Imuran Question

Hi There - hubby's dose doubled from 75 to 150 mg (Dr could have put him on 200 but since he has responded fairly well to the 75 he felt 150 would be enough and we will monitor the dose)

I take my Imuran around 8pm every evening, because it caused too much fatigue if I took it in the a.m.  Seemed to help quite a bit.  And I've never heard of anybody dividing the dose, so I don't know if that would help or not (or if it would even be advisable).

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I believe it's best to just take them all at once. That's what I've always done.

Wouldn't it be fabulous if hubby really got 100% well???? It's possible. Heck, you two are on the way, darlin'!

Mitz

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Sporadic proctitis since about 1985. Mother had UC, then J-pouch surgery 1983.
DX'd with clostridium difficile in 2000. Prednisone, two courses of Flagyl, then Vancomycin finally got rid of it. Symptomatic with UC after that.
Colonoscopy in 2001 dx'd left-sided UC. Was pretty darn ill at that time. Treated with prednisone, Rowasa, Asacol. Asacol not working so switched to Imuran. Three small flares since in 2002, 2005, and 2007.
Gall bladder attack 6/13; ultrasound showed stones; surgery before end of 2007.
100 mg Azathioprine and 225 mg Effexor XR (for chronic, longstanding depression) daily.

I take all of mine at one time before I go to bed. That helps me avoid the nausea and a wee bit of the fatigue.

I'm not sure how the Imuran really works, so I don't know if dividing the dose helps. Might be good to ask the pharmacist.

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Pan-colitis and GERD diagnosed May 2003

 

Asacol 12 per day,  Azathioprine 75mg, Rowasa and Canasa as needed

Aciphex, Effexor XR, BCP, Rhinocort nasal spray

Culturelle, Biotin, Folic Acid, Forvia, Calcium, and B12

 

Osteopenia (hip and spine) from prednisone use.  Started Azathioprine because I was steroid dependent.

 

Co-Mod for the UC forum

Keep HealingWell running smoothly:  www.healingwell.com/donate

I take mine all at once before bed. I'm also on 150 mg. Good luck.

Hey... my dose just got upper to 150mg also. That may ultimately be too high - I may settle in at 125mg - but we're going to wait and see. anyway, I take it all at once, and like everyone else I take mine right before bed, around 11pm. That way I wake up feeling ok....

I read your other post. Glad your trip to mayo clinic went so well. and I am glad your hubby is feeling better. I feel pretty ok but am definitely teetering betw. flaring and not. hence increasing the dose....

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29/Female/NC
Pancolitis dx 3/07
*12 Asacol/day
*100mg Imuran/day (steroid dependent)
Various vitamins, probiotics, fish oil.
Engaged: June 1, 2007

Hey UC in NC -- I'm sure that's why they went from 75 to 150. In addition to it being such a low dose to begin with even though he is responding. The last colonoscopy 5 months ago was very bad and this sigmoid with 2/3 of the colon examined showed such improvement was encouraging. The lower area that is the toughest to clear up is the issue so hopefully the 150 mg and new rectal foam medication will be a big help to knock it out for awhile....a long while would be very nice.

Hope your increased dose makes a big difference for you too.

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61 yr old male~Colitis 1st diagnosed Jan '05-cleared up within a few wks. Flared again in May '06 (now UC) & hospitalized 5/07-currently heading towards a remission. Osteopena of spine from prednisone DX 8/07  Oct 07 feeling quite normal most days.  150mg Imuran 15 mg prednisone & tapering, 12 Asacol, Lidocaine Hydrochloride Jelly 2%,multi vitamin, iron 1X day, DanActive, chewable calcium, Prilosec 20mg, enalapril 10mg, glipizide 5 mg, zocor 20 mg, baby aspirin, (Fentanyl pain patch 50mg 72 hrs  Morphine Sulf 15 mg twice daily)Cortifoam enemas AM & PM, folic acid 1mg, Fosamax 1x month

BTW...thanks for the responses. I told hubby if he notices a change that it might be worthwhile to change the time of the imuran.

We'll see how it goes in Aruba. The schedule there will be - get up - breakfast - some time in the pool and ocean - lunch in the unit - maybe a little more time in the pool/ocean then nappy time for a few hours. (We have a large group of people we know there year after year plus we have 12 going in our immediate group from here.) After the nap get up shower out to dinnah and make some donations at the casino. We tend to get in later especially if the casinos are nice to us....lol. We'll have to see how taking the imuran in the morning works while we are there.

That should work for him. I can control what we eat for breakfast and lunch - the going out at night might be a bit harder for him. That might be a bit more difficult. Fortunately the first week is when our gang is there. The 2nd week we are basically alone with my sister staying the 2nd week so we can tone down the eating out.

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61 yr old male~Colitis 1st diagnosed Jan '05-cleared up within a few wks. Flared again in May '06 (now UC) & hospitalized 5/07-currently heading towards a remission. Osteopena of spine from prednisone DX 8/07  Oct 07 feeling quite normal most days.  150mg Imuran 15 mg prednisone & tapering, 12 Asacol, Lidocaine Hydrochloride Jelly 2%,multi vitamin, iron 1X day, DanActive, chewable calcium, Prilosec 20mg, enalapril 10mg, glipizide 5 mg, zocor 20 mg, baby aspirin, (Fentanyl pain patch 50mg 72 hrs  Morphine Sulf 15 mg twice daily)Cortifoam enemas AM & PM, folic acid 1mg, Fosamax 1x month