Will the side effects go away?

[texasagg02]

I starting taking 6-mp last Thursday after we decided the Pentasa was not enough to keep my Crohns quiet by itself (weaning off Entocort). I am miserable, back is killing me, now joint pain in my hips, headache, chills just generally feeling bad with no energy, I am hungry but nothing sounds good! I am willing to give this med a chance but only if these side effects will go away! I have a 7 and 5 year old and I can not take care of them like I want to and we have NO family here to help!

I think I felt a little off when I started Pentasa but it mellowed out pretty quickly. This has been a week now!

Just wondering if this happened to anyone else??? I do have a call into my GI just to touch base with him but still waiting for a call back.

 

[Trysha]

Hello Texasagg:ghug:
Sorry you are feeling so bad, but you have done the right thing to call your doctor who will hopefully respond quickly to your needs.
If you go to the Treatment section of the forum you may find information to help you.
I don't know the detail of 6-mp or how long side effects may last. A week sounds a long time to me.
Hopefully there will be other members along soon that may have had this treatment.
Feel better soon
Hugs and best wishes
Trysha

 

[DJW]

Hi. When I went on Imuran, which I believe is similar, the pharmacist said I could expect to feel like I had the flu. It lasted about a week and then subsided. It took about 3 months for all the side effects to disappear.

 

[CrohnsChicago]

It is very likely that you are experiencing withdrawal side effects from Entocort. I had very similar issues whenever i would wean off of steroids. Especially the joint pain in my hips and knees and it would last for a few weeks until the steroids were far enough out of my system.

6-mp does weaken your immune system so colds and flus may occur more frequently though this is not always the case with everyone.

Definitely call your doctor and you two discuss your symptoms and which medications he thinks could be causing the problem.

I starting taking 6-mp last Thursday after we decided the Pentasa was not enough to keep my Crohns quiet by itself (weaning off Entocort). I am miserable, back is killing me, now joint pain in my hips, headache, chills just generally feeling bad with no energy, I am hungry but nothing sounds good! I am willing to give this med a chance but only if these side effects will go away! I have a 7 and 5 year old and I can not take care of them like I want to and we have NO family here to help!

I think I felt a little off when I started Pentasa but it mellowed out pretty quickly. This has been a week now!

Just wondering if this happened to anyone else??? I do have a call into my GI just to touch base with him but still waiting for a call back.

 

[texasagg02]

Thanks for the replies!!

My dr called and pulled me off the 6-mp to see if I got better. After 48 hours I started feeling better. I should get blood test results back on Monday. Depending on how those look and how I feel we might try 6-mp again to see if maybe I just got a virus or if it really was side effects from the 6-mp. I really think it was the 6-mp!

It's not withdrawal from the entocort because I am back on the full dose (and have been for 2 weeks since my flare when trying to wean off). That's what made us realize pen rasa is not enough any more...

We will see where we go from here!

 

[CrohnsChicago]

Glad you all figured it out an d are feeling better! Good luck with the blood tests I hope they come back and you can try again without having to resort to anything stronger than 6mp.

Best wishes :hug:

 

[ErikaHouston]

I felt awful after I first started Imuran. It took a good month + to feel "normal" again. I have now been on it for 3 years 3 months and in remission for just under 3 years. If you can give it another shot it might be worth it to avoid the stronger drugs. I keep those in my back pocket . Where in NC are you? I was originally diagnosed/treated in Houston TX but now live in Charlotte.

 

[texasagg02]

ErikaHouston, I am in Wake Forest just outside of Raleigh. I actually grew up in Texas! (San Antonio and then went to Texas A&M then continued to live in the Bryan College Station area for a year or 2 after I graduated. I miss it!!!!

Update: I started the 6-mp again and did not feel good for about 4 days. Yesterday was my first somewhat normal day. Today I am good so far! I still have no appetite but it could be so much worse so I will take it! Fingers crossed that it was just my body adjusting to the med! I am a little worried as they start to bump up my dose but time will only tell!

 

[texasagg02]

Back to not feeling great, just feel run down, my back is killing me. I have now been taking it (try number 2) 9 days (today will be 10). Had my second round of blood test and everything looks good so far. I am not sure how lucy longer I can deal with this not feeling good. Starting to wonder if Humira would have less side effects. =(