Crohn's Disease & Ulcerative Colitis Support Group

I have never taken it but I looked it up and it sounds like all the others that have bad side effects. Talk to her doctor and tell him your concerns and see if theres something else that you can try, best of luck.

this is also known as Imuran - they tried it on my daughter however, it did not work for her. Ask all the questions you need to, and then follow your gut, only you know what is right or wrong for your child.

I've been on Imuran for 2 weeks, now. I'm also on prednisone and Remicade. I'm nervous about the drugs and had a blood test, yesterday, to make sure everything was okay. He wants me to increase my Imuran from 100 to 150 daily.

The only side effect I've noticed from Imuran is nausea. He told me to take it after supper and not at lunch like I was doing. I have a bunch of other side effects from the prednisone, though.

Hi, I was on azathiaprine from 1992 to 2002 to treat my crohn's. I found it was very effective for remission and also to add weight. However, I did need 4 to 6 weekly blood tests to check my white cells. Eventually, my immune system was affected and i was forced to come off the medication. I do think that the drug is advantageous but you must be monitored regualrly for white cell count. Hope this helps, john, hull, england

I am on Imuran/Azathioprine and have been for a year. I take 100 mgs a day. It is a powerful drug and it does suppress your immune system so you do have to be careful. originally Azthioprine was created to suppress the immune system for organ transplant patients so their immune system wouldn't attack the "new" organ. It has been very helpful in the use of Bowel Diseases as well. It takes about a month for you to notice any relieve from your symptons so please don't weight to long to talk to your daughters doctor.

I am currently on Imuran (same drug) and have been since end of July. It takes a long time to get into your system for it to be effective. They start you on a low dose and check your blood weekly or bi weekly to make sure your liver is processing the drug. If all is well they increase it to be effective for your weight. Regular blood work is still done to monitor your liver. I was put on so many meds at one time I am struggling to determine side effects from each seperate drug. The bad thing is that drugs are drugs and there will be side effects just have to determine if the side effect is worse than the disease or what you are treating. Good Luck in deciding.

Ive had crohns since i was 8 and im now 23 ive been on it pretty much about10yrs or so and iv'e never had problems. Imuran is an anti inflamatory drug it fights the inflammation due to the crohns you usually need to be on something else as well as it works with other drugs together. i was also on masasel or masalezine for many yrs but as a child i used to stop taking my meds cause i hated it and used to often get sick so keep an eye on her im talking from experience. i also was never on more than 75mg its usualy goes on weight the dose.
-Lila

I think everyone reacts differently to all meds. I was started on Azathioprine last year-I wasn't on it very long because I ended up in the hospital with pancreatitis. Every drug has side effects and they have to report it even if one person has a side effect. If your concerns are high about starting your daughter on it I would do as marcie54 says and see if there if something else to try first. Hope everything goes well and you get some results with whatever method you choose for your daughter.

Hey, i hope ur wee daughter gets better soon. I took Imuran but i was one of the text book cases cause i suffered really severe joint pain in my knees!! as a side effect. To be fair though i think most medications have good points and bad points- don't rule anything out cause of one persons' bad experiences. All the best to you and your daughter

I have been on Azathioprine ( which is Imuran's generic name) since my 16 yr old was in first grade--I take 50 mg/d. You have to have a CBC every 6 months or so because it can suppress your marrow's activity & may lead to lymphoma---but that is very very rare with a low dose &is a long term complication. It takes about 3 months to take effect so patients are given something else to modulate their immune systems---in my case it was a high dose of prednisone. I had more trouble from that than the imuran has ever given me.

Patients can take imuran for many years and have no side effects or difficulties---the trick is you want a low dose. It would probably be a lot gentler on your daughter than some of the other things us Crohnies take. You want to start a child with the gentlest drugs possible when young because you want to save the big guns for later in her life---if she ever needs them, which I do hope does not occur!

Little ll is right---a big problem with kids is failure to comply--they feel better, then they take less of the their meds or quit- Don't let this happen with your daughter---she will have CD all her life. Even when she feels well & has no symptoms, she has Crohn's---what she has is CD in remission. If she is lucky enough to get it into remission, she has to take her meds to keep it in remission! Kids don't grasp this -- so you have to watch her take her pills at breakfast, dinner, or whenever. You don't make a big deal about it, you just do it.

My best to you & I hope your daughter does better!