Hey everyone! Hope everybody is doing ok.
I have been diagnosed with Crohns 4 months ago and I am currently tapering cortisone (started at 30mg, now at 10 mg) and also I started azathioprine 50 mg a day two weeks ago.
For the first two weeks I did not have any problem at all. I was taking the cortisone in the morning and aza after lunch. Suddenly last Monday in the afternoon (about 5-6 hours after I took aza) i started feeling a little bit of stomach cramping at the area between the belly button and the sternum. Also i developed a slight fever that lasted till next day in the morning.
Since my GI has told me to be alert about possible side effects I went straight for blood exams the next day where I saw that amylase was slightly elevated (110 with upper limit 100) and my CRP was like 3 times the normal value. I took AZA at dinner and sent the exams to my GI via email.
4-5 hours later I woke up with an intense stomach-belly ache that was in the center area and started vomiting. Also my temperature started to rise. Got kinda freaked out so I went to the hospital where I stayed for one day and they run every single exam on me. My pancreas was normal at the ultrasound and amylase got up a bit more (140) but still relatively ok so my GI said that pancreatitis is probably not the case. They mentioned that maybe it was a stomach virus or smth like that but a definitive diagnosis was not established. My blood exams after a day turned out ok and I got back home.
My GI told me to discontinue AZA for 2 weeks and rechallenge it again just to be on the safe side.
My questions are the following?
1)Has this happened to anybody? Is vomiting a thing with AZA?
2)Does this mean that I have an allergy to AZA?
3)Any tips about taking AZA to avoid vomiting episodes?
Thank you all and god bless you.
Deadstar
I have been diagnosed with Crohns 4 months ago and I am currently tapering cortisone (started at 30mg, now at 10 mg) and also I started azathioprine 50 mg a day two weeks ago.
For the first two weeks I did not have any problem at all. I was taking the cortisone in the morning and aza after lunch. Suddenly last Monday in the afternoon (about 5-6 hours after I took aza) i started feeling a little bit of stomach cramping at the area between the belly button and the sternum. Also i developed a slight fever that lasted till next day in the morning.
Since my GI has told me to be alert about possible side effects I went straight for blood exams the next day where I saw that amylase was slightly elevated (110 with upper limit 100) and my CRP was like 3 times the normal value. I took AZA at dinner and sent the exams to my GI via email.
4-5 hours later I woke up with an intense stomach-belly ache that was in the center area and started vomiting. Also my temperature started to rise. Got kinda freaked out so I went to the hospital where I stayed for one day and they run every single exam on me. My pancreas was normal at the ultrasound and amylase got up a bit more (140) but still relatively ok so my GI said that pancreatitis is probably not the case. They mentioned that maybe it was a stomach virus or smth like that but a definitive diagnosis was not established. My blood exams after a day turned out ok and I got back home.
My GI told me to discontinue AZA for 2 weeks and rechallenge it again just to be on the safe side.
My questions are the following?
1)Has this happened to anybody? Is vomiting a thing with AZA?
2)Does this mean that I have an allergy to AZA?
3)Any tips about taking AZA to avoid vomiting episodes?
Thank you all and god bless you.
Deadstar
