Flu- worried about imuran

I have the flu, and am nervous Cuz I'm on imuran. Has anyone experienced this I feel awful

Have you had a flu swab to confirm influenza? If so, why are you not taking tamiflu?

Then go get a swab and get yourself tamiflu if the swab is positive.

influenza would include respiratory.

so he says virus in your stomach. did you ask if your system would be impaired in fighting it by the Imuran?

How does one mix up stomach flu and respiratory flu....

In either case, yes imuran will make you take longer to get better, but there is no way to change that now, even if you did stop imuran immediately.

Tamiflu must be taken immediately if its going to be taken, its probably too late at this point

You should have the flu vaccine whilst being on imuran. Nothing to worry about that. Imuran will only slightly suppress your immune system but not to the point where you can't fight viruses. Yes it may take a little longer to get rid of the flu but you should not have it any more severe than when you were not on imuran. It should only be a worry if your white blood count is low.

I wondered about that to. As far as I know there is no such thing as a stomach "flu". I'm surprised the doctor used that terminology.

Please excuse me for not reading all he details of the thread. It seems there is confusion about if you have the flu or what type of flu. I wanted to give you my imuran experience from a couple of months ago. It was the first thing I tried after Prednisone and the ASA family of drugs. I received Imuran (as a generic form azathioprine) and was OK for a few days and then suddenly I got what I thought was flu. High fever (103.8F) total inability to control my body temperature, and finally shaking below my waist that was so uncontrollable and lasted so long (hours) that I whacked out my ankles and knees and hips so badly that I could not walk well for 3 days. The problems whent on 4 3 nights. I'd be OK during the day, take the meds and about 8 hours later my temp would climb, the sweating and shaking would start and it really felt like the worst flu ever (and I"m a lightweight on flu). I thought it was flue + azathioprine and took 3 days to contact my doc. They took me off it immediately calling my case a sever serum reaction.

My point is, talk to our prescriber, your main doc, and anyone experienced with azathioprine. My case is atypical but it showed the same sings I think you are seeing: meds+time~=bad pseudo flu. I suspect there is no flu at all involved and it is just azathioprine. I was on the edge there with Imuran - one or 2 more nights like that and I might have passed at my own hand - it was that awful.

Check with the doc/hospital/experienced nurses/etc. Do it now.NOW. We want you on the boards next week to tell us you are still here.

NotDancing: I had that same reaction with mesalamines! My body just completely rejected them. I was on lialda and it caused horrible symptoms. Severe cramping, vomitting, diarrhea, fever, chills, muscle aches, I thought I was dying. Got off of it and felt better. Then my doctor wanted to have me back on it again to make sure it was actually the lialda and not just an illness. I was like uhh no. I'm convinced that is what progressed my uc too. It used to be very mild and symptom free and after that it progressed to severe pancolitis treated with remicade.

Depending on if this is a new medication for the poster, you could be right. If it's been a while though I'd say it's a stomach bug.