Hi everyone I am new to this site. I was diagnosed with Lupus 7/99. I have had my share of flares and am presently on plaquenal and pred. (20mg. My doctor feels that this is not working because of the inflamation of my joints and wants to put me on Imuran. My question is has anyone been on this drug? I know there are many serious side affects with possible hair loss, is the hair loss part true? Thank you

Hello and welcome to the board. I am fairly new at the lupus game- dx in Aug, but had it for a number of years- I guess about 7 for the lupus and lots more for the others. I am on Pred 8.5 down from 20 and plaquenil. Doc added methotrexate 7.5 about 2 months ago and it's finally kicking in. I like it cause the dose range is wide and it seems to have counteracted the hair loss I was having with the lupus.
I digress...... I wanted to welcome you while you waited for someone with info on imuran...
Let us know how we can help- a friendly group here.
Jeri

Welcome from me too, but I've never heard of that med either. Ann

I don't have lupus but I do have Scleraderma and polymyositis and ILD. From what I understand, the treatements are very similar. I was on Imuran for about a year, the side effects were mild and I experienced very little in the way of hair loss, though it might have been due to the high doses of Prednisone (60mg...now on 20mg). Imuran did not stop the progression of the ILD so I am now on Methotrexate after getting stabilized on Cytoxan.

Anyway, I did not have a bad time on Imuran. But from I understand, it affects different people in different ways. Hope this helps. Good luck.

i have been taking a combination of prednisone,plaquenil,and imuran for more than five years.Imuran has minimal visible side effects, but blood work must be done routinely to monitor effects on internal organs.I have never had a problem with imuran. It is my understanding that imuran is safer and less toxic than methotrexate.It helps in many cases.

[This message has been edited by miklx (edited 05-10-2001).]

Hello-
I am new here too. I have taken Immuran, or rather the generic Azathiaprine...and i did not have a good time with it. My hair did fall out ALOT...it was most depressing. But not only that it lowered my immunity so severly that i had a terrible upper respiratory infection and eye infections. It did not really help either. I find that this drug is mostly prescibed for those who have SEVERE cases where thier kidneys or other organs are involved. If this is not the case and you are only experiencing joint pain and stiffness there are ALOT of safer drugs on the market that can treat that these days. Celebrex, Vioxx,even Methotrexate are far safer. My dr described Immuran as a "last resort drug" . But not everyone reacts the same to every med...i could be just one of those cases where i fall in the severe reations to Immuran catagory.
If you choose to take the Immuran, plese make sure your dr keeps you under a close watch. The one who gave that to me did not and i ended up in the hospital for almost 2 weeks...it is a very powerful drug and should be used with caution. I am not trying to scare you, but i think the more you know the better. I would find out all i could about the drug before taking it so you can make a well informed decision and feel safe. I hope this info helps you and good luck!