Myasthenia Gravis Support Group

Myasthenia gravis (MG) is a neuromuscular disease leading to fluctuating muscle weakness and fatiguability. The hallmark of myasthenia gravis is muscle weakness that increases during periods of activity and improves after periods of rest. Although myasthenia gravis may affect any voluntary muscle, muscles that control eye and eyelid movement, facial expression, and...

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Azathioprine-side effects

shadow597
shadow597

Today I had an appointment with my neuro and he said that I should start taking azathioprine,after a blood test that will show us if it's ok for me to take it. He also said that it has some side effects but he didn't say much. I'm 18 and after a search I did on the net I read about a high cancer risk and nausea..I don't think I want to take it if it will make me so sick and increases my cancer risk. Also,I'm giving some serious exams this year and I can't be at bed/home all day to deal with the side effects. Do you think I should accept it even if I'm fine with my prednisone/mestinon dose?! What's your experience? Are the side effects so bad? I'm terrified.

Rhanson
Rhanson
I started on prednisone and mestinon and had planned to switch to azathioprine for long term as the prednisone was causing problems when I went into remission and didn't have to continue taking medication.
I don't think that any of the immune drugs taken for MG are great, but it seems that many folks are going on Cellcept as the choice for least side effects. Generally folks take prednisone and the alternate drug for many months together and then try tapering off of prednisone to see it the alternate drug works. When a treatment controls MG, it is hard to think about experimenting with a new drug, but long term we do need to think about what will be best.
Good Luck
Russ
blinkngone
blinkngone
Hi, sorry you are having issues. I have been on azathioprine for almost a year. Different people will have different side effects but I don't think you need to worry about being in bed due to the effects. The cancer risk is what is concerning because you are so young but you and your Dr. can decide if the benefits outweigh the risk. By using the azathioprine I am more stable with my symptoms and my ACHR levels are .3 which is much better than a year ago. I didn't read much that was all that encouraging about Cellcept, in some studies it was not effective and it has side effects as well so if your Dr. and insurance company recommend azathioprine then you could consider it as a possible choice. Others have said they had a bad initial reaction to the azathioprine but I did not. If your current Dr. isn't making you feel comfortable you could consider a second opinion. If you think you are doing fine with your current medications then your Dr. should better explain why they want to add another medication to your regimen.
blinkngone
blinkngone
Oh, sorry, I neglected to tell you that the Neurologist who put me on the azathioprine was at a University where they specialize in MG treatment, I was sent there by my local Neurologist because he felt I was a more difficult case than he could/wanted to handle. Hopefully this makes you feel a little better. Also I am 65 so long term use problems aren't as much of a concern.