Changing medication

[Sugaandsweetz]

Hi I was diagnosed with mild MCTD and lupus in august 24th 2014. I was on hydroxychloroquine but I was get fare up afree flare up. So I whe to see My tspecialist nurse so she can put me on a new medican call azathioprine. Has any one been on it and if so how does it make u feel..,?

[MargaretGail]

I take Hydroxychloroquine Sulphate and Azathioprine. Once you have built up the Azo to a level it where it can make a difference you can really feel an improvement but during the build up I experienced nausea and loss of appetite (which I was experiencing anyway) and a few digestive problems.

[littleeffie]

Hi and I am on hydroxy plus azathioprene.You will start on a low dose which MargaretGail was suggesting doesn't do much but give you the side effects such as nausea ,gastric yukkyness a bit fuzzy and tired and I had awful headaches for first couple of weeks and same with each dose increase.You will also be subjected to weekly,fortnightly then monthly blood tests which can't be at the top of anybody's to do list but are very important as in a few cases casn affect liver function. The side effects do look mega scary ,I react adversely to a lot of meds,but I have been on it for a year and it has improved some of the Lupus symptoms without too many problems.

Hope it works well for you with as few negatives as poss.

[Hidden in reply to littleeffie]

Hi littleeffie,what symptoms did the aziathroprine help with,please?

I am on Plaquenil, well generic of 200 twice a day,and still suffer so much with this hand/finger, small joint pain!

I am on it for a year now,and no relief! Just wanting to know if my symptoms has a medicine to help!Thanks!be well!..dunkxx

[littleeffie in reply to Hidden]

It is awful when the meds don't make a difference. Do try and change to the Zentiva brand iof hydrox/plaquenil nstead of generic as that might help a bit.For me the azathioprene helped stopped the Painful clawing effect in fingers ,you know when you wake up and it feels like you have been holding on to something as tight as you can all night, and generally reduced the grit your teeth pain.hasn't done much for the fatigue though but have fibro aswell and nutty kids so prob that too.

Take care and hope you get some relief soon x