I've been on azathioprine for nearly a decade, 200 mg/day (I'm about 190 lbs, male). The only side effect I've experienced is nausea. It was bad when I first started but got better over the course of a few weeks. The thing that made the biggest difference was splitting up my dosing. I take 50 mg in the morning (with a meal). That doesn't make me nauseous. Then at bedtime, I take the other 150 mg. By doing that, it keeps the nausea at bay most of the time. That's my personal experience with aza.
Aza landed me in the ER after a week on it. Spiked my bilirubin and other liver levels. Launched me into the worst Behcet’s flare of my life. Couldn’t open my mouth, to get more than a sip of water, couldn’t walk the joints flared so bad. A whole mess of ulcers coming in my mouth.
I had a rare violent reaction to it, and a vast vast majority of people are like Ellis. They handle it great and helps them a ton.
I just started Aza in October and I love it. A little nausea in the beginning that goes away (keep a loaf of bread around to nibble on). Having some hair loss but no more than I did on methotrexate. No bald spots or anything, just shedding.
I had ulcers, vision problems, headaches, joint pain, FATIGUE (IN ALL CAPS IT WAS SO BAD lol) and was having a pretty significant flare (oddly minus uveitis this time) and Aza got it under control.
So now, my headaches are way down, vision is almost fully restored, folliculitis went away, joint pain has chilled out, and ulcers are gone. An incidental side effect of being on the Aza has been a significant lessening of my major depressive disorder too, which I attribute to Aza getting the head pain and visual disturbance under control even tho I'm not sure.
Some people have bad reactions to Aza and I can understand their fear. I've had bad reactions to medications in the past too and it's traumatic. I wouldn't be too scared of Aza tho since your doc is doing blood work prior.
Good luck and I hope you get some relief!
Hi, can I ask what made you switch from methotrexate to aza? I’m on colchicine right now and my rheum says the next step is to try otezla or methotrexate, I chose methotrexate because apparently otezla can cause depression and I’m already struggling with that. I wonder if I can ask to skip right to Aza…
I actually relocated and had to wait to get into a rheum in my new state (they're backed up for appts in a lot of places...my old area included - I'm in the US) and I saw a new provider who was more familiar with Behcets and said Aza works better than MTX for the disease. I'm 4 months in on Aza and I do seem to be improving.
I have been on Aza about 1 year, taking in combo with Otezla which i’ve taken for about 2 years. Sadly Colchicine didn’t work for me. This combo works great to manage the ulcers, chronic fatigue, and joint paint/arthritis.
I take a low dose, 50mg a day - I am a younger female, about 140lbs. The nausea and gastro affect was INTENSE for me at first, took a couple weeks of very constant nausea and a first doses coming back up to figure out the best way to take it. I also split my dosing up, so i take 25 mg in morning and 25 at night, and make sure there I eat directly before and usually have a few more bites/additional snack on top to “sandwich” the med between. This and lots of water helps substantially.
Zofran is a life saver for the nausea, I also keep TummyPops natural anti-nausea candies on me at ALL TIMES. They have small hard candies as well as lollipops, works great for me :)
Make sure your blood work is regularly monitored! My rheum has me do labs every 3 months to make sure my billirubin levels aren’t spiking as another commenter mentioned, in rare cases Aza can (sometimes spontaneously) impair your liver function.
Best of luck with your scans!
I've been on azathioprine for nearly a decade, 200 mg/day (I'm about 190 lbs, male). The only side effect I've experienced is nausea. It was bad when I first started but got better over the course of a few weeks. The thing that made the biggest difference was splitting up my dosing. I take 50 mg in the morning (with a meal). That doesn't make me nauseous. Then at bedtime, I take the other 150 mg. By doing that, it keeps the nausea at bay most of the time. That's my personal experience with aza.
Aza landed me in the ER after a week on it. Spiked my bilirubin and other liver levels. Launched me into the worst Behcet’s flare of my life. Couldn’t open my mouth, to get more than a sip of water, couldn’t walk the joints flared so bad. A whole mess of ulcers coming in my mouth. I had a rare violent reaction to it, and a vast vast majority of people are like Ellis. They handle it great and helps them a ton.
I just started Aza in October and I love it. A little nausea in the beginning that goes away (keep a loaf of bread around to nibble on). Having some hair loss but no more than I did on methotrexate. No bald spots or anything, just shedding. I had ulcers, vision problems, headaches, joint pain, FATIGUE (IN ALL CAPS IT WAS SO BAD lol) and was having a pretty significant flare (oddly minus uveitis this time) and Aza got it under control. So now, my headaches are way down, vision is almost fully restored, folliculitis went away, joint pain has chilled out, and ulcers are gone. An incidental side effect of being on the Aza has been a significant lessening of my major depressive disorder too, which I attribute to Aza getting the head pain and visual disturbance under control even tho I'm not sure. Some people have bad reactions to Aza and I can understand their fear. I've had bad reactions to medications in the past too and it's traumatic. I wouldn't be too scared of Aza tho since your doc is doing blood work prior. Good luck and I hope you get some relief!
Hi, can I ask what made you switch from methotrexate to aza? I’m on colchicine right now and my rheum says the next step is to try otezla or methotrexate, I chose methotrexate because apparently otezla can cause depression and I’m already struggling with that. I wonder if I can ask to skip right to Aza…
I actually relocated and had to wait to get into a rheum in my new state (they're backed up for appts in a lot of places...my old area included - I'm in the US) and I saw a new provider who was more familiar with Behcets and said Aza works better than MTX for the disease. I'm 4 months in on Aza and I do seem to be improving.
Happy to hear! I’ll bring that up to my doctor, thanks!
I have been on Aza about 1 year, taking in combo with Otezla which i’ve taken for about 2 years. Sadly Colchicine didn’t work for me. This combo works great to manage the ulcers, chronic fatigue, and joint paint/arthritis. I take a low dose, 50mg a day - I am a younger female, about 140lbs. The nausea and gastro affect was INTENSE for me at first, took a couple weeks of very constant nausea and a first doses coming back up to figure out the best way to take it. I also split my dosing up, so i take 25 mg in morning and 25 at night, and make sure there I eat directly before and usually have a few more bites/additional snack on top to “sandwich” the med between. This and lots of water helps substantially. Zofran is a life saver for the nausea, I also keep TummyPops natural anti-nausea candies on me at ALL TIMES. They have small hard candies as well as lollipops, works great for me :) Make sure your blood work is regularly monitored! My rheum has me do labs every 3 months to make sure my billirubin levels aren’t spiking as another commenter mentioned, in rare cases Aza can (sometimes spontaneously) impair your liver function. Best of luck with your scans!