Tim, I have never heard of anyone doing this, but I am interested in the fact that Imuran suppressed your short term memory. How did they determine it was the Imuran and not the disease itself. I have awful short term memory problems and at times can't get out words because I can't remember which word I am looking for, but I have been like this for months before taking Imuran. As a matter of fact, it was one of the signs of the disease for me. Three or four months before diagnosis, my partner and I were out for dinner with a nephew that worked for me. Nephew went to the washroom and I said to my partner, don't be alarmed, I know who you are but who is he and how do I know him? That was one of my first signs of a problem.
I wish you luck with the switch, but I will be really interested in what others have to say about this one.
Cheers,
Richard.

Hi Tim.... I had to switch from Imuran to Myfortic (cellcept), because the Imuran had a very negative effect on my liver enzymes. This was about a year ago. No problems with the Myfortic, though my blood work is still done monthly. No memory problems here.

Good luck,
Claire

I have never heard that before, either. I sometimes have that problem, but I am on Cellcept. If Imuran is working for you, I would get a second opinion or research it being related to memory lose.

Judith

TIM MY HEURO SAID THAT THEY DID A DOUBLE BLIND STUDY AND IT SHOWED NOW DIFERANCE BETWEEN IMURAN AND CELLCEPT THE ONLY THING IS THAT CELLCEPT HAD MORE SIDE EFFECTS SO I WOULD TALK IT OVER WITH A PHARMASIST AND YOUR NEURO BEFORE SWITCHING.
GOOD LUCK
Chuck

I had to switch...Imuran caused 3 attacks of pancreatitus....first one-gall bladder was removed, second one-taken off Imuran , third-off Imuran, but it was still in my system. I am on cellcept now-so far no issues

I had no problem with Imuran, at least I thought. This time last year just before my knee surgery my labs came back with wbc1.8. I had to wait a couple of weeks off and my wbc came up.
It had my MG symptoms under control..sigh... they will not let me go back on. I may try Celcept again later, it caused stomach issues..
Dee

Tim,
Short term memory problems can be related to statin use, at least for some populations and lower cholesterol can cause difficulties for older people. Many of us are or have been on statins. It is one of the drugs to be used with caution in MG, more because of muscle problems, but we don't need anymore "fogginess" either. So do consider what else might also be causing difficulties. Cellcept and Imuran have much the same mechanism of action, and you may want to consider something other than Cellcept if Imuran is causing problems.

Good luck. b.

No offense to Chuck's Neuro, but I would like to see the blind study to which his neuro refers.

In fact, it should be opposite. Cellcept has less effects than Imuran and in many cases is actually replacing Imuran altogether.

In short, Cellcept is one of the safest, if not the most safe treatment we currently have and is also considered one of the best by plenty of doctors out there!

Good luck!

I've had no issues with Cellcept in terms of adverse side effects. I've taken a very low dose for almost 3 years now. Have never been on Prednisone.
I experience memory issues also. Moreso since diagnosed.
Wishing you well going forward.
Larissa

At Mayo Clinic website the list of side effects for Cellcept is considerably longer than that for Imuran. In addition, I have read that the incidence of Progressive Multifocal Leukoencephalopathy among those reporting side effects for both Cellcept, and Imuran, though but a tiny fraction, shows the incidence of this often fatal sickness to be 21/2 times greater with Cellcept than with Imuran. I am still not entirely convinced about which of the two is safest. Any/ all responses greatly appreciated. Anyone?

I have taken both but I was unable to tolerate either one so I am doing 40mg of prednisone, 60mg of mestinon,and IVIG every other week. I don't know the side effects of cellcept so I don't know if it would have the same side effects as imuran. I guess I wasn't much help. I do know people who have switched and been fine
Michele

I am certain I can find a website where the list is shorter for cellcept than it is for imuran.

To clarify: Adverse effects are at a lower percentage with cellcept than they are with imuran or any other drug we can take. Which quite honestly is not by much, but you could lose your hair with imuran for one thing. Maybe diarrhea is the trade off? To which I say just take cellcept with food. Both Imuran and Cellcept are fine for treatment. Cellcept is a newer drug and not as much published about it as Imuran because of that. It isn't brand new though and has been around for decades.

"Risk of adverse events, including cytomegalovirus infection, anemia, leukopenia or rates of malignancy, does not differ significantly. A greater risk of diarrhea is seen in MMF-treated patients."

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19300178

What is the old saying? "Pick your poison"

Pick you must to get better...such is life

In addition, hopefully Cellcept works faster, meaning less waiting for results:

"The advantage of CellCept over other immunosuppressant drugs is reported to have more rapid onset and fewer side effects.

http://www.myasthenia.org.au/html/treatments.htm

I could come up with links all day

"Risk of adverse events ...does not differ significantly." So then, which is safer? All very unclear. If one can take Pred., which? If one can't(me), which? Trying Imuran 1st, and then, if therapy proves unsatisfactory switching to Cellcept, appears a sensible approach. Of course, other factors may come into play, either before therapy, e.g. degree of exacerbation of symptoms, or, once therapy is initiated, e.g., tolerance.

When we talk about side effects we should remember that many MG med problems are from suppression of our immune system leaving us susceptible to other problems we might normally fight off--and that happens with cellcept, imuran, prednisone, etc.

A statement like this is usual and covers all of our immunosuppressive meds:
"Immunosuppressive drugs increase the risks of infection, malignancy, cardiovascular disease and bone marrow suppression." ( http://www.australianprescriber.com/magazine/32/3/68/71

Johns Hopkins, in telling about lupus treatments with immunosuppression, has a reasonable discussion of the alternatives:
http://www.hopkinslupus.org/lupus-treatment/lupus-medications/immunosuppressive-medications/

Immunosuppressive drugs also mask serious conditions and make our symptoms atypical and harder to discover--and when they are discovered they may be more advanced.

However, without immunosuppression, MG would likely kill us in a few years -- the prognosis half a century ago.

Good Luck