Pentasa - Side effects??

I'm in my early 20's and was diagnosed with u.c. about 1.5 years ago. I feel pretty much normal now after a bumpy first 6 months. I am no longer on pregnizone and just on a small dosage of 6mp and pentasa 500mg 2 pills 3x a day. I think I have been witnessing side effects form the pentasa for some time now and i'm wondering if anyone has had any issues with the drug. I mentioned it a couple times at the check ups with my gasterologist, but it kind of gets dismissed because the drug is supposed to have no real side effects. Towards lunch and espeically dinner, if I don't eat a solid meal at a certain time and have the pills after I become light headed. If I don't eat anything before taking the pills or only have a small snack and take the pills I become light headed. If I eat a solid meal but wait til like 7:00pm or later for dinner to start and then take the pills, I become light headed and have trouble focusing. I'm bringing this up now because it is the only issue I have now with uc. Also, if I don't space out the timing of the dosage far away from each other i'll face the similiar side effects - almost need to wait at least 4 hours. My stomach has been practically normal the last year of my life. Maybe I need to go to lower dosage pentasa or possibly another drug. One suggestion was that it could have been my sugar or blood levels, but I get those tested every couple of months and they seem to be normal

I would like to address this issue now because I start work full time in 6 months and I'm not going to be able to have food when I need it at a given pattern. This type of dependency can be very annoying. When i'm looking to go out to dinner later in the night - I almost have to have a premeal before I go out to take the medicine. Also, if I have too much liquids before taking these pills you get major indegistion, so I only drink alot of water after taking hte pills. Also, having soda before taking these pills gives you the similiar effects. (this is not the real issue to me however) The light headiness sounds weird to other people I describe it to because the drug really is not supposed to have any serious side effects. Any suggestions or help would be greatly appreciated - also curious if this happens to anyone else out there.

Post Edited (bkess27) : 3/14/2009 3:54:22 PM (GMT-6)

Hey!

Were you taking anything else with the steroids? Like pantoprazole or something like that? 6MP can be really hard on the stomach so maybe you haven't felt it until now. Pentasa does have side-effects and there's an increased risk of getting leukopenia, trombocitopenia, pancitopenia and pancreatitis. Especially when taken with 6-MP or Azatioprin! I'm going to copy paste the list of side-effects here and give you the link. They didn't say anything about the interaction between Pentasa and Imuran/6MP but it says so in the instructions I get with my pills. Oh, and do you check your blood regularly?

I hope you do talk to your doctor about this. It's not OK for him to say that there are no real side-effects. We're taking these pills everyday and they all leave a mark and then we're stuck with not only CD problems, but therapy consequences...

Good luck ;)

http://www.gihealth.com/html/education/drugs/pentasa.html

What are the side effects?
All medicines - even those purchased without a prescription - may sometimes produce unwanted side effects. Millions of prescriptions have been written for Pentasa in the United States and Canada and it has been generally well tolerated. Adverse events seen in clinical trials with Pentasa tablets have generally been mild and reversible, and have seldom resulted in discontinuation of treatment.

These side effects should be reported to your doctor:

* Persistent headaches
* Skin rash, severe itching
* Unexplained fever
* Unusual bleeding or bruising
* Unexplained skin blistering and peeling

The following side effects usually do not require medical attention. They often will go away as your body becomes used to the medication. However, if they continue or are bothersome, check with your doctor:

* Mild Headache
* Upset stomach, heartburn
* Nausea and vomiting
* Dizziness

Some patients may experience side effects not listed above. If you notice any other symptoms, simply consult your doctor, nurse, or pharmacist.

Limiting side effects
You can help limit side effects by taking Pentasa exactly as prescribed and by reporting any problems promptly to your doctor. Drink plenty of fluids.