Travelling abroad whilst on imuran

I have been taking azathioprine for a year now and have not really travelled. I have booked a holiday to the Med coast of Turkey for the end of october, but a little worried about picking up a bug whilst i am there.

I intend to use the pool and swim in the sea, as well as enjoy the (hopefully) good selection of food included in my all inclusive trip. But would like to know if anyone else has travelled to the middle east whilst on imune suppresants and whether any precautionary injections effected the UC


Thanks for any help
Ant

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Dx : Sept 2005 UC entire colon
Meds:Finally off the pred = 125mg imuran a day Azacol 800mg 3xDaily
Supp's: 1 sachet of VSL 3

I'm in a similar situation, also on 125mg of azathiropine & same asacol dose and have colitis on entire colon. I'm going to majorca on a half-board at the end of October and don't plan on any specific precautions.

If you're going Turkey I'd advise to take it easy on the kebabs. A large donner I had on Saturday is still giving me gip, but other than that I don't think we need do anything special. I mentioned to my Gastroentrologist that I was going & he just said 'I think a holiday will do you good'


Also, earlier in the year I got a nasty bug that had me bed ridden, I phoned the doctor to ask if I should stop taking the azathiropine, and also cyclosporin that I was on at the time, and he thought I should just keep taking them and wait for the bug to pass. Dunno what to make of that really, other than he didn't think they'd do any harm with that particular bug so even if you pick one up you'll probably be alright.

Not so sure about the middle east specifically but I travelled around Africa with no problem. Immunisations are fine and should not afect UC as long as they are not live vaccinations! As we are immunosuppressed we cannot have live vaccinations so I went without my Yellow Fever jab and, luckily, was ok.

Also, taking sanitizing hand wash and taking vitamins and probiotics and only drinking bottled water - the usual advice all help.

Plus, I took some antibiotics recommended by my nurse in case of a 'bug' and also a course of steroids just in case.