Azathioprine- Imuran

Hi everyone,   My diet is no longer working. Maybe because I tried to introduce foods and it made another flare up, I don’t know, but I reduced all my foods again, down to a bear minimum, and still nothing is helping the flare. I spoke to the doctor and they gave me a scope, and this time it came back as sever proctitis with some small ulcers in the sigmoid. So now they want to put me on Azathioprine, so I am looking for any good stories or any bad stories, also information about the drug. I have googled it and know that it is also used for transplant patients, but I think it is best to hear from your experiences.   Thanks guys. You know maybe surgery is better than all this.

First, enemas can reach all the way to the sigmoid just fine. I had my inflammation till the flexure last year and I still used enemas.

Second, here is a good Azathioprine story: I used to be on Aza around 2006 for approximately 2 years. It worked fine but then I flared again. My GI told me to lay it off. We tried many different other things. Years later, I moved and my new GI wanted to try Aza again. That was around in February. Together with Uceris I became symptom-free. Today I am no longer on steroids and only Aza and still doing well.

What was your diet?

If I noticed blood and mucus again yes.

I was on Imuran for a short while and it really hammered my Liver bad. If you try it make sure to keep an eye on your liver numbers.

I too have severe proctitis. I tried canasa, lialda, cortenemas and suppositories and eventually last summer had to go on prednisone. In December I started Imuran and just this July I am almost in remission! I had finger joint pain for the first few months on Imuran. My doctor is still having me do bloodwork every 2 weeks to make sure my liver is healthy. It is. So, I have had success, though I admit it was frustrating to have to wait so long to see results. I did improve within 2 months, but it took 5 more months to really feel better. I am glad I was patient.I also feel better when I use my suppositories. They are especially helpful with proctitis. My doc was talking about remicade, but I wanted to give the Imuran more time (plus we increased the dosage). Hope this helps!