Azathioprine Side Effects

[Adelie]

Hello, does anyone have feedback on the side-effects of Azathioprine please? I know everyone is different but after suffering debilitating Prednisone side-effects, curious as to whether Azathioprine is better/worse? Thank you!

[drz]

Hello, does anyone have feedback on the side-effects of Azathioprine please? I know everyone is different but after suffering debilitating Prednisone side-effects, curious as to whether Azathioprine is better/worse? Thank you!

i took both for 10 years. Main side effect is higher risk of infection from suppressed immune system. Read the pamphlet for more info and asked your pharmacist since meds often interact with each other and will vary according to what medical problems you have.

[Adelie]

Thanks drz..

[Razie]

Adelie,

Wondering if you have any feedback on taking Azathioprine? My rheumatologist is thinking of having me start this with hopes that it will get me off prednisone and perhaps also truxima. I have taken tavneos but after 6 months of no improvement stopped that. I tried getting off prednisone but had to go back on; as you mention, the side effects of that are awful.

Hope you're getting improvement!

Razie

[drz]

Adelie,

Wondering if you have any feedback on taking Azathioprine? My rheumatologist is thinking of having me start this with hopes that it will get me off prednisone and perhaps also truxima. I have taken tavneos but after 6 months of no improvement stopped that. I tried getting off prednisone but had to go back on; as you mention, the side effects of that are awful.

Hope you're getting improvement!

Razie

I have seldom been off all prednisone except for very brief period. I need it to control some of the GPA residual effects even when I am considered in a drug induced remission.Tavenos gave me a lot of infections. At resent i am trying infusions of IVIG to see if it will help reduce my infections. I am still on10 mg of pred daily but have recently been up to 40 and 60 to treat some serious GPA effects like loss of hearing and severe nose bleeds. I am using six month infusions of RTX to suppress immune system now. The lowest dosage of pred I have had is 5 but then I had a lot residual side effects that often required increases in pred and AZA

[Razie]

Thanks for the info drz! I had been on 50-60 mg of pred for months. I've had luck tapering down to 7.5mg with no major ear pain but ongoing other ear and sinus issues, and now trying for 5mg. My ENT has suggested surgery to reduce turbinates (if I spelled that right) and open sinus passages. I'd certainly prefer to not have surgery and am worried about surgery with GPA. It would be nice to get rid of all the ear/sinus symptoms. Of course there's no promise that surgery would work and they could be ongoing residual from the GPA.

On the bright side, at least I'm averaging walking over a mile a day now and working to increase that to 1.5 miles a day! Even though I need trekking poles to keep my balance, that's a win in my book! :biggrin1:

[Adelie]

Adelie,

Wondering if you have any feedback on taking Azathioprine? My rheumatologist is thinking of having me start this with hopes that it will get me off prednisone and perhaps also truxima. I have taken tavneos but after 6 months of no improvement stopped that. I tried getting off prednisone but had to go back on; as you mention, the side effects of that are awful.

Hope you're getting improvement!

Razie

Hello Razie, the only feedback we received (other than what appears in this thread..) was from the GP who said that other patient feedback indicated Azathioprine was much more tolerable than prednisone. But so far we can't give any personal experience because my mother-in-law decided not to take any other drugs just at the moment. Best wishes..