How dos 6mp compare to Imuran

[jenstaci]

Cost wise? side effects? effectiveness? any advice is greatly appreciated!:sign0144::

 

[DustyKat]

I can't answer to the cost as I don't live in the US and our medications are subsidised.

Side effects are the same but having a side effect to one it doesn't always follow that you will have a side effect to the other. Both of my children are on Imuran and neither has issues with it.
They were prescribed it post surgery as a maintenance medication and both have maintained remission since that time, 6 years and 18 months respectively.

You may find this article interesting...

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1046/j.1365-2036.2000.00812.x/full

and this...

Comparative effectiveness of azathioprine in Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis: prospective, long-term, follow-up study of 394 patients.
Gisbert JP, Niño P, Cara C, Rodrigo L.

Source
Gastroenterology Unit, Hospital Universitario de la Princesa and Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Hepáticas y Digestivas, Madrid, Spain. [email protected]
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18485129

Abstract
BACKGROUND:
The long-term efficiacy for thiopurinic drugs in Crohn's disease (CD), and particularly in ulcerative colitis (UC), has been insufficiently studied.

AIM:
To evaluate prospectively and compare the long-term effectiveness of azathioprine (AZA) in CD and UC.

METHODS:
Three hundred and ninety-four AZA treated patients were included consecutively included. Truelove-modified index and CDAI were used to assess effectiveness. Hospitalizations and surgical procedures were recorded.

RESULTS:
Two hundred and thirty-eight patients with CD and 156 with UC received AZA for a median of 38 months.
EFFECTIVENESS: Partial response/remission was achieved in 34%/49% of CD patients and in 47%/42% of UC (nonstatistically significant differences). STEROID TREATMENT: Prior to AZA, 49% of CD patients were receiving steroids, whereas only 8% needed steroids after therapy (P < 0.001). Corresponding figures in UC patients were 39% vs. 9% (P < 0.001). HOSPITALIZATIONS: Prior to AZA, the rate of hospitalizations in CD was 0.190 per-patient-year, while after treatment, it decreased to 0.099 (P < 0.001). Corresponding hospitalization rates in UC were 0.108 vs. 0.038 (P < 0.001). SURGERY: The rate of surgery in CD prior/after AZA was 0.038/0.011 per-patient-year (P < 0.001). The number of surgical interventions in UC prior/after AZA treatment was 26/0 (the rate per-patient-year was 0.018/0) (P < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS:
Our results confirm the effectiveness of AZA in inflammatory bowel disease, not only in the short term but also in the long term, resulting in a steroid sparing effect and in both a reduction in the number of hospitalizations and surgical procedures. AZA is similarly effective for both CD and UC patients.

HTH!
Dusty. xxx

 

[AZMOM]

Dusty's answer is more comprehensive than mine.....our GI says they're 'cousins'. Some people can tolerate one more than the other. They're metabolized just a little differently.....

J.