Side effects and fatigue

[callypat]

Hello, I'm new to this forum and to this disease. I was diagnosed with UC a few months ago and after more blood tests revealed Crohn's was switched from Entacort/Asacol to Humera/Imuran. My question is, does anyone else notice severe fatigue from the Imuran? I've also been experimenting with going on an off of it (the imuran) to see if that was the culprit. When I'm on it I sleep about 12 hours each night and need a nap by 3 pm every day that usually lasts about 4 hours.

I've been reading through some of the posts here and I see that my experimenting with this medication is not a good thing. I'm an online student and needed to go off for the last week in order to be able to focus on the work. It did seem to help, or was it all in my mind?

 

[Darkeffx]

I dont know about Imuran, but I definitely noticed that my mind changed a little when I was on prednisone. It wasnt anything life-altering, but I definitely noticed that it was a bit harder to focus on things, and school work took me a little longer to process than usual. Once I started to get used to it, it became easier to handle. Hope you feel better.

-Barry

 

[Mazen]

Imuran causes fatigue. Try to take it at night before you sleep, and see if you feel better.

 

[Cara Fusinato]

I am often fatigued and I'm not even on Imuran. Sometimes the bodily burden of the disease itself causes some fatigue.

 

[btcrv]

I'm with Cara... the disease itself makes me sleepy zzzz.... The pred usually perks me up but makes it hard to focus. Not really sure about the relationship between imuran and fatigue

 

[old hat]

Fatigue. That's a tough one.

Crohn's Disease itself can cause fatigue.
Cronic illnesses are often associated with stress and/or depression. Either or both of these can cause fatigue.
Fatigue is a possible side effect of many medications including imuran. It's almost up there with headache and dry mouth as a generic side effect.
Crohn's can cause nutritional deficiences like a vitamin B12 deficiency which can cause fatigue. It can also cause dehydration which can lead to electrolyte distrubances like sodium deficiency which can cause fatigue.
Almost any infectious disease can cause fatigue.
The list just goes on and on. The cause of fatigue is often very difficult to track down.

 

[DanSJVDavis]

Yeah, to my knowledge, it's not a good idea to monkey with Imuran doses while taking it without doctor approval. One of the reasons why I never started it after my new Gastro decided to try it on me (the other was the fact that I have a large cancer history in my family).

I usually look up any new med a doctor wants to try on me before I start taking it to see what it says it might do to me.