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Pls Help! 3 months Pregnant, take Canasa or Asacol?

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Ulcerative Colitis
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Posted 7/24/2008 7:29 PM (GMT 0)

i was so happy to stumble upon this board as i am desperately seeking an answer. i am 3 mos. pregnant and have UC. have not been taking any meds since last flare 3 years ago. Now i have flare and my doc said i can either take Canasa suppositories or Asacol while pregnant. I don't know which would be less hurtful to the baby since both are considered class B drugs. Any and all advice as to which would be better to take while pregnant is VERY much appreciated! Thanks!

Posted 7/24/2008 7:44 PM (GMT 0)
How far up the colon is your UC? Someone on here told me that the canasa wont work if the disease is far up. If your Dr hasn't given you enough info on how it may affect the baby,  call a Childrens hosptial nurse hotline and ask or ask a pediatrition (sp) if you've got one (not sure if this is your 1st baby or not). 

Posted 7/24/2008 8:06 PM (GMT 0)
Congratulations on your pregnancy! I was diagnosed with UC when I was pregnant with my second child, and was on Asacol and Canasa through the rest of my pregnancy, and through nursing as well. My baby is six months old now, and is doing beautifully. It's definitely a personal decision - I talked at length with my GI and OB when deciding to go on the meds. Hope you have a healthy rest of your pregnancy!
Posted 7/24/2008 9:09 PM (GMT 0)
Welcome to HealingWell, Mayflower.

Canasa and Asacol both contain the same drug, Mesalamine. Both are considered "topical" medications, meaning they work through direct contact with the colon wall and little is absorbed into the body. The great news is that both have been used by women throughout pregnancy for years and have never been associated with any problems for either mother or baby. You can safely make your decision based on what your GI feels will work best for you. If you have proctitis - disease limited to the rectum, the Canasa may be a good choice. If the colon above the rectum is involved (left-sided or pancolitis), Asacol would be indicated, or better yet, both. The risk from the medication is pretty non-existant, while the risk of a bad flare causing problems is very real.

Congratulations on your pregnancy, and keep us posted on how you're doing!
Posted 7/24/2008 9:28 PM (GMT 0)
Hello!  I am 3 and half months pregnant myself and was in remission and one week ago I just started flaring with urgency and blood.  So I use cortifoam enema alternating with  salofalk suppositories throughout the day and at night I am currently using hycort enema.  Plus I am still taking my salofalk tablets daily.  My GI said they are all safe during pregnancy and I also double checked with motherisk hotline and they do the research and ok'd them all.  Plus I just increased my probiotic intake to 150 billion active cells per day.  Its been only a week and things have improved already hopefully with all the probiotics I'm taking symptoms will decrease in the weeks ahead.

With my first child I flared during the whole pregnancy but never new about probiotics they make a big difference.  Try to get things under control now because I know how bad things could get during pregnancy with a flare happening.

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