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Pentasa / high blood pressure

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Crohn's Disease
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Posted 10/19/2013 2:07 AM (GMT 0)
Anyone know if it's possible to get high blood pressure in the evening from pentasa?

I've started to notice a lot of weird things happening once it starts to get into the nighttime.


Is there any over the counter ways of testing your blood pressure throughout the day? Do they make things that can accurately read your blood pressure?


is taking 2 pills 4 times a day the normal dose for chrohns? Or is that too much sometimes for some..

F CHROHNS I HOPE YOU BURN SLOW!!!!!!!
Posted 10/19/2013 2:32 AM (GMT 0)
Hi Kingcobra,
You can buy a blood pressure cuff, or you can have your blood pressure taken at many drug stores, the fire dept., or of course your doctor's office. Your Pentasa dose is the usual dose. I take 3 500mg pills twice a day, so a little less than you. I haven't heard of high BP being related to Pentasa, but anyone can have their own reponse to medications, so you should definitely talk to your doc about your concerns. Is the Pentasa helping you otherwise with your Crohn's?
Posted 10/19/2013 2:42 AM (GMT 0)
I can't really tell if it's helped or not. I just went through a really bad flare awhile back, and never wanna experience that ever again.. I think I've understood how to control my chrohns though, and that's if I ever get in another flare to go straight to my GI, and tell them taper me down on prednisone, and then just keep me on the pentasa.. I don't know if I'll ever get another flare though..

doesn't really help that much, but must be doing something.. taking my dairy pills before I have dairy is what really keeps my stuff under control..
Posted 10/19/2013 3:39 AM (GMT 0)
You shouldn't be needing the Prednisone tapers more than once or twice a year. If it happens more often than that, then you probably need something stronger than Pentasa for maintenance. I'm somewhat lactose intolerant too. I use Almond Milk with my cereal, and limit dairy, with the exception of yogurt. I can eat some hard cheese, but just not too much. Good luck and I'm glad you are out of your flare.
Posted 10/19/2013 7:08 PM (GMT 0)
Really, you shouldn't need to use prednisone more than ONCE ever. The goal is to keep your disease under control. Gumby's right - if you are having repeat flares then Pentasa is not going to be your long-term maintenance med.

Now, a lot of people don't take their Pentasa as directed. The therapeutic dose of Pentasa is usually 4g/day. Some DRs say to take 1g four times/day. That's hard to do, and a lot of people end up skipping doses. My GI and I talked about this and he agreed that I could take it half in the morning and half at night. That was a much easier way of getting the right dose every day.
Posted 10/20/2013 5:18 PM (GMT 0)
There are a lot of choices of automatic (electronic) blood pressure cuffs--Walmart and drug stores carry them. But if you're still on or have been on prednisone, it most likely would be what's sending your blood pressure up.

When you say your blood pressure is up in the evenings, have you actually been able to check it at home since you apparently don't have a cuff? If you're going by feelings, once again, that could be from coming off or tapering prednisone. It also could be that you can't tolerate a 5-ASA drug. Are you allergic to aspirin? They are in the same family of drugs. Sometimes it's hard to know what's causing what especially when most of us take multiple drugs at the same time.

In any case, you need to call your GP or GI.
Posted 10/20/2013 11:27 PM (GMT 0)
Agree w all posters that if you are still on pred this might be the cause of elevated blood pressure. When I was on it, my BP used to jump to 160/100.
I take pentasa sachets and its a blessing. 1 sachet contains 1g of mesalamine. I take 2g in the morning and the other 2g at night. This was the optimal solution for my stomach that couldn't tolerate 8 tablets/day and I used to have severe stomach flare ups that necessitated iv fluids and meds.
Hope you feel better soon :)
Posted 10/21/2013 2:51 AM (GMT 0)
I haven't been on prednisone since my last flare.. I haven't had a flare in a very long time.. Pentasa has kept me good for awhile, I just can't tell whether or not my blood pressure is getting high in the evening, seems like I get headaches in the evening as well... I take 2 pills 4 times a day, I used to take 4 in the morning and then 4 at night, but that just is too much, and really doesn't make much sense
Posted 10/21/2013 1:43 PM (GMT 0)
Night time headaches can be from many things. Do you have any objective evidence that your blood pressure is high? You can go to your local pharmacy every night for the next week and sit in their blood pressure chair to take data.
Posted 10/23/2013 2:27 AM (GMT 0)
is it possible to maybe try and take 2 pills 3 times a day instead of the full 2 pills 4 times a day? heard people take different dosage of this medication
Posted 10/23/2013 2:44 AM (GMT 0)
If you are in remission your GI might be open to reducing your dose, but you should talk to your doctor first about it. I take 3 500mg pills twice a day for a total of 6 pills and it seems to be working for me. You should not change your dosage or timing of the pills though, without your doc's knowledge and approval.
Posted 10/23/2013 2:51 AM (GMT 0)

gumby44 said...
If you are in remission your GI might be open to reducing your dose, but you should talk to your doctor first about it. I take 3 500mg pills twice a day for a total of 6 pills and it seems to be working for me. You should not change your dosage or timing of the pills though, without your doc's knowledge and approval.

when do you take your dosage? morning, and during dinner? or morning and then lunch?
Posted 10/23/2013 3:17 AM (GMT 0)
Morning after breakfast and before bed
Posted 10/23/2013 3:38 AM (GMT 0)
I understand the deal with headaches because I have it nonstop due to muscle spasms and arthritis. Not fun.

The dosage of Pentasa is in the normal range for this disease. It may seem high because of the number of pills it takes, but it's not. You can get a headache from high blood pressure but there are so many other things that can cause a headache. And it could be the medicine is giving you a headache but not high blood pressure. You really need to check your bp to know. I would still recommend buying a bp cuff. You can buy one for under 40 dollars and they're fairly accurate. I did have to buy a larger cuff for my husband's arm, which cost 10 dollars extra. The ones that come with the machines run on the small side which can skew the reading.
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