. i was going 30 times a day before i was diagnosed with uc in may 2010 and in the following year in january and september 2011. i have had a colonoscopy in dec 2010 and the shorter one last jan. At the moment im only going twice a day the stool is not formed but not completely runny either just really bloody.