PURINETHOL Reviews (MERCAPTOPURINE)Average Rating: 3.5 (315 Ratings)Filter ResultsCompare PURINETHOL with similar:
Type: Rx Drug
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Results are sorted by Date added. Key to Ratings: 1=LOW (I would not recommend taking this medicine.) |
More on PURINETHOL: Reviews Summary | Drug Safety Information
| RATING | REASON | SIDE EFFECTS FOR PURINETHOL | COMMENTS | SEX | AGE | DURATION/ DOSAGE | DATE ADDED |
| 4 | colitis | I am just finishing up with the predinsone after being on it all summer. I just turned 21 this summer and I havn't drank all summer because the doctor told me not to. Now I am off the predisone and about to go back to college. The doctor just put me on 6mp because the intestines were still inflamed but better than before. I talked to my friend and he said he drinks with fine with it and my research on the internet just shows you have to experiment for youself to see how your body reacts and there shouldn't be any bad reactions like there could be with mixing alchol wiht predinzone. My question is that the doctor told me to no drink more than 2 beers a week simply because I need to take blood tests for the first couple months on 6mp. If my body reacts fine to the alchol on 6mp, will say 6 drinks a week really throw off the results in the blood test or which test do you think hes referring to that it could throw off the results. I want to obey the doctors wishes but I also want to be rea | M | 21 | 2 days | 8/30/2007 | 2 | Crohn's | Anal Fissures developed. Docs never found the relationship. I happened to have stopped the med due to high liver enzymes and puff! fissures stopped. It is called mucositis. | Stopped taking it. | M | 45 | 3 years | 8/20/2007 | 4 | crohns disease -blockages | weight gain, hair loss | I have had crohns since 14 years old.Had surgery at 16 to remove ileum and parts of intestines,have majorly suffered all these years.Used to be on flagyl(which would help for about 2 weeks) ,sulfasalizine,Questran powdered drink in the 70's. Flare up with pregnancy brought me back to hospital. Living in fear,staying home,not enjoying life as it was. In 2006,I developed a series of 3 intestinal blocks .All which I was hospitalized for a week each time. Tests tests and more tests,and then my internest introduced me to a wonderful dr. here in NY who weaned me off of steroids slowly and put me on 6mp. Its now been 6 months and with weekly to monthly blood work I am living a life that is so different than the last 35 years of my life I take an imodium each day ,30 minutes before lunch, sulfasalizine and a acid pill and those all help too.Although I know I am not cured ,this medication has given me a new life.I do have hair loss and weight gain.Dr explained that now that all the swelling | F | 52 | 5 months | 8/16/2007 | 3 | for Crohn's Disease, and fistulas | Hair loss, itchy rash, joint pain ,sore mouth. acne (pustules)low grade nausea, aching legs, tiredness. | I have taken purinethol for eight years, and the fistulas persisted for all that time. After reading articles that speculated on the reason for the immune system over-reaction as being due to some bug in the gut,I started taking Acidophilus - capsules of five billion organisms, eighteen a day, reducing gradually to two with meals. My fistulas cleared up within two weeks of taking the Acidophilus. I have recommended it to many people who all reported relief from Crohn's. I wonder if acidophilus will also be effective with other auto-immune diseases. The side effects I suffered, have not been severe and I didn't at first attribute them to purinethol, but now I do. Incidentally, a year after beginning to take the pro-biotic - Acidophilus - a blood test, and a colonoscopy showed no signs of Crohn's at all. My doctor told me I was 'married to purinethol.' I disagree and have ceased to take purinethol. The annoying thing is that my GI doctor never told me of the range of side effects, and I | M | 69 | 8 years | 8/16/2007 | 3 | Crohn's | I have experienced a few side effects, from dizziness, to neusea, to loss of apitite at times, i think im starting to loose my hair, or at least it is thinning greatly. i take 75 mg daily weigh 105 pounds and take 9 asacol a day which causes headaches, overall i would say i havent seen a great improvement from this drug. if anything i feel bad overall more consistently. i get very tired dont have energy to do much of anything. | F | 31 | 2 months | 8/7/2007 | 3 | Crohns | tiered,fever,nausea, weight gain, chest pain.. | I had the Infliximab infusion as well about 5 weeks ago. But the puri-nethol i think is to blame for my hot and coldness, weight gain and chest pains. I feel ok, no more bad bad stomach pains, but you know still just not right. I feel nausea, dizzy and dont have much energy to use most days. I get max 1 hour of house work done and thats it for the day! I don't know if it will work for me yet? Does any one know about the real effects on pregnancy? | F | 25 | 4 weeks | 7/24/2007 | 1 | Crohn's | Acute pancreatitis | As several others have also experienced, I was fine until the dosage was increased, at which point I began vomiting blood. Went to the ER and was diagnosed with acute pancreatitis. While this may not a side effect for many, I would not recommend this medication. | M | 31 | 3 weeks | 7/20/2007 | 5 | Crohn's Disease | None | I was on Prednisone for 6 years, and could never quite shake it. I dropped down to a 5mg/day dose, and couldn't get lower. It wasn't until I was prescribed 6-MP that I was able to get off Prednisone entirely. I suffered no ill effects from 6-MP, but I did have to get regular blood tests to ensure I was not experiencing an adverse reaction, such as anemia or liver problems. I have been on a mild dosage (100mg/160lbs), and have been in complete remission the entire time. I do still get regular checkups, as anyone with this disease should, but I have been healthy and active. | M | 36 | 5 years | 7/18/2007 | 2 | Crohn's Disease | nausea, strong headache, fatigue, abdominal upset/pain, dizziness | I was hospitalized two times before being diagnosed with Crohn's Disease at the age of 30, both at the same year and both times treated with Prednisone and after the hospital stays took Sulfasalazine (Azulfidine®). Before that time I took antibiotics like metronidazole (Flagyl®) and ciprofloxacin (Cipro®) but did not work out. On Dec 2006, after being diagnosed for Crohn's I started with Pentasa and Entocort till on March 2006 I was not showing improvement and was completely obstructed. At that time I had laparoscopic ileocolic resection to fix it (surgery that removed the ileum and cecum part). After the surgical procedure I started with 6MP and for the first two weeks the side effects seem normal (mild headaches, stomach upset and weakness) but they increased week by week, after 6 weeks my doctor recommend increasing the doses from 50 mg to 100 mg a day. I started with severe abdominal pain, dizziness, strong nauseas and headaches. I am still scared based on what I h | M | 31 | 2 months | 7/5/2007 | 2 | Crohn's Disease | Made me feel sick in the morning after I took the pill. After the doctor bumped up my dose, I felt more sick and eventually wound up in the hospital with mild pancreatitis which I believe was caused by the 6-MP. | Initially prescribed Prednisone, Asacol, and 6-MP all at once. Prednisone made me feel 100% better but the doctors worried about long term effects and tapered me off. The 6-MP seemed to be making me sick, esp. after the doctor increased the dosage. I wound up in the hospital for a few days with mild pancreatitis which I believe was caused by the 6-MP. Once off of all medications but Asacol (and over the counter drugs such as Immodium and Digestive Advantage Crohn's) I felt good and was later diagnosed as being in full remission. SUMMARY: It's hard to evaluate Crohn's medications because they make you take so many all at once. However, I am convinced that the 6-MP did little to nothing for me and believe that it caused the pancreatitis that landed me in the hospital for 4 days. | M | 31 | 7 months | 6/25/2007 | 4 | Crohn's Disease | For the first couple of weeks, bad fatigue, but that passed as my body's adjusted to the drug. Also took it last thing at night to avoid the nausea. | I was diagnosed with Crohn's Disease at the age of 30, just 10 weeks after my daughter was born. After trying other meds, this is the one that really works for me. I feel fantastic on this drug! I believe it has put my crohn's into remission, and am hoping to try for another baby whilst continuing on the 6mp. Have done loads of research, and would rather maintain remission on the drugs than risk a flare whilst pregnant! I stopped taking 6mp for 4 months to try for a baby (with no luck), and the crohn's flared, so was back to square one, and don't want to risk that happening again! I don't find that I get any more colds/flu/illnesses because of it either. I guess long term I am concerned about possible side-effects, but my doctors do keep a close eye on me and my blood results, and I'll continue for as long as they determine. I also take Salofalk (mesalazine) which I think really helps too. | F | 32 | 12 months | 6/16/2007 | 5 | Crohn's | Acne, fatigue, maybe depression? | After trying almost every drug available for Crohn's and reacting badly to all of them - methotrexate increased my crohn's symptoms, immuran gave me pancreatitis, etc - I finally tried 6mp and it's the only thing that has put me in remission and not given me any major grief. Don't give up even if everything else hasn't worked - this saved me!! | F | 21 | 4 months | 4/27/2007 | 4 | Crohn's disease | extreme nausea, headaches | All in all, I was petrified to take 6-MP, but anything's better than Prednisone. I've had Crohn's disease since I was 14, but I was diagnosed at 16. I was initially on Pentasa (5000 mg) and I still am, but it wasn't successful. Now I take Pentasa, Sucralfate, AciPhex, Entocort, and 6-MP. It's a lot, but I'm managing. I have a fantastic doctor. My blood levels look great and infertility DOES NOT SEEM TO BE A PROBLEM. My doctor says his own daughter is on it and it's done nothing but help. Overall, I'm feeling better, but I don't know which medicine to really attribute it to. I'm not concerned about the leukemia. My doctor knows quite a few women who have conceived while on this medicine and given birth. Don't listen to the horror stories, they're only there to scare you. Fortunately, no hair loss, which I heard was common, but that usually only happens in cancer patients, because this medicine's main purpose is to treat cancer (lymphoblastic lymphoma). | F | 18 | 2 months | 4/17/2007 | 1 | Crohn's Disease | Pancytopenia, bone marrow toxicity/suppression mouth ulcers | I was on 6-MP. I got mouth ulcers. No medication would clear them up. Within in 3 weeks of the first sores appearing I was in the hospital in isolation because my bone marrow failed. Low red blood cells, low white blood cells and low platelets. Not fun at all. Can no longer take this med. | F | 46 | 2 months | 4/13/2007 | 4 | Crohn's | I have been lucky, no real side effects, sometimes a little fatigue and sometimes catch colds quickly. | Was diagnosed with crohn's at 17 yrs old. I have had 6 surgeries and a illeostomy for 7 months ( now reversed). I have been taking 50 mg for 6 yrs. At one point I went off it a year to try and get pregnant and I had a nasty flare-up and had to have surgery. I went back on the drug and have been fine now for 2 yrs. Two surgeons told me to NEVER get pregnant on Purinethol as no enough studies have been done and my crohn's specialist said to try anyways and see. I ended up adopting a baby instead. I didn't want to take the chance. | F | 34 | 6 years | 4/6/2007 | 3 | UC | Total fatigue...joint pain, weight gain, but has put my Colitis into remission. Took 5 months on the medication to feel sort of normal...have a hard time remembering. | I have had UC for 17 years, and couldn't keep my UC under control. Spent 8 days in the Hospital last summer and fought with my Dr. about 6mp. Finally he convinced me to try it...(I was on Prednisone....HATED IT)so started 6mp. Within 1 month, I was symtom free, but the first 5 months were horrible. I was so tired, I felt sick all the time....but now fell better. I have my yearly colonoscopy on the 26th and I am thinking of asking my Dr. for surgery...the long term effects of 6mp scares me. | F | 43 | 7 months | 4/6/2007 | 3 | crohn'a | F | 39 | | 3/28/2007 | 5 | ulceritis colitis | stop all symptoms of bleeding, i havent had a flare up in over two years. | M | 37 | 2 years | 3/19/2007 | 4 | Polymyalgia Rheumatica | None I could definitely blame on this drug. However blood tests show lower than normal white cell count and marginally low haemoglobin. | Looking at the other ratings and comments, all the others are for UC or Chrone's. Is anyone else having this for Polymyalgia Rheumatica? I was diagnosed 2 years ago and have been treated with Prednisolone which worked OK but attempts to get the dose down to a low level didn't work. So I am taking Purinethol as a steroid sparing agent and this has enabled Prednisolone to be cut right down. My Physician believes that Purinethol is much less damaging long-term than Prednisolone. (He tried me first on Asathioprine but I got got nausea with that). I am in the UK. | M | 63 | 8 months | 3/4/2007 | 4 | Crohn's disease | none | F | 49 | 10 years | 2/18/2007 |