I've been feeling extremely tired lately. Part of me blames the increased sunlight, while other, snarkier parts cough and point to the nightly congregation of parking lot yappers our apartment complex attracts. Finals are wrapping up, so kids are partying. But ultimately I'm pretty sure the culprit is the Imuran.
I read other UCers' medication testimonials and no one seems to be on more than fifty milligrams of the stuff, while my doctor started me on 125 and moved up to 150. The sleepiness would bother me more if I could remember when the hell I last had energy (as I am by inclination a proponent of La-Z-Boys and ice cream comas), probably in high school when I was still actively interested in batting tennis balls. I was under the impression that higher levels of Imuran fuss with liver function and pre-cancerous thingums.
Speaking of pre-cancerous thingums, A. and I have plans to drive down to the city this weekend. I am rehearsing my mouth-cancer images for after the first margarita and the scratchy smell of matches. However, my reasoning breaks down right about then:
A Typical Progression as the Second Pitcher of Belchfire Margaritas Sloshes onto the Table
- This margarita has more alcohol than my whole apartment complex
- Alcohol is bad for the liver - oh, hey, chips
- Liver, liver, liver...paste? Bah, rich bitch food
- Liver function! My liver is rotting. I should probably finish this anyway. There are dry drunks on the street, for godssakes
- Perhaps a cigarette will counteract liver damage?
- No. Mouth cancer!
- Yes.
- No. Mouth!
- As long as it's a Dunhill. Because they're expensive. Might be some pharmaceutical shit in there.
I would like to take an actual medication vacation someday soon. As this blog entry shows, it is getting awfully hard to concentrate...
Sorry you feel so bad. I was on 75 mgs of Purinethol (same stuff, essentially, as Imuran). I got tired. But I was also on 30+ mgs of Prednisone, 16 Asacol pills per day, and Remicade. I'd get really tired sometimes. I crashed right after my first Remicade infusion. It got better with each subsequent infusion (I think I had 4 or 5), but I still got tired after the infusion. Then the Prednisone took over, and I'd be a raging lunatic for a day or two.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely don't drink if you're on 6-MP, and especially Flagyl. If you take Flagyl and drink, you will end up in the hospital.
As for cigarettes, they actually do have some benefit in treating UC. In general, people that smoke get Crohn's, and people that don't get UC. Also, the use of nicotine patches has shown some benefit to patients with UC.
I'll close by saying the official reason for my surgery: non-responsive steroid dependant UC. The long-term risks of the drugs were, for me, far greater than the risk of the surgery. If you're off Prednisone and functioning, then it's a different situation. But nobody should take that drug long-term.
I completely agree about Prednisone. That is the worst shite I have ever taken. A. still casts "the popcorn incident" up to me, which is something I should blog about eventually, as it is hilarious now that the Pred is banished.
ReplyDeleteThe difference between 6-MP and Imuran is always confusing to me - but I have never been told to stay away from alcohol while on it (Imuran).
There was this "don't drink" label on my 6-MP, a margarita glass with a line through it. Also the stuff I took to relieve urgency (the name of it slips my mind, but it was mint-flavored stuff kept in my mouth until it dissolved) had the same label.
ReplyDeleteI really wasn't a big drinker anyway, so I just gave that up. I also gave up caffeine, and popcorn.
I had the airport stall incident. I should post about that...maybe I will eventually.
Oh, do, sometime. The good thing about all those hideous compromising situations is that there's another crohny/UCer who can commiserate.
ReplyDeleteOk, I posted about the airport stall incident, but I probably won't leave it up forever, so look while it's there.
ReplyDelete