Grecogirl, I can not speak for Imuran as I have never taken it. I will say that Cellcept (mycophenolate) can take 4-6 months to become effective in your system. I have done well with it and after a few blood tests to see where my level of cellcept was in my system have been on 2000mg twice a day. As my body accepted the medicine most of the side effects went away. It was a great trade off because I got better and better. Looking at the entire list of side effects from this wonderful medicine, they are really not that bad and they go away fast, for the most part. I really only had a few of them and they were not all that sever. You must understand that there are no quick fixes for MG, these meds take time to effect change. Give your doctor and the meds a chance to work and let them take effect. Meds will need to be adjusted to your system and as time goes on. I have gone from being in ICU and intubated to going out to the store, driving and functioning as a care giver for my bed ridden wife in 6 months and even better in the next 6 months. Best of health in 2018

Hello. I have been on Imuran for about 18 months. I take 150 mg daily. It took about 12 months for it show any affects on my condition. I also get IVIG infusions on a monthly basis. (I go every for weeks for a week) Right now I am in a good place, feeing better than I have in a long time. I trusted my doctor with the Imuran and have no regrets. I am just now getting off the Prednisone that I was taken also. I am down to 5mg daily. Good luck

This is what drives me crazy. Different answers (which I appreciate from you) and how everyone seems to have a different result. I was doing just fine on the Prednisone alone, but have been having not that good of a result, at least not so far. It hasn't been quite a month, so I am going to wait it out. I think I am going to up the Mestinon to 3-4 a day instead of 2 and see what shakes out with that. I am just hoping I can get this back under control and then taper down a bit on the Prednisone like I did before. I know I will not drop as low as I did before that's for sure. Thanks for you posts.

Hi everyone,
I have been on 100mg of Imuran for the last 14 months.
I have no side effects from it and my MG is under control with just Imuran. I am worried about the cancer risks etc and hoping to get off it at some point.
I should also mention that I had a thymectomy a year ago as well.
Nice to share with everyone ,it really helps.

It is complicated. Each of us has different reactions to each medication, so we can't depend on having the same results. Azathioprine (Imuran) is an older drug that has worked reasonably well for may folks, but not all. Cellcept is newer and appears to be good for many folks too with fewer side effects. As both are months to a year or more to work, most treatments begin with mestinon and prednisone to get control (with IVIG if we are in crisis) and then add one of the other two with the idea of gradually tapering the prednisone in favor of one of the alternatives.
The problem -- we don't really know if any particular medicine will work, even prednisone, for many months or more.
My own plan was mestinon and prednisone to get control (5 months) and then tapering down as I started Imuran. Imuran was because my neuro had used it successfully in many MG patients, whereas cellcept seemed, at least to her, to be less certain and less known -- this was in 2012-13.
Good Luck
Russ

Thanks Russ. I read where Cellcept really didn't have any conclusive evidence of how effective it was. When I talk to the neuro about it, he is rather vague. I really don't care for this guy and wonder if I should at least seek out a second opinion from someone else, but again, the whole merry-go-round with doctors and pills. I am going to hang in for a while longer and see what happens with the Prednisone and Mestinon this time around. If nothing changes, I may ask to go to another neuro just to see what they say. Do you feel the Imuran helped you into remission?

Whether you take Cellcept or Imuran and how much mestinon or prednisone. If you do Plazmapharsis or IVIG or don't do either, it is all more evidence that this disease is truly a different monster for each of us to fight. I think the whole thing comes down to this.
1. Have or get a neuro or team of neuro's that understand MG and can deal with MG. NOT ALL NEURO'S ARE WILLING TO ADMIT THAT THEY ARE NOT SPECIALISTS IN MG.
2. Be willing to do the necessary due diligence in finding what works for you and then tell your neuro how you are feeling, Keep a diary if you have too.
3. Understand that what you do and what you don't do can drastically affect the way you feel. KEEP YOUR STRESS LEVEL LOW
4. Reach out when you have too, you are not alone. There are thousands of us out here and we want to help.
5. Read, research, relay and respond. Read all you can, research all you can, relay the information to your doctors and then respond with results and feelings. This is your life you are dealing with.

Hello, I’m a firm believer in celcept. My husband has taken it since he was diagnosed in 2014. I think he’s doing ok. He really doesn’t need to take mestinon, I think but he takes it twice a day. He’s off of prednisone for 6 months I think because of the Celcept. All of his heavy symptoms are gone just weakness in his legs he can’t stand for longer than 15 minutes. (We didn’t read the side effects) he gets his blood work every 6 months, used to be every 3 months. Stay away from sick people!! He takes 2000 mg. A day