Help with diarrhea, losing weight and lack of appetite . . . azathiaprine?

[Guest guest]

My son has now had diarrhea for over a year and the medications just

seem to make things worse. (One exception: when he first took

prednisone and 5ASA it miraculously stopped the diarrhea for 7 days

but then it got worse than ever with bleeding.)

He has been diagnosed with UC and PSC and possibly autoimmune

hepatitis.

He is currently taking 5ASA, azathiaprine and prednisone and feeling

weak and losing weight.

5ASA - made him sick and bleeding at first but now he can " tolerate " it

prednisone - he is taking it but seeing no positive effect He is

tapering the dosage and now down to just one a day

6-MP - he got very tired and lost his appetite so he stopped that

Azathiaprine - got very tired and lost his appetite at full dosage: so

they put him on a low dosage and gradually increased it . . .now he is

at the full dosage and feeling very tired with little appetite

His diarrhea has continued through all of this. He is now down 30

pounds. He is tall but he didn't have any extra fat to begin with.

He is away at university.

Does it make sense to any of you for him to persevere

with the azathiaprine . . . have you had experiences of things

getting better?

Question: Do you think the azathiaprine may be causing this problem?

The doctors keep throwing these drugs at him but I have yet to see

any benefit.

(He has tried doing things with his diet but nothing seems to help

so far)

If I were him I think I'd try stopping all the drugs and just work

with the diet . . .

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Sandy

[Guest guest]

> Does it make sense to any of you for him to persevere

> with the azathiaprine . . . have you had experiences of things

> getting better?

>

I was on Azathioprine for a while, and it did help with the UC, but it

took a little while (like a few weeks) for it to really get it's full

effect. The only real side effect I noticed from it was that it changed

my hair color. My hair turned very light brown instead of it's normal

dark brown. I was actually having trouble with my appetite while I was

on it, but I attributed that mainly to the fact that I had Epstein Barr

Virus too, and was pretty sick with that. They took me off the

Azathioprine to help me get over the virus, and I haven't gone back on

it yet.

I guess based on my experience if he's been on the Azathioprine for more

than a few months and hasn't had any help from it, it's unlikely to

start helping him now. Since I've been off the Azathioprine, VSL#3

probiotics seem to be keeping my UC under control reasonably well, and

others here have had good results from it... you might try giving that a

try if you haven't already. You can get it without a prescription

(Google it), or if your doc will write you a prescription your insurance

might cover it. Mine did.

Hope that helps,

athan

[Guest guest]

Hi Sandy;

Sorry for not replying sooner. It's so hard to tell whether the

medications are causing the diarrhea or whether something else is going

on. One nutritional factor that's sometimes overlooked is that vitamin

A deficiency can manifest as persistent diarrhea. To rule this out it

might be worth having your son checked for vitamin A levels?

Best regards,

Dave

(father of (23); PSC 07/03; UC 08/03)

[Guest guest]

It took Pearl at least 9 months to see positive effects from

azathioprine. I'm sorry he's had such a hard time. Pearl is currently

inpatient, has been for nearly a week and will most likely be here

another week, because of diarrhea with blood, caused by Crohn's

inflammation. It is a constant struggle for us. I hope your son's

problems are sorted out soon.

mom to Pearl, PSC/AIH/Crohn's

[Guest guest]

It took Pearl at least 9 months to see positive effects from

azathioprine. I'm sorry he's had such a hard time. Pearl is currently

inpatient, has been for nearly a week and will most likely be here

another week, because of diarrhea with blood, caused by Crohn's

inflammation. It is a constant struggle for us. I hope your son's

problems are sorted out soon.

mom to Pearl, PSC/AIH/Crohn's

[Guest guest]

It took Pearl at least 9 months to see positive effects from

azathioprine. I'm sorry he's had such a hard time. Pearl is currently

inpatient, has been for nearly a week and will most likely be here

another week, because of diarrhea with blood, caused by Crohn's

inflammation. It is a constant struggle for us. I hope your son's

problems are sorted out soon.

mom to Pearl, PSC/AIH/Crohn's