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lialda after asacal and colazal

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Ulcerative Colitis
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Posted 2/19/2008 7:16 PM (GMT 0)
Has anyone ever tried Lialda after the asacol and colazal has quit working?  And if you have did your symptoms ease?

I have to see the GI on Wednesday of next week and am looking for an option other than another round of prednisone. I am taking 2 Rowasa enemas nightly now, and 12 colazal caps daily and still having trouble.  Any ideas of new meds to try?

Posted 2/19/2008 9:10 PM (GMT 0)
I was on Asacol first, then Colazal as my GI thought that would be more effective. Once Lialda was approved he put me on that one because I asked for it; I was getting tired of having to think about medication every eight hours. It's easier to comply when I can take everything first thing in the morning and forget about it.

Honestly, none of the three were able to get me into remission; I thought they were pretty useless until my GI took me off the Colazal for a week while I was on the Imuran (he was hoping my reaction was due to the Colazal as he was hoping the Imuran would get me off the Prednisone). My symptoms worsened while I was off of it, so I guess any of the three have been helpful. They are all basically the same medication with different delivery systems. One may work better for you than the others, or they all may work, in which case it may be a matter of cost or convenience.

Are you taking any supplements? I have had a good experience having added Culterelle probiotic and fish oil capsules to my regimen. I have been trying to get off Prednisone ever since diagnosis and I think I am finally having a successful taper.

Meesh
Posted 2/20/2008 12:33 AM (GMT 0)
I take DR.Ohira's 12 plus probiotic and I also take fish oil supplements. I think they do help, but still need the meds!! How did the Remicade work for you. He is adamant about that one, but if I opt for that I have to quit my job.
Posted 2/20/2008 1:42 AM (GMT 0)
The Remicade worked well for me, but I have to have the infusions every six weeks rather than every eight weeks, I start to get symptoms if I try to go for eight weeks. Why would you have to quit your job if you go on Remicade?
Posted 2/20/2008 4:55 AM (GMT 0)
I was initially on Asacol for 4 years, on which I kept having symptoms and not realizing that they wren't normal. I switched doctors recently and he first took me off of asacol to see if that was making things worse... being off made no difference, then he put me back on at full dose (12/day) which made it much worse so was off again. then tried cortenema alone for 3 weeks, with minimal (and i mean just minimal) improvement in the mornings, but no overall difference. then recently started lialda... within 1 week, significant improvement, decreased frequency/urgency with no blood/mucous in stools! still going about 5/day, but i haven't felt this well , ever! lialda has certainly been great for me. unfortunately, they've only tested it for 8 weeks... i guess i'm the guinea pig after that. :)
Posted 2/20/2008 2:02 PM (GMT 0)

Meesh-I work in infectious diseases research and the Remicade and the agent I do research with do not mix.  I work with Histoplasmosis, and I can not take Remicade or I risk the chance of aquiring Histo and then have nothing to fight it off with, and It can be lethal.  So, I am desperate to find an alternative!!

Posted 2/20/2008 3:18 PM (GMT 0)
I was put on Colazal last August when I was first diagnosed w/uc (after 2 + years of symptoms and a clean colonoscopy the 1st time). Anyway, I had side effects with the Colazal after about 6 weeks and went off. My new doc put me on Lialda, and it didn't work. So, she put me on Asacol which didn't help. So, I took prednisone (30 mg, ugh) and 2 Lialda each day. Now, I'm off the prednisone (finally) and the Lialda is working- no bleeding or diarrhea or constipation. Hopefully, the Lialda will work for you, but it is the same med as Colazal and Asacol. You might need the boost of the prednisone, I'm sorry to say. Good luck, though!

Posted 2/20/2008 5:28 PM (GMT 0)
Lemonhead, ah, that certainly makes sense. I was a little wary going onto the Remicade because I groom dogs and often have cracked hands because they dry out so badly and the dogs often crap on the grooming table, have fungal infections, etc. I stopped grooming the "biters" -- before I had UC I got bit and it became infected so quickly I spent the weekend in the hospital getting IV antibiotics, hate to think what would happen to me now if that happened.

I use hand sanitizer and wash my hands like a maniac, use lots of hand cream as well to minimize the cracking ... so far so good though. I make my family members wash hands as soon as they get into the house from the great filthy public outdoors as well. We've all been healthy so far this winter.

Good luck finding something that works. My GI always tells me not to forget that UC is curable -- of course, it's the surgery, which to me I can't accept yet, but given your circumstances you may want to look into it. When I was in a bad way last Oct through the end of Dec I started to give it some serious thought.

Meesh
Posted 2/21/2008 1:48 AM (GMT 0)
Hi Lemonhead,

I had to write because you sound like you're going through EXACTLY what i'm going through. I have been on Colazal for years - since about 2000. I was fairly ok for a while - my flares weren't that bad but over time/years they have gotten worse.

Prednisone helped me the first few times - and put me into remission. But i most recently i was on it for a year and no help ... couldn't get off of it either. I started Remicade in Oct. and it has helped but i still have symptoms. I'm not convinced Remicade is the "cure" i need ... so i'm not sure you're missing a whole lot by not being on it. It did do some wonderful things - it got me off Prednisone, thank god!!!, and it lessened my bathroom trips to about once every 2-3 hours. However ... either i'm still not on the right dose after 5 treatments or its not going to work as well as i need.

You might want to consider the surgery. The option sucks ... but i have considered it and its not still out of the realm of possibility for me (unfortunately. I really don't want it). There is another medication besides remicade that is an imunosuppressant with human antigen instead of mouse antigen ... but i don't know that that would be a possibility for you either.

I'm sorry you're feeling so bad!
Posted 2/21/2008 4:00 PM (GMT 0)

Hi...

I use Lialda instead of Asacol.  It is basically the same drug with one change, as explained to me by my GI, is the drug is formulated ot release over a 24 hour period instead of a 4-6 hour period.  this allow you to take it once a day, instead of 3 or 4 times a day.  does it work better?  I really don't know, with the hectic schedule I use to keep, taking Asacol 4 times a day was difficult as I didn't keep to a regular routine.  Part of the success with this drugs is compliance (taking as directed).  Lialda works for me from the respect, but the results are the same when I was on Asacol.  Lackluster at best for me.

Hope tis helps

RD0906

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