175mg of imuran, feeling spaced out

[Will-]

Hi all,

Im new here but have been lurking for a while,Im 25 and was diagnosed with UC in april 2013. Since then i have been through every incarnation of mesalazine, non of which have worked well. Ive just started Imuran 4 days ago with my dose being 175mg, I'm also taking entocort at 6mg and tapering down.

The first two day i felt ok but now on my 4th day I'm feeling stupidly tired and spaced out. I used to regularly smoke pot when i was younger and this spaced out feeling is very similar to coming down from smoking a large amount of pot.

Has anyone else experienced feeling spaced out whilst taking imuran ?

 

[BlackLotus]

I have just started taking Imuran and felt a bit spaced out (125mg dose). It last about 30-45 mins then decreased.
Today, 2nd day, I did not feel spaced out yet.

 

[Grumbletum]

Hi Will
And a big warm welcome to the forum. I'm sorry to hear about your diagnosis of UC and I hope that your current med regime will help get things under control.
It's definitely hard to know what are effects of the disease and what are side effects of the meds when you're on quite a few. The spaced out feeling you describe is very familiar to me from when I was on Prednisolone, which is another steroid. I was also starting on Azathioprine ( Imuran ) while tapering and that made my brain even foggier.
Have you been on the Entocort since you were diagnosed? Your body can get steroid dependent when you've been on them for a while and it can take a while for your body to start producing adrenalin on its own again.

 

[Patricia56]

Sounds more like a side effect of tapering Entocort but everyone's reaction to meds is different so it could be the Imuran or a combination of the two. Entocort is actually a very powerful steroid and a certain amount of it effects your whole body so tapering can have the same effects as tapering off prednisone for some people.

Don't drive or operate dangerous machines like power tools until you feel clearer headed. Bad enough you have CD don't need an accident on top of that.

 

[Will-]

Thanks for the info guys,

In regards to the spaced out feeling being attributed to the steroids I've tapered down from large doses of pred before and I've never felt like this. I spoke to my IBD nurse this morning and my Dr doesn't seem to think i am able to tolerate imuran. They have suggested i try 100mg of imuran but from what they've said they appear to have reservations about me taking it.

Im still feeling spaced out and wobbly on my feet, my bones ache and I'm that hit by a freight train find of tired. To top it all off I'm starting to have bowel problems again :/

Don't you just love IBD

 

[Patricia56]

Sorry. Maybe MTX?

 

[Grumbletum]

Did you start straight away on 175g? My doc started me on 25mg and had me increase by 25g every two weeks til I reached my therapeutic dosage.

 

[Orchid]

That's an unusually high starting dose, I have to ask if you're a heftier person because that's the only way I could see that kind of starting dose justified. Good thing, most adjustment side effects will go away after a few weeks.

 

[Will-]

I figured it was i large dose to start with but that must be the way they do it here in the UK, Im 6,6 and 80 kilos so i suppose i am a hefty person in some sense but I'm definitely not over weight. The way the dose is worked out is 2>2.5 mg x weight in kilos.

I tried 100mg yesterday and i felt worse than ever, i could hardly walk and my leg bone ached like hell. Going to give Imuran a rest until i see my doctor in a couple of weeks. In the mean time I'm continuing with the entocort and mesavancol.