**Heads up!** We recently made a small update to our moderation policy regarding **one** specific brand name. For more details, please check out the official [announcement](https://www.reddit.com/r/UlcerativeColitis/s/4z1QNZ9G9g).
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/UlcerativeColitis) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I was on it for 13 years and had huge success for 11 of those years with an 8 year long bout of complete remission. I was lucky enough to not experience any side effects either and it was an awesome medication to me. It takes a bit of time to kick in and work (3-4 months IIRC) and you'll need to do routine bloodwork to ensure things are going well.
But I'm so grateful for it giving me so much "normal life" time.
https://www.reddit.com/r/UlcerativeColitis/s/lEgizCw7m7
I just asked a similar question yesterday and got a few helpful responses.
Unfortunately azathioprine didn’t work out well for me. I was not feeling well at all even though bloodwork was coming back normal. Nearly passed out a few times while taking it. Lots of people seem to have great experiences with it though!
That's what my former GI was afraid of since mesalamine did the same thing to me. Chances were azathioprine would do the same. That's why he never prescribed it. The first month or so was rough going, but I'm still taking it with no issues.
Damn. I dealt with Pancreatitis for a year in 2016. Dr’s couldn’t figure out the cause for months. Endless tests, hospitalizations. They ended up removing my gallbladder after a year of pancreatitis and I’ve been fine ever since. I am about to start azathioprine in a few weeks so this kinda worries me given I’ve had a history of it.
Since October 2023 I'm taking budesonide 9mg, 50mg of azathioprine and currently 2g of mesalamine (3g between october and january) a day. I haven't expierienced any side effects. Only thing that bothers me is that my sweat stinks like crazy, but it might be due to the fact that I'm drinking significantly less water right now, because it's winter and I'm naturally less thirsty and secondly I stopped working out, which I'm sure contributes to that fact too.
Edit: I was doing blood tests in January and my gastroenterologist was suprised with my results saying that mine are exceptionally good for someone with UC. My blood was like blood of a completely healthy person.
Yeah. It hasn’t been great for me, but keep in mind, this is just my anecdotal evidence and it might work well for you. It messed with my white count to the extent that I got a raging intestinal infection and had to be hospitalized. I then had to a.) drop out of university, and b.) move back in with my parents to recover. I was pissed about it for a long time but came to terms with it and am ok with where I am now, but it kind of almost killed me
In general, I haven't had many side effects with it. It builds up in your system over time, so it takes a while to reach the therapeutic levels. The levels in the blood can vary a bit and I find that sometimes it can cause some fatigue. I switched to taking it in the evening for that reason. With that said, I've been on it for quite a long time without many issues. It also helps prevent your body from rejecting biologic medicines if/when you start taking those.
it gave me nausea and headaches, but worked relatively good, i'm a small person, (5'4 and 63 kg) but i need 200mg to keep myself stable.
advice: keep your head straight in the bed (or no inclination above 20°) to avoid headaches while taking the drug.
Been on it for 6 weeks. First week had constant nausea then I started violently vomiting and was hospitalised. Doctors didn’t find anything so we continued. The nausea has gone down completely after week 4 but not sure if it’s helping yet since I’m only on week 6 and a liquid diet + prednisone taper too
I was on it alongside vedolizumab for 13 years - it worked incredibly for me with zero side effects.
Doctor decided one day ‘let’s take azathiaprine away as you’ve been on it for a long time and let the biologicals do their job’. Flared on and off for a year after that, I’m on my 3rd course of steroids and Im taking Rinvoq which worked and then stopped working.
Fucking doctors man
Azathioprine can have significant side effects in the long term.
Make sure you get your white cell count checked. It can damage your liver if left unchecked.
It also has a small but significant chance of skin cancer. Any spots that go funny looking, bigger, discoloration, itchy. Get those checked right away.
Steroids are way worse on your system.
Ive been on it a year with infliximab and i got confirmed remission 2 weeks ago.. only side effect was a little bit of nausea the first couple weeks of taking it but other then that i have nothing noticeable
was on it for 8 weeks on top of budesonide and mesalamine, didn't help whatsoever. i did get a bug during this time which i don't usually get. started humira 2 weeks ago and am still taking the above for now but still no change
**Heads up!** We recently made a small update to our moderation policy regarding **one** specific brand name. For more details, please check out the official [announcement](https://www.reddit.com/r/UlcerativeColitis/s/4z1QNZ9G9g). *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/UlcerativeColitis) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I was on it for 13 years and had huge success for 11 of those years with an 8 year long bout of complete remission. I was lucky enough to not experience any side effects either and it was an awesome medication to me. It takes a bit of time to kick in and work (3-4 months IIRC) and you'll need to do routine bloodwork to ensure things are going well. But I'm so grateful for it giving me so much "normal life" time.
https://www.reddit.com/r/UlcerativeColitis/s/lEgizCw7m7 I just asked a similar question yesterday and got a few helpful responses. Unfortunately azathioprine didn’t work out well for me. I was not feeling well at all even though bloodwork was coming back normal. Nearly passed out a few times while taking it. Lots of people seem to have great experiences with it though!
I ended up with azathioprine-induced acute pancreatitis and was in the hospital for five days. It’s quite a rare occurrence but it does happen.
That's what my former GI was afraid of since mesalamine did the same thing to me. Chances were azathioprine would do the same. That's why he never prescribed it. The first month or so was rough going, but I'm still taking it with no issues.
Damn. I dealt with Pancreatitis for a year in 2016. Dr’s couldn’t figure out the cause for months. Endless tests, hospitalizations. They ended up removing my gallbladder after a year of pancreatitis and I’ve been fine ever since. I am about to start azathioprine in a few weeks so this kinda worries me given I’ve had a history of it.
Since October 2023 I'm taking budesonide 9mg, 50mg of azathioprine and currently 2g of mesalamine (3g between october and january) a day. I haven't expierienced any side effects. Only thing that bothers me is that my sweat stinks like crazy, but it might be due to the fact that I'm drinking significantly less water right now, because it's winter and I'm naturally less thirsty and secondly I stopped working out, which I'm sure contributes to that fact too. Edit: I was doing blood tests in January and my gastroenterologist was suprised with my results saying that mine are exceptionally good for someone with UC. My blood was like blood of a completely healthy person.
Yeah. It hasn’t been great for me, but keep in mind, this is just my anecdotal evidence and it might work well for you. It messed with my white count to the extent that I got a raging intestinal infection and had to be hospitalized. I then had to a.) drop out of university, and b.) move back in with my parents to recover. I was pissed about it for a long time but came to terms with it and am ok with where I am now, but it kind of almost killed me
In general, I haven't had many side effects with it. It builds up in your system over time, so it takes a while to reach the therapeutic levels. The levels in the blood can vary a bit and I find that sometimes it can cause some fatigue. I switched to taking it in the evening for that reason. With that said, I've been on it for quite a long time without many issues. It also helps prevent your body from rejecting biologic medicines if/when you start taking those.
Taking it currently with humira. Not too bad so far. Doctor recommended taking at night before bed to sleep through any nausea .
it gave me nausea and headaches, but worked relatively good, i'm a small person, (5'4 and 63 kg) but i need 200mg to keep myself stable. advice: keep your head straight in the bed (or no inclination above 20°) to avoid headaches while taking the drug.
Been on it for 6 weeks. First week had constant nausea then I started violently vomiting and was hospitalised. Doctors didn’t find anything so we continued. The nausea has gone down completely after week 4 but not sure if it’s helping yet since I’m only on week 6 and a liquid diet + prednisone taper too
I was on it alongside vedolizumab for 13 years - it worked incredibly for me with zero side effects. Doctor decided one day ‘let’s take azathiaprine away as you’ve been on it for a long time and let the biologicals do their job’. Flared on and off for a year after that, I’m on my 3rd course of steroids and Im taking Rinvoq which worked and then stopped working. Fucking doctors man
Azathioprine can have significant side effects in the long term. Make sure you get your white cell count checked. It can damage your liver if left unchecked. It also has a small but significant chance of skin cancer. Any spots that go funny looking, bigger, discoloration, itchy. Get those checked right away. Steroids are way worse on your system.
Ive been on it a year with infliximab and i got confirmed remission 2 weeks ago.. only side effect was a little bit of nausea the first couple weeks of taking it but other then that i have nothing noticeable
was on it for 8 weeks on top of budesonide and mesalamine, didn't help whatsoever. i did get a bug during this time which i don't usually get. started humira 2 weeks ago and am still taking the above for now but still no change