User Reviews for mercaptopurine oral

I get nauseous. Is this a side effect?

I have had Crohn's for 32 yrs. I have had all but 9 ft. of small bowel removed and all but 1/2 of my lrg. removed. I was of the prednisone, asulfa pill, and did a few Remicade infusions. Nothing I have been in remisson for 7 yrs. and on the Purenthol name brand the whole time. It has worked for me!!!! I have had no problems except the fatigue and a little hair loss. I am now on the 6-mp due to the fact the manufacturer has stopped making the name brand. Praying things stay in remisson. Prayers to all!!Read More Read Less

I have had Crohn's disease for 31 years. I had been on 6mp for over 15 years and last year had a bad flare up, surgery to remove 1 foot of bowel and then back on a higher dosage of 6mp because still had bad active crohn's after my surgery. The 6mp finally gave me liver problems and I cannot ever take it again. It was a very good drug for me for many, many years, basically no side effects. I am now starting (today) humira and hoping for remission.

I've been dealing with epidermolysis bullosa for nearly 30 years. I've taking prednisone periodically over this time. Most of those years, I skipped the prednisone, but over the past 3 years, breathing is a real issue due to mucus. I have a trach that i think was brought on by numerous episodes of acid-reflux, and having a trach allows for my airway to dry out, resulting in dysphagia. I finally gave in and began taking 10mgs of prednisone, and for the first time in years, i wasn't afraid to sleep. my doctor felt that i needed to reduce my use of prednisone, so mercapturine 50mgs was started along with the prednisone. after six days of this, my lose teeth were damn near killing me. it took 2 days of not taking the the mercapturine, before the pain from my teeth subsided. my teeth are loose because of my epidermylysis bullosa. I've since reduced my prednisone to 8mgs, but the mucus is still Read More Read Less

Took away my Crohn's symptons.

Used mercaptopurine for 3 years. Best 3 years of the last awful 27 years I have had. However, I am now going through chemo for non hodgekins lymphoma, a side effect of mercaptopurine. Wish I had not taken the drug now.

I was put on 6MP in the hospital about six years ago, within days of being diagnosed with Crohn's. This was my first hospital stay, so I was already a bit apprehensive. The nurse walking in gloved, carrying a tiny bottle - sealed and labeled "CAUTION: CHEMOTHERAPY" - did not really help matters. I was extremely hesitant to swallow something that no one else would even touch, but I was sick and desperate enough to try anything that might make me feel better. So I took it. And took it again the next day. And again. I was on a Prednisone high at that point, happily able to function "normally" again, but my doctor said that it would take a while to kick in, but it would help keep me well once I was off the steroids, and I believed him. Over the next four years, I suppose it might have been helping... maybe. It's hard to say, really, looking back. I definitely was better than I was in the hospital or before treatment, but I didn't really have the energy to spend too long on my feet doing much of anything. At the time, I just took it with a grimace that the fatigue was just part of being chronically ill. But some more serious symptoms did flare up every now and then - maybe once or twice a year. I was given Prednisone and Entocort in such cases, and the symptoms quickly went away, so I thought little of them - until they returned, of course. And then, after four years, within the span of about a month, without any visible bleeding, my red blood cell counts depleted... to the point of me needing to be hospitalized and given three blood transfusions. No one really wanted to say that it was the 6MP, but my doctors never really told me anything else conclusive about what happened. After that hospital stay, I was switched from 6MP to Remicade treatments. Comparatively, since the switch, I have had virtually no symptoms and have at least five times the energy I had on 6MP. I'm sure 6MP works for some people, but it does have its risks, and it just didn't work out for me.Read More Read Less

After telling MD my UC symptons got worse, I had to stop taking it...Cramps, nausea, fatigue...hair loss...prednisone was a walk in the park compared to this..

I've had an unnamed autoimmune disease usually diagnosed as collagenous colitis. I took ENTOCORT EC 3 MG for over a year and as a last resort my Gastro doc put me on Mercaptopurine 50mg. It has stopped my diarrhea and I now have an appetite but I am still not absorbing nutrients and have lost 20% of my body weight. I'm down to 78.5 pounds (5'2"). I will continue using it but feel like I am wasting away to nothing. I'm also taking a pancreatic enzyme every time I eat so hopefully this will do the trick. (Also a two-time breast cancer survivor so my entire body has been compromised.)Read More Read Less

Experienced with rash, itchiness, abdominal pain headache, breathing problems and irregular heart beat and bad stomachache.

Have had crohn's for over 23 yrs. Mostly on Pentasa. Started on 6mp 1yr ago. 50mg x3. No side effects (a little nausea infrequently)...no more diarrhea!! so far so good

This drug is treating my autoimmune hepatitis and substituted for Imuran and its generic. This drug does not cause itching for me as the others did.

started out on 50 mg at 12 years old backed down to 25 mg due to side effects now back to 50 mg seems to destroy immune system and now having serious vitamin deficencies have been on for 3 years now ad have had bowel resection done would like to try a different kind that insurance will pay for

I started out with 50 ml then was bumped to 150 ml after 2 bowel resectionings 6 months apart. It is the only medication I have been able to stay on for chron's disease.

I am starting to have pain in my feet? Don't know if this med could cause my nerves in mainly my feet to be inflamed??

weak stiffness

I was diagnosed with Crohn's in 2006, started on prednisone, then moved on to 6mp. Over the years I felt this medicine has helped and also hurt me. I get several infections each year, have lost a lot of my hair several times, and have passed 4 kidney stones. I should mention I am a vegetarian and eat extremely healthy. I got pregnant while taking this medication and was told to stay on the medicine by my GI--- I had a devastating late term miscarriage (18 weeks). Of course I was told it was not the medicine. I am trying to heal naturally and have been on the Specific Carbohydrate Diet for 6 months now. I have had major improvements and am hopeful to get off the 6mp soon and try to have another baby. This medicine may work for some people, but it has caused more pain then help for me. I think it is a harsh medicine and no one should take it while being pregnant. I am trying to find a GI doctor that will help me treat my Crohn's with diet and vitamins--with no luck so far. I am researching D.O.'s versus M.D's to successfully get off the 6mp. I hope it will work! Read More Read Less

This med works pretty good. i have put weight on for the frist time in years.

Avoid it if you can! Though Mercaptopurine (6mp) is primarily a cancer chemotherapy, I was being treated for IBD with this drug in years 1999-2000, for approximately 3 months. At the time it was widely believed to be a potentially effective therapy for IBD. I am uncertain of its current medical status in this regard. However, having no other primary causation, I contracted sever liver cirrhosis which effects me in exceptionally negative ways. Later, I was a cancer patient and the cirrhosis compromised my cancer treatment. I have been diagnosed with "cryptogenic cirrhosis" (unknown or mysterious origin) though I strongly suspect the 6mp to be the primary causal factor. It's very powerful chemotherapy in some cases, but similarly has potentially very strong side effects. If you are predisposed to liver problems, you certainly do not want to use this drug if you can avoid it. Likewise, even if you do not have liver issues, I would try to avoid it in favor of alternatives with similar or better records of effectiveness. The significance of severe liver disease as a possible side effect of 6mp is a high life-threatening and/or life-shortening risk, not to mention severe reductions in quality of the remainder of life.Read More Read Less

I've been on this for a while for my crohns, along with cortizone/steroids. I am constantly in the bathroom and have stomache pain all the time and lower back pain Tomorrow I go to the Dr to be taken off this medication.