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Asacol side effects

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Ulcerative Colitis
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Posted 8/9/2010 8:56 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks Q!


I plan on starting with one pill and see how I do before increasing. Just started a new med today...so one med at a time. We'll try this weekend so I have some time to recover!



Im still confused over the diagnoses even afer talking to my GI. I got an appt with a new one next month so we'll see what she says. Apparently the current GI considers LT side UC to be anything on the left. He mentioned it was distle too..whatever that means! But as noted in my signature it the sigmoid up to 30 cm according to the GI.
Posted 8/10/2010 1:57 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks so much Heather, you've been a great help and encouragement! I can't believe I've been posting to this forum for so long! I remember discovering it in a hotel over Christmas and how I felt then. Thanks and I will continue my dose but I will have to do maybe 3, 3, 3, 3 or something when I do four, major headache and neck pain! Hugs!
Posted 8/21/2010 12:07 PM (GMT 0)
I started back on Asacol and wanted to post my progress. I went back on as a saw a tint of blood on my toilet tissue.  That Fri incident on 8/7/2010 being bed ridden with mutiple side effects probably triggered a new flare!  UGH! eyes   Also doing nightly enemas too.  Trying to do self maint as my appt with a new GI isn't until 9/9...hope this doc works out!

Started Sunday, 8/15/2010, dosage 1 pill 3x/day with full 8 oz glass of water.  Took with 2 saltine crackers if not directly after eating and with extra water. Crackers are dry!

Up until Wednesday, 8/18, I noticed my bowels getting softer until I produced liquid diarreha (side effect) Wed morning. Took 2 Imodium pills and 1 addtion after subsequent bowel movement. Added rice to my diet for dinner, and lunch on Turs & Fri.

Thursday 8/19, no bowel movements. I think I got clean out on Wednesday! At least the diarreha stopped. Also I redeveloped the brusing/dry skin by the corner of my left eye and got a bit dizzy after taking the noon dosage.

Friday 8/20, brusing/dry skin went away. still got a bit dizzy after the dosage. It was enough for me to scew up some of my CPA practice questions. I got my last test coming up on Aug 30th! Was also able to have a more solid bowel movement.

Sat 8/21 up dosage to 2 pills 2x/day with 2x 8oz water (maint dose). Experienced slight chills (another side effect). Bowels coming out solid but like ribbons. At least they're solid. Also experienced additional blood. This must have been piling up since I didn't poop on Thursday 8/19. Will keep this dosage for another week to build up my tolerance. Didn't experience dizziness yet. started the new dose about 1 1/2 hours ago.  Just had another bowel movement. No longer in ribbon form but medium clumps. Also more blood. I saw I was dripping into the toilet. When I flushed the clumps broke up, so they weren't solid anymore. Maybe I shoud try 2 pills 3x/day to get up to the 4pills 3x/day faster!  YIKES! smhair

Posted 8/22/2010 3:36 AM (GMT 0)
Peace - sounds like your tolerance symptoms are going away, so that's good. When I was first dx, i was on asacol 2 pills 4x daily. I would say that if you're able to tolerate the meds, you should try to increase dosage as much as possible until your visit with new GI. You'll prob. want to get a new scrip though, because you'll still need to take the meds for maintenance once the flare is over, and you don't want to be taking a drug that you don't tolerate well.

Also, it's a good thing you're going to a new doc. It sounds like your old doc needs some work!
Posted 8/22/2010 9:07 PM (GMT 0)
I read on another thread that sometimes Asacol can make you worst? Does that mean it's possbile Asocol can start a flare or is this only referring to the side effects?

Anyway this is going to be an intersting week. I'll have my period along with the blood I'm already losing. Hopefull I don't wind up anemic!
Posted 8/22/2010 9:41 PM (GMT 0)
It can have symptoms that could be exacerbated, but that usually happens with higher dosages. As well..it takes a while for the meds to do their thing.

Periods throw things out of kilter with hormonal changes...

How much worse are you?

q
Posted 8/22/2010 10:05 PM (GMT 0)
I haven't started the period yet.  luckally being on birth control makes them less messy. Without birthcontrol I would have a heavy flow on the 2-3rd day....to the point I had to change every 2 hours. Sometime miss work due to dizziness. Got on the birthcontrol to regulate the periods and lower the blood loss...and having my period only 4x a year is a plus! I'm taking the placebo pills which have iron in them so this should help.

Just started flaring yesterday.  Dripping in the toilet, water turns red in the bottom of the bowl. No D. I'm only going in the morning so the blood is probably collecting for a good 18-24 hours.   Felt tired this morning and went back to bed and sleep for 2-3 hours more.

I'll let you know if anything changes during the week.

Posted 8/23/2010 6:39 AM (GMT 0)
So were you on the enemas daily and flared?? or off the enemas completely?

q
Posted 8/23/2010 9:26 PM (GMT 0)
I was on the daily enema when I flared. Flare wasn't too bad today.  Hopefully I'm on the mend.
Posted 8/23/2010 9:33 PM (GMT 0)
Everyone is so different when it comes to meds! I am currently taking 4 Asacol three times daily. I have been on this stuff for about 5 years, although the 12 per day is an increased dose due to a flare. I just had an appoint with the gastro doc, and he told me that magnesium can have a mild laxative effect. I had not heard that before, and thought it was worth mentioning. The enemas really do help, but, it sure is a pain in the butt to use them devil Hope you feel better soon!
Posted 8/24/2010 12:24 AM (GMT 0)
Thanks Missmissy.  I'll keep that in mind about the magnesium. I only take 250mg. It beats the incredible pain from leg cramps!

Luckally my flare is just blood...no cramps, pain, or diarreha. Stools look good. I normally suffer constipation but I think the enema helps with the inflamation as I'm not constipated this time either.

Posted 8/29/2010 11:57 AM (GMT 0)
Ok..here's the update on week 2. Taking 2 pills 3x daily.

Got my period this week. On day 3, I got a tension headache and nausea. I normally get these during the peek but I think this time it was part side effects. I wound up home after 4 hr of work and laid down. Normally an hour does it for me but this was simular to the time I took the 4 pills all at once.  I couldn't stay up very long before returning back to bed. Also that evening I noticed a small red dot to the side of my tongue. It looked like a small blood clot. It didn't hurt and went away the next day.  It tough going through your period without Advil and caffiene. These are the two things that only help with my headaches.  I did cheat the next morning and had a weak cup of regular tea. It seems to help as I've been off caffiene for several weeks.

Is it ok to take Advil ocationally..or should I avoid it completely?

Also I noticed to be a bit a dizziness after about an hour of taking the med. Still getting cold chills after taking it too...but they go away.

This morning I noticed an undesolved pill lodged in my stool. It was still the shape of the pill and had the coating on it, but it was soft.  I check my stool everytime I go and this was the first I saw of this.  Guess the coating is to hard for me to digest?  I wonder what these mean to me for taking other meds. Waiting until 9/9 to see my new GI.

Going to stay on this dose until I get through my CPA exam tomorrow. May wait until Friday to up it. I don't have any more sick time to take at work and I'm not sure how I'll react to 3 pills 3x daily. 

Wish me luck!

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