Husband newly on 6-MP

Hi all,

So my husband is currently on Remicade and his GI has now put him on 6-MP too, he said it will help in the body not developing resistance to Remicade. I read a lot about 6-MP and quite frankly, I am pretty scared. I read its a chemo drug and could cause adverse effects? GI said he will be on it for only 6 months though. Just looking for some success stories on 6-MP.

I'm on imuran (similar to 6-MP) and have been for 2 year.
No issues. I started with weekly blood work. Currently on an 8 week blood work schedule.

The first 7-10 day were the hardest:

Fatigue
Nauseated
No appetite

I felt like I had the flu but it passed.

Hope it works well for him.

I also thought I'd be getting sick all the time but that wasn'tthe case .

Thanks Dave. I ll update on how he feels. I just hope this doesn't do any long term damage to his body.

Hi all,

So, S has been on 6-MP (Purinethol) now for about 3 weeks. He was having a bit of hair fall in the beginning. The GI said if its too much, we need to stop the medication but he can be on it if it stabilizes. It seemed to stabilize a bit after, so we didn't bother about it. Now it seems to have increased again, to the extent that when he touches his head, 2 or 3 small bits of hair come out. His GI says again we need to stop it if it increases. We also don't want to lose the good effects of 6-MP, especially since everyone says hair will grow back once we stop the medication. Do you think we should stop the pill? Any idea how long it takes to stabilize?

Is the hair loss bothering your husband?

Is the hair loss the only reason the GI is giving for stopping?

Hi Catherine, the hair loss does not bother him much. Yes it is there, but there are no chunks of hair falling off when he touches his head. GI says if the hair loss increases and becomes severe, then we have to stop the medication. 6-MP luckily does not bother my husband in any way and his blood work also looks good, so we are a bit skeptical about stopping the medication. When the GI said he needs to stop it if hair loss is severe, I was scared that maybe it could indicate some other problem and that's why he wants us to stop it. Hoping it all stabilizes.

Maybe try asking why would you stop 6MP due to hair loss if the hair loss doesn't me (us).

Catherine said:

Maybe try asking why would you stop 6MP due to hair loss if the hair loss doesn't me (us).

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Yes I have to do that next time. Right now, its on and off. Some days its there, some days its not. So we have told our GI we will let him know if it is too bad.

Hi Aarthi,

I have been diagnosed with UC and my doc has put me on 6 MP recently .Can you please post how your husband is doing on 6 MP. Is he taking Lialda as well.

Thanks

Deep said:

Hi Aarthi,

I have been diagnosed with UC and my doc has put me on 6 MP recently .Can you please post how your husband is doing on 6 MP. Is he taking Lialda as well.

Thanks

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HI Deep and welcome, have you seen the Ulcerative colitis forum? here it is:
http://www.crohnsforum.com/forumdisplay.php?f=69

Im on 6-mp since years and doing well, also taking mesalamine suppositaries.

Remicade is also considered a Chemotherapy. i didn't know this until I saw my ins paper work. I asked my infusion nurse and she confirmed it for me.


Lauren

Yes tots. It comes up as chemotherapy in our insurance too. Initially I asked my GI if its chemo and he said no. The infusion method is similar to what they do in chemo but the medicinal effect and side-effects are not similar to chemo is what he said. I found thats true Though I try not to think about the long-term effects.

There are a few other threads on here about hair loss. I had it when I started Azathioprine, but after a few months it stopped and my hair went back to how it had always been, all the while I never stopped taking the Aza.

There is also the theory that it is not the drugs causing hair loss, but the disease. We usually get pushed into taking these drugs because of the severity of our illness, and so it coincides with us being very stressed and run down, which could also result in hair loss.

Try reading some of the other threads on the subject and you may get a feel for other's experiences of this to help you make your decision.