Temporary side effects of Imuran?

Hey everyone,

I took my first dose of Imuran... pill bottle just says azathioprine, so I assume it's just the active ingredient of imuran, right?

Anyway, very minor nausea, became sleepy very fast. I don't know if it's placebo but my colon seems calmer even though it's supposed to take a long time for the medicine to work.

One side effect I'm experiencing is listlessness, and inability to focus. My reaction time is significantly slowed down. I almost crashed into a construction site that I would have been aware of and easily avoided had I been in my normal state of mind. I haven't been driving a lot or far from my house today, but after that I am definitely going to limit my driving. That being said, is this azathioprine brain fog a temporary side effect? If so, how long should I expect to experience it? Any other things I should be on the look out for while taking this drug?

One dose of imuran wont cause any of that. The placebo effect will however. The problem is that if you THINK it is causing these issues, then you will likely continue to experience them. Try to tell yourself that its side effects dont occur is <24 hours and hopefully these things will subside a bit. That being said, were entering into the realm of psychology in which I am no where near qualified

Nausea, malaise, fatigue... these are all documented side-effects of azathioprine in the medical literature. I can assure you it is NOT the placebo effect. People are going way overboard with the definition of the placebo effect. It generally applies to situations where the sugar pill ends up curing an illness, and not to adverse medication reactions.

You are experiencing an adverse reaction and you should discuss with your doctor about discontinuing the drug. I think the user Mcfarl had similar issues and this prompted her to discontinue the drug. I had similar issues with it and I discontinued it. Everything returned to normal after discontinuation. No more fatigue, nausea or brainfog. It had zero to do with the placebo effect.

i was a daydreaming zombie the first couple of weeks along with nausea, think of it as an initiation ceremony that could last for ~4 weeks and Don't give up!.

for the lack of energy i used Arcalion 200 and a multivitamin, for nausea (not from acidity) Navidoxine or the much stronger Zofran after 1~2 months all of those side effects subsided completely.

Ahh, just can't wait to jump on this band wagon it sounds lovely.

Update: I felt pretty normal today. Yesterday the feeling was really strong, and wasn't easily shaken off. If it's the nocebo effect, then darn, the brain is really powerful. If that's the case, I almost crashed because of the nocebo effect which would have been a shame. Take heed people, limit your reading about side effects, can be less helpful than you think!

Whenever I start thinking about it, I start getting that feeling back mildly, so I think it's more likely the nocebo effect in play for me. Feel a little silly about this, but hopefully others can learn from this!