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Pls suggest what should i ask my GI for?

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Ulcerative Colitis
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Posted 4/29/2009 7:03 PM (GMT 0)
My flare up after vaccination is not getting under control, i doubled up my Canasa dosage(as suggested on this forum) for 5 days and it helped but after i started single dosage flare increased - again back to mucus and constipation. I had to discontinue double dosage of Canasa as my doctor refused to give me renewed prescription of 2Xday till i visit her. So now i got an appointment for next month....till then i am on 1Xday dosage of canasa.

My question is: Is canasa the safest even if i double it? What if GI switches to Rowasa or any other. I wanted to try the safest medicine with minimum side effects first - i m still new to UC and want to avoid medicines with side effect as long as i can. Is rowasa beter or double dose of canasa 1000 ?

Thanks :-)
Posted 4/29/2009 7:08 PM (GMT 0)
I don't think there'd be much difference in safety/side effects between Canasa and Rowasa as they are both mesalamine rectal meds. The Rowasa would reach farther in your colon as it's an enema and Canasa is a suppository, so if your inflammation has spread farther, it might be best to switch to Rowasa. The enemas can be harder to hold in for some people, but I haven't had a problem holding them at all. Some people have problems with Canasa and/or Rowasa, but this is probably because they're sensitive to mesalamine (if they can't use either one) or because they're sensitive to an inactive ingredient.
Posted 4/29/2009 7:12 PM (GMT 0)
There isnt much difference b/n the mechanisms of Conasa or Rowasa. I feel that Rowasa would get further in so if u have the rowasa enemas try them as well. look into Specific Carbohydrate diet especially if u want to avoid medicines.
Feel well
Ghena 31
UC
Posted 4/29/2009 7:13 PM (GMT 0)
BTW what vaccinations did u get that u feel got you to flare?
Posted 4/29/2009 7:20 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks for your replies. I didnt know that rowasa and canasa are both mesalamine. :-)

@Ghena: I took Rubella vaccination - till then canasa was great for me ! Now single dose is not working - i will try special carbohydrate diet as well.
Posted 4/29/2009 7:25 PM (GMT 0)
I was using Canasa 2x a day for a long time. My doctor didn't want me using Canasa at all but she renewed my prescription because I asked her to. I never told her I was using it 2x although I have seen people say that it is fine to use 2 a day. I think 3 a day is the max. It is topical. I don't think it causes any ill effects (just my opinion). I recently stopped using rectal meds all together, not by choice but it was necessary for a medical trial I will be entering. Fortunately my symptoms seem to be remaining minimal.
Posted 4/29/2009 8:00 PM (GMT 0)
For those that can tolerate the rowasa they seem to work good, and are safe to use as maintenance. They just sometimes give me D, which isn't pleasant since we already deal with that.

Knowing what I know now I would never get a vaccine if I had an autoimmune disease or even a strong family history of them. Dr. Sears has a good book on the subject.
Posted 4/29/2009 8:42 PM (GMT 0)
Cool silkygirl..good for u :-) How did u manage not telling your doc that you are taking 2Xday canasa- were you able to get 2 boxes of canasa in 1 month? .... as per my insurance i can get just 1 box (30 suppositories) in a month :-( How did u manage? - pls let me know... i ran out of my suppositories by the month end - and was without any canasa for a couple of days :-(

Dr.A: we are planning a family and my gynecologist said that rubella is a must if i am planning pregnancy. We consulted two doctors and they both wanted me to get rubella vaccination!
Posted 4/29/2009 8:52 PM (GMT 0)
She wrote me a prescription for 6 months at a Canada Pharmacy. I ordered 3 months worth at once. It's a lot cheaper in Canada, it's called Sallofalk. After, I noticed Axcan had a patient assistance program in the US for Canasa. I asked her if she could fill out the paperwork and send it in to the local pharmacy. That gives me one free box per month. I still had the Sallofalk so I was able to use 2 a day without running out. Recently I was able to taper down to one Canasa a day, then to none a day... Now I am just using Asacol. If I flare I will go back to using Canasa - one or two a day. It all happened by accident but the Canadian Pharmacy was never instructed to only give me one box a month. They just had on file that I was allow 6 boxes over the next year. I guess when you don't deal with insurance you can get whatever you want... turn
Posted 4/29/2009 10:06 PM (GMT 0)

saposs said...
Cool silkygirl..good for u :-) How did u manage not telling your doc that you are taking 2Xday canasa- were you able to get 2 boxes of canasa in 1 month? .... as per my insurance i can get just 1 box (30 suppositories) in a month :-( How did u manage? - pls let me know... i ran out of my suppositories by the month end - and was without any canasa for a couple of days :-(

Dr.A: we are planning a family and my gynecologist said that rubella is a must if i am planning pregnancy. We consulted two doctors and they both wanted me to get rubella vaccination!

Yeah, it was mentioned for my wife but vanderbilt's mid-wifes didn't push it. We also reasearched risks vs benefits for it. The hospital did try and push a tetanus shot post delivery, but we just denied it. Look into that book from Sears. You probably know who he. Son is on that show "The Doctor's". Great for anyone getting ready to go down the wonderful road of a new baby. Some good info on his site to just on baby stuff.
Posted 4/30/2009 12:40 AM (GMT 0)
Dr A, thanks! i will definitely read book by Dr Sears. I wish i had not taken that vaccination - 1X canasa was doing great for me! My gyn. said they will not go ahead with any tests till i get Rubella vaccination :-( they really scared us with " abnormal child" etc etc... we were scared!
Posted 4/30/2009 12:42 AM (GMT 0)
yes! silkygirl... i had a tough time without medication during a flare up. Next month hopefully i will get prescription for 2 Xday !
Posted 4/30/2009 2:48 AM (GMT 0)
I've had several immunizations (pneumonia, tetanus, flu) since diagnosed with UC, and never had a problem with any of them. I guess if it came to that, I'd rather deal with a UC flare than tetanus.
Posted 4/30/2009 12:51 PM (GMT 0)
     Personally, I've had better results with the Cort enemas than Rowasa.
Posted 4/30/2009 1:31 PM (GMT 0)
I just had a tetanus shot a couple of months ago...I had no effects but a little bit of a sore arm. I get my annual flu shot too...same thing, nothing much than a sore arm afterwards. I think it's best to consult with your doctor (face to face) on these matters and come up with a plan for your personal health.
Posted 4/30/2009 5:21 PM (GMT 0)
Maybe vaccination and flare up together was a coincidence.... i had flu shot as well but it did not give me any problem. I will definitely talk to my GI abt this next month. Will keep u posted what my GI says. Thanks
Posted 4/30/2009 5:25 PM (GMT 0)
Really, there's no way to really know if the vaccine caused the flare or not. I mean, it's not like you'll need to get another rubella vaccine to see if it happens again! That's what's frustrating in figuring out cause and effects in humans, IMO, as I do plant research. With plants, it's easy to get a population that's genetically identical and subject them to all sorts of things to figure out what treatments do (and it doesn't matter if the treatments kill them). That's impossible in humans!
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