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 | Chrone's Disease | Slight fatigue, nauseous | I was absolutely petrified to start taking this drug due to all the potential side effects and more importantly the controversy over whether it is safe to take while pregnant (although not currently pregnant, it is definitely in my near future -knock on wood). My Chrone's was fairly inactive up until 2 months ago when I was hospitalized with a severe abscess. I luckily avoided surgery and the abscess was treated antibiotically. To prevent this from happening again, my Dr's placed my on 1500 mgs of Cipro (to heal this infection temporarily), 3000 mg of Pentasa and 50mg of 6mp a day. I hesitated to start taking the 6mp for about a month as I was too scared based on what I have read about it. After many consultations with top obgyn dr's and gastro specialists, they advised me it was in my best interest to begin this drug and they would stop it immediately if any of the side effects became unbareable. Needless to say, I am feeling great (better than ever) and have had minimal side effects. In addition, my obgyn follows 6mp/pregnancy very carefully and said much of the new research in the last few months is very positive in respect to this issue. I will definitely cross that bridge when necessary BUT...with MUCH hesitation i started this drug and have to say, It has proven my inhabitions wrong. If anyone has any feedback regarding pregnancy and this drug, I would love to hear about it. | F | 28 | 2 months | 8/1/2005 | 4 | UC | Nausea, headache, achy, fever chills | my joints hurt | F | 46 | 3 weeks | 6/12/2005 | 5 | Crohns | No side effects excect dip in white cell count while i weaned off of prednisone. | I've been taking 100 MG of 6MP for almost a year and it is working well for me. I was very sick before I started taking 6MP and could no longer tolerate steroids. I'm very happy with the results. I have not flared up at all since being on this dose. I have to have a iguinal hernia repaired and am a bit worried about healing time as i was told the 6MP will impede the healing process. Has anyone experienced this? | F | 39 | 1 years | 6/7/2005 | 5 | Crohn's | i've been very tired and have achy joints but i'm not sure if it's b/c of the crohn's or the medication. my immune system is also lower | i was diagnosed with crohn's in Sept. 2003 and i was on the prednisone and asacol at one point and when i started purinethol i slowly got off of the prednisone (which was great cuz it got rid of that whole 'moon face' thing). one of the most important things is to work closely with your doctor so you can have the required blood test. also i am on ferrous for iron since i'm anemic. but other than the sleepiness it has worked wonders. i've only had like 2 flare ups and i'm positive that was from stress. | F | 21 | 1 years | 5/21/2005 | 1 | Crohn's | Acne, rash under arms and inside of thighs, dry scalp, red spots on back and shoulders | I had a flare up after being in remission for a year while taking only Asacol. My doctor told me we'd have to take a more aggressive approach and prescribed me 6mp. After being on it a month I started noticing the side effects. My doctor told me to stop taking the 6mp and prescribed me Imuran, which I just started taking. Hopefully I'll see better results with the Imuran | M | 24 | 2 months | 5/17/2005 | 5 | Ulcerative Colitis | Nausea at first, but that disappeared after about 2 weeks. | Purinethol has worked really well for me, and I have no side effects. I'm in complete remission, and I'd never even know I had UC. Before taking purinethol, I was on Colazal and high doses of prednisone, which had unfortunate side effects for me. Once I started purinethol, I was able to eliminate the steroids for the first time. I've been steroid-free for almost 9 months after having been dependent on them for a year. Also, purinethol is tasteless and is very easy to take (just 1.5 small pills per day). The blood tests are no big deal. I hope purinethol continues to work for me forever--I'm a huge fan. | F | 21 | 1 years | 4/25/2005 | 3 | Crohn's | Liver and kidney started to shut down. | My 20 year old Daughter had the problem with the Purinethol. Both of my daughters have Crohn's. One diagnosed @ 20years in her 30 week of pregnancy, her organs also started to shut down. Delivered my granddaughter 10 weeks early, hospital stay for her 8 weeks (she is fine now) and my daughter was in the hospital 4 weeks. No warning of the disease until then. My other daughter was diagnosed @16 years old. The 6mp seemed to be working well for her, weekly blood work, after a few months of taking it her eye color appeared to be on the yellow side in less than 24 hours her liver and kidneys were shutting down. She was hospitalized for 1 week. Went off the 6mp doing fine now. Told this side effect is so rare there are very few causes in the US. Both of my daughters have been on numerous medication for Crohn's and are both good at watching what they eat to help control the disease as well as the med's they are on. I also have MS which is also in the autoimmune disease family. | F | 20 | 4 days | 4/1/2005 | 2 | Ulcerative Colitis | I have not started taking it yet, still researching to see if it is worth it | I was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis almost 5 months ago; since then I have been hospitalized twice due to falre-ups. I was on 80mg of prednisone, and 400 mg of asacol 12x's a day. Now I am on 50 mg prednisone and 400mg colozal 9x's a day and my doctor wants to start me on purinethol as a mantainace therapy. I have heard horror stories about the drug and even things about infertility. If anyone has any information to help my decision or about the infertility, please share with me. [email protected] | F | 19 | 0 days | 3/30/2005 | 3 | Crohn's Disease | Nausea, periodic fatigue | F | 56 | 2 years | 3/16/2005 | 5 | UC | none | I have had UC since I was 17 (16 years ago). I was steroid-dependant (40-50mg pred per day). Also took all the 5-ASA drugs which are like putting a bandaid on gunshot wound. It took 2-3 months for the 6-MP to kick in. I started with only 50mg, but I take 100mg now. If before I was 50% (frequent BMs with blood, mucas, and little formation), now I am 95% (1 BM a day with some softness). No out-of-the-ordinary hair loss. I should know since I am an identical twin and have a | M | 33 | 4 years | 2/28/2005 | 4 | Crohns Disease | fatigue, light-headed, dry-mouth/thirsty, hair-loss when i first started taking it | ive tried several other meds that havent helped, my only other choice was steroids so i tried this and it seems to be working i developed crohn's disease when i was 16-17 yrs old so ive been on a dosage of 50mg/25mg every other day for about 3 years | F | 21 | 3 years | 2/24/2005 | 5 | UC | nausea, head aches, fatigue, loss of appetite | I developed UC in third trimeester of third pregnancy, was not diagnosed until twoyears later. Asacol, enemas, etc. nothing worked! Prednisone worked but hated it! Refused to take it again. Participated in study at Shands and met wonder doctor, last name Valentine, specialist in Crohns and Collitis. Was on 100 mg 6mp for about a year and miraculous cure! Got off it after a year, never had any trouble w/liver or blood tests. After two years, began flare up two months ago. Started 6mp at 75 mg last week after hospital visit and feel like I want to die! I'm nauseous, can't take care of my kids, fatigued.. I hate feeling like this! But Iknow this drug works and will hope, after reading all the comments, this feeling will subside in a few days/weeks. Reading comments helped toknow I had company and support out there. Thanks! | F | 34 | 7 days | 2/23/2005 | 2 | UC | Hot flashes, joint pain, sleepiness, feeling like I have the flu. | F | 40 | 5 days | 2/22/2005 | 5 | ulcerative colitis | none | F | 42 | 4 years | 2/16/2005 | 3 | Crohn's Disease | Joint pain, irritable, and lack of energy. | I started taking this medication about 2 years ago. It worked ok for me at first other than the side effects I listed. I was on 125 mg at the time and my white blood cell count dropped. My doctor told me to immediately stop taking it for 2 weeks and take another blood test. It was fine, so he told me to resume taking it at 100 mg. Now, about a year later, my white count is low again. I had another small bowel series and Colonoscopy which revealed more Crohn's activity at the same place that was resected. He said that we need to discuss other possible medications, because this one isn't working. If anyone knows of a better medication, besides Remicade, please let me know. Thank you. | M | 29 | 2 years | 2/6/2005 | 4 | Ulcerative Colitis | Nausea, vomiting, headache, loss of appetite, increased thirst, fatigue (some of these could also be attributed to both the flare-up and the high doses of Prednisone). | I stayed away from this drug for five years because I was so afraid of the side effects - I wish I had taken it sooner. Nausea is a small trade-off if it means staying out of the hospital on IV steroids. I've only been on 6-MP a month, but we are seeing improvement and I hope to get off of the Prednisone completely in the near future. | F | 22 | 6 weeks | 1/6/2005 | 5 | crohns disease | none this was great, I think my son had a upset stomach the first time he took it but thats all | M | 7 | 1 years | 1/3/2005 | 5 | UC | Fatigue, hair loss, nausea - all of which went away after about 3 months. | Purithenol (6MP) has been a godsend for me. Nothing else worked, and the UC was getting worse and worse. Had to control it with high doses of prednisone (60 mg), which lead to moon-face, etc. - but was able to ween entirely off the prednisone, and now I take only 6MP and one cort-enema, and it's more or less like I don't have UC anymore . . . | M | 32 | 1.5 days | 12/28/2004 | 1 | Crohn's | High fever, trouble breathing and severe flu symptoms | I must be one of the few that cannot tolerate the drug. The MD tried me on the drug with the above results and then again at a lower dosage with the same results. | M | 52 | | 12/13/2004 | 5 | UC | Joint pain? | I was diagnosed with uc in 1992. Have been on asacol since then and suffered numerous flare-ups over the years. Doctor put me on 6mp about 20 months ago and I haven't had a flare-up since. Works great for my uc. I am concerned about the more serious reported side effects, liver problems and bone marrow problems. Have my blood tests done on time and the doctor says that everything is ok. My family doctor did a physical last year and some of my liver panels were not normal. When the tests were done a few months later, my specialist said everything was ok. Thinking about asking my doctor if I can come off the 6mp. Would rather experience flare-ups than to die from liver failure. | M | 32 | 20 months | 11/29/2004 |