Azathioprine
- Thread starter moose185
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My son is on 6mp (sister drug of Azathiprine) and he had a little bit of nausea when he first started taking it. (50mg and he was 11 years old) The GI advised us to take it before bed so he could sleep through any nausea, and that worked great. We got a prescription for zofran (and anti-nausea med) just incase he needed it. He took it once or twice. His body adjusted in about 2 weeks and he has absolutely no side effects at all now. We were also told by our first GI not to eat or have milk products for 2 hours before taking it. Our new GI (we moved) said this was unnecessary. I know the levels in my son's blood tests was higher when we followed the no eating rule.
Our GI said if you are experiencing bad side effects your dose it probably too high. Also, some people will react to Imuran but not to 6mp. So if Aza doesn't work for you, one of the other drugs might.
This drug has been a miracle for us. My son is in complete remission now, gaining weight and growing. He feels great. It takes a while to start working, and to find the right dose and for your body to heal but it has been totally worth it for us. I would recommend you try it, you can always go off of it if it doesn't work for you. But, if you don't try you will never know.
Good luck
Our GI said if you are experiencing bad side effects your dose it probably too high. Also, some people will react to Imuran but not to 6mp. So if Aza doesn't work for you, one of the other drugs might.
This drug has been a miracle for us. My son is in complete remission now, gaining weight and growing. He feels great. It takes a while to start working, and to find the right dose and for your body to heal but it has been totally worth it for us. I would recommend you try it, you can always go off of it if it doesn't work for you. But, if you don't try you will never know.
Good luck
I take 75mg at the mo Azathioprine, its about to go up to 100mg. It does work well if your body can tolerate it, you have to be closely monitored. The only side effect I had was a few random blotches but they went away after few weeks, I have had some hair loss but that could be from prednisolone course I have just finished too.
It does take a while to get into your system, at least 3 months I believe?
Good luck, hope it works for you, there are other meds available too though.
It does take a while to get into your system, at least 3 months I believe?
Good luck, hope it works for you, there are other meds available too though.
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im on aza, 100mg daily.. it seems to be working great and i dont have any side effects. down to 5mg of prednisone every other day, so it could be the pred keeping my symptoms down, but usually my symptoms come back by the time ive gotten this low on the pred... the only complaint is i have to get immunizations that i normally would not even think of gettting.
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Hi there,
I only tolerated it for one day ,and then it caused me to suffer Pancreatitis. We all respond as individuals to meds. I was then on Methotrexate injections, self ministered for 4 months. This did not reduce the inflammation, so I went on Budesonide for a while. I do hope you get the meds that help you and you feel better soon. Best wishes.
:getwell:
I only tolerated it for one day ,and then it caused me to suffer Pancreatitis. We all respond as individuals to meds. I was then on Methotrexate injections, self ministered for 4 months. This did not reduce the inflammation, so I went on Budesonide for a while. I do hope you get the meds that help you and you feel better soon. Best wishes.
:getwell:
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Hi moose,
I have been on aza since 2003 with a 2 year break from 2008 to 2010. Azathioprin, as your GI surely told you, is an immunosuppresive drug, that is it's primary purpose is to help you manage your Crohn's im one simple way, it keeps your white blood cell count in the lower normal range, so if there is a trigger event (bad food, stress, etc.) your immune system has a hard time to overreact and create inflammation in the intestine. Having said that, aza cannot help you to actually get to remission, but it can help you once you are in remission to stay there.
More facts about aza:
1. It takes about 3-4 months to really be effective and suppress your immune system in a way that can help you long term.
2. It is not effective outside a range of 2 to 2.5mg per kg bodyweight or around 0.9 to 1.1mg per lbs. 50mg is a very low dose, but many GIs want to start low and then increase.
3. Aza can affect the liver, which is one reason why you need to do regular blood checks. Some GIs are content to do those checks every 8 weeks, some say you should do them every 4-6 weeks to be on the safe side.
4. Aza lowers the white blood cell count. It should stay in a rangenof about 3,500-5,000 (often blood results just say 4.0-10.0 as the normal range, it means 4,000-10,000 WBC - white blood cell count per mcL). The blood tests also check if the dosage isn't too strong or too weak.
5. Aza can lead to more severe infections, especially if there are other problems, like weight loss or a flare coinciding with getting sick. On the other hand, I have experienced fewer colds and generally a more stable health when it comes to infections.
6. Aza should be taken about the same time per day and under the same circumstance, at best at least split between morning and evening. That is because you want to keep a constant blood level of it instead of ups and downs.
7. Lastly, like any drug, aza doesn't help by itself. If you take it and you still keep on having problems, you can't say after 6 months (and no side effects) "damn, why ain't I good? It's not working". Aza helps, but it doesn't cure. Managing your Crohn's with an effective diet (knowing what to eat, how to eat and what not to eat), sport, stress relief, supplements if necessary etc. always comes first, drugs come second and only help you along.
All the best,
A
I have been on aza since 2003 with a 2 year break from 2008 to 2010. Azathioprin, as your GI surely told you, is an immunosuppresive drug, that is it's primary purpose is to help you manage your Crohn's im one simple way, it keeps your white blood cell count in the lower normal range, so if there is a trigger event (bad food, stress, etc.) your immune system has a hard time to overreact and create inflammation in the intestine. Having said that, aza cannot help you to actually get to remission, but it can help you once you are in remission to stay there.
More facts about aza:
1. It takes about 3-4 months to really be effective and suppress your immune system in a way that can help you long term.
2. It is not effective outside a range of 2 to 2.5mg per kg bodyweight or around 0.9 to 1.1mg per lbs. 50mg is a very low dose, but many GIs want to start low and then increase.
3. Aza can affect the liver, which is one reason why you need to do regular blood checks. Some GIs are content to do those checks every 8 weeks, some say you should do them every 4-6 weeks to be on the safe side.
4. Aza lowers the white blood cell count. It should stay in a rangenof about 3,500-5,000 (often blood results just say 4.0-10.0 as the normal range, it means 4,000-10,000 WBC - white blood cell count per mcL). The blood tests also check if the dosage isn't too strong or too weak.
5. Aza can lead to more severe infections, especially if there are other problems, like weight loss or a flare coinciding with getting sick. On the other hand, I have experienced fewer colds and generally a more stable health when it comes to infections.
6. Aza should be taken about the same time per day and under the same circumstance, at best at least split between morning and evening. That is because you want to keep a constant blood level of it instead of ups and downs.
7. Lastly, like any drug, aza doesn't help by itself. If you take it and you still keep on having problems, you can't say after 6 months (and no side effects) "damn, why ain't I good? It's not working". Aza helps, but it doesn't cure. Managing your Crohn's with an effective diet (knowing what to eat, how to eat and what not to eat), sport, stress relief, supplements if necessary etc. always comes first, drugs come second and only help you along.
All the best,
A
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Aza maintains long-term remission, it really doesn't help inducing remission. Think about it this way, you are flaring and your system is completely out of normal blood ranges, aza may reduce your white blood cell count, but that only means another flare may be prevented, but the current flare up is not treated. This is why GIs prescribe corticosteroids to get the inflammation under control short term and aza as the long term medication.
Well at the moment I'm feeling pretty ill. So I don't think aza would help. I can't understand why the doctor didn't put me on aza from the start when I was taking steroids as I felt better at the time that would have put me in long term remission. I don't know what to do.
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This is how it was explained to us...
Steroids work immediately to reduce inflammation. Aza takes from 3-6 months to build up enough in your body to start working. The Prednisone is meant to control things until the Aza can kick in.
Diet can help control symptoms and for some people diet will further irritate their GI system so they choose to go to a liquid diet or specific diet to help them get through a flare. We were told diet alone cannot cure crohns. If it were that easy, none of us would be here, because trust me it has been tried. My son continued to eat whatever he wanted because different foods never seemed to upset his stomach and he desperately needed to gain weight.
My son was put on 6mp and Prednisone at the same time. The thought was by the time he tapered the Prednisone the 6mp would have kicked in. It worked very well for him. I would ask my GI why he has chosen this course for you. Your GI should be able to help you work through this.
((((Hugs)))))
Steroids work immediately to reduce inflammation. Aza takes from 3-6 months to build up enough in your body to start working. The Prednisone is meant to control things until the Aza can kick in.
Diet can help control symptoms and for some people diet will further irritate their GI system so they choose to go to a liquid diet or specific diet to help them get through a flare. We were told diet alone cannot cure crohns. If it were that easy, none of us would be here, because trust me it has been tried. My son continued to eat whatever he wanted because different foods never seemed to upset his stomach and he desperately needed to gain weight.
My son was put on 6mp and Prednisone at the same time. The thought was by the time he tapered the Prednisone the 6mp would have kicked in. It worked very well for him. I would ask my GI why he has chosen this course for you. Your GI should be able to help you work through this.
((((Hugs)))))
