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Crohn's Disease
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Posted 3/13/2017 11:07 PM (GMT 0)
Hi
Newly DX with crohns & started taking Lialda almost 2 weeks ago. I'm curious if any of you have experienced loss of appetite, weight loss, & constipaption?
Any feedback appreciated
Thanks
Posted 3/14/2017 2:28 AM (GMT 0)
Hi! You're very quickly going to hear from people that Lialda isn't very effective against Crohn's. For some people, it does work, but for the majority it's not much more effective than a placebo. Are you also taking any steroids?
Posted 3/14/2017 4:10 AM (GMT 0)
Thanks for the reply..
I am not taking any steroids at this point. Since I've just recently been diagnosed my GI felt that Lialda was the best med to start with in finding what's gonna best work for me. I will be following up with him the end of this month.
The first week on it I felt pretty miserable. I was having horrible headaches & was extremely tired. I changed taking it in the morning to now taking it at night. For me that's made a difference & the headaches & fatigue have stopped. I have definitely had a loss of appetite..am constipated & have dropped 11lbs. So I guess this process is going to be one of trial & error to find what works for me.
Posted 3/14/2017 1:09 PM (GMT 0)
My GI wanted me on remicade for a fistula, but my insurance wouldn't approve it without a few months on lialda.
I wasn't expecting much from it, but it worked really well for me. BMs became semi solid and it really gave me my energy back. It didn't do anything for the fistula, but even remicade couldn't get rid of it either.
Lialda is good choice if you have Crohns Colitis (aka Crohns in the larger intestine including rectum).
I hope it makes you a feel better!
Posted 3/14/2017 2:40 PM (GMT 0)
I have had a similar experience to scifigal in that Lialda is similar to Pentasa for me--it doesn't seem to help at all. I don't remember negative side effects from it and if there were any, they were minor. For active disease, you really need to bring in the "heavy hitters" whether it's biologics, steroids, Imuran-type drugs or some combination.
Posted 3/14/2017 4:03 PM (GMT 0)
I have had good luck with lialda. I have been on it for many years and I credit it for stopping my major bleeding.
I dont have any of those symptoms you are describing but did have headaches when I first started it. I starting drinking more water and the headaches went away. Lialda is the only medication I am on right now besides supplements.

Good luck!
Posted 3/14/2017 5:26 PM (GMT 0)
😊Thanks y'all for your replys & support.
As I'm presently not in active disease the real test will be to see if Lialda will work for me.
Posted 5/4/2018 4:57 AM (GMT 0)
I had a really bad experience with Lialda. It increased all my symptoms, bowel movements became only fluids. And the nausea was debilitating. Had to stop after 2 doses. (Weeks apart to experiment) Wondering what would come of powering through it and taking it for at least a week. (Maybe my system is cleaning itself out with help from the drug??) But I couldn't do it, the fluid loss was too extreme for me, and had me in bed all day. I've heard quite a people have had success with the drug. Maybe I'm intolerant to Mesalamine or something. I wish you the best of luck.
Posted 5/4/2018 5:16 AM (GMT 0)
Some people are intolerant to mesalamine medications like Lialda. I think it's somewhere around 1 out of 20 or 25 people who are intolerant. The intolerance results in an increase in symptoms - bowel movements, diarrhea, nausea, etc, like you describe.

You could try another mesalamine besides Lialda and see if the same thing happens. If it does, you'll be pretty sure it's a mesalamine intolerance. Then you'll have to find something else to treat your UC. There are still lots of other options.

FWIW, mesalamines are proven effective for many cases of mild to moderate UC, but they aren't effective for Crohn's.
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