Oh god 6mp

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Hi everyone! My name's Julia and I was diagnosed with Crohn's back in December. Since then I've been on Prednisone, trying to taper down. But the last time I tried to taper down to two pills, my symptoms flared up horribly. The doctor that I go to is really pushing that we start 6mp, but my parents really don't want to do that, trying things like Turmeric and Wormwood and Cat's Claw instead (yeah, they're weirdos). But I know that I can't stay on steroids for very long, or they'll cause all kinds of problems.

So what can I do? I'm so scared that even if I start 6mp, the side effects will force me to stop (I mean, it IS chemotherapy), or it won't work at all. But I'm also scared not to start 6mp, because I'm not really getting much better.

Please help? Just a little advice?
 
Hiya Julia! Sorry to hear about your diagnosis. I'm not *great* at giving advice, but I've had Crohn's for almost 7 years now and I've been on Azathioprine (basically the sister drug to 6MP - Aza is converted into 6MP in the body) for about two of them, so I thought I'd tell you my experience in case that helped.

6MP is used as chemotherapy, but it's used at a much lower dose for Crohn's than it is for chemo or transplant patients. That's not to say you won't get side effects, it's still possible, but it probably won't be on the same level. I had massive fatigue in the first few days, although that disappeared pretty quickly, and I was losing some hair, too - but I think that can be attributed to the Crohn's/malnutrition, as I'm still on Azathioprine now and I'm not losing any more hair than would be normal. The thing about side effects, I guess, is that you can't be sure you'll get any until you try the drug. That's not especially comforting - sorry!! - but it's true, you know? And if they are terrible, most of them go away once you stop the drug. The doctor won't want you to stay on a medication that's having a detrimental effect on your quality of life.

I was terrified that it wouldn't work for me, too! It did, eventually. But it's slow going. It normally takes 2-3 months to work, although it took about 6 for me. I didn't even know it was working until I started eating as much as I did on the prednisone!

I don't want to push you into anything, because my old GI kept insisting I go on Remicade even though I was terrified and we hadn't even considered Azathioprine yet and the pressure was so frustrating. But I wanted to tell you about my experience because I figured that your situation is like mine was when I started. It's not much, I know, but I hope it helped even a little - and I hope that you find remission soon!!
 
I've been on 6mp since I was diagnosed with crohns 3 years ago. I haven't had any side effects yet.
I also have IBS which makes me feel like I'm in flare even when I'm in remission. You could try checking out IBS to make sure you don't have it. It could help out a lot knowing whether or not you have it. It could also save a lot of later pain.
I hope 6mp works well for you! :)
 
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