Asacol is being discontinued!

So from what I am reading here, Asacol HD 800 will be available still? My insurance will not cover Delzicol so that is not even an option for me. The pharmacy stated I should also consider Apriso or Lialda. Am starting to research these as well. Have a doc appt in 2 weeks and need to get a new script for whatever I am going to change to.

51 years old; diagnosed with ulcerative colitis March 1987. also doing the Humira shots

This is a paper CCFA released about Delzicol:

http://www.ccfa.org/news/ccfa-position-on-dezicol.html

"There was one inactive ingredient which was removed from Asacol known as “dibutyl phthalate” or DBP and another inactive ingredient was added in its place. Because of the removal of this inactive ingredient and addition of another inactive ingredient, the name of the medication had to be changed. There was no safety indication for the removal of this inactive ingredient."

Um, what?? No safety indication? I thought that was one of the reasons given for taking out the DBP.

I don't know. I read that on another forum as well, that it was still available in Canada...very strange. The whole thing is strange and shrouded in secrecy as to the reasoning behind it all.

Hi I have uc for 25yrs I have a lot of trouble swallowing large pills I was on asacol 400mg 12 aday now on pentasa 250 but I have to sprinkle granules in yogart 4times a day but I do not like how it makes me feel. I called company who makes delzicol I am going to see gi on Friday sounds like I can open capsules and just swallow tablet inside cuz the capsule on outside releases in stomach anyways. Has anyone tried it yet that way?

Post Edited (gd) : 5/29/2013 3:32:22 PM (GMT-6)

Hi Sara they told me the capsule is not delay release and disintegration of capsule will happen in stomach. She new my angle and I explained how I can't swallow big pills.the little pill will release in elium and colon so I am getting a script on Friday and removing all capsules.

Thanks gd. What is the point od the capsules then? They are a pain in the butt to swallow.

Good luck, PostModernIrony.

I wonder why they put the capsules on then. They are marketing them as being easier to swallow! They make me gag almost. Sorry the Pentasa made you sick.

They did not say why other than it was an extra layer for tablet to get where it is supposed to but then I challenged them by asking them where does capsule release and they said eat before the tablet early in digestive tract which she eventually said stomach so capsule is useless. The tablet is enteric coated anyways.

Something's not right about this whole thing:
"In one case, the man taking Asacol for his ulcerative colitis, an inflammatory bowel disease, had a concentration of a dibutyl phthalate (DBP) metabolite in his urine measuring nearly 17,000 parts per billion, according to a case study reported by the Harvard/CDC team. The average for the general population was 46.

The unidentified man, in his early 30s, was tested for phthalates as part of a visit to a Boston infertility clinic. He and his wife were unable to conceive a child.

The effects of phthalates on male fertility remain unknown, but some scientists theorize that exposure, especially in the womb, could contribute to an increase in men’s reproductive disorders, such as reduced sperm quality, testicular cancer and undescended testicles.

Representatives of the plastics industry say the levels of phthalates used in consumer products are safe. They say human studies are small and inconclusive, and that the animals in studies showing effects were exposed to high doses.

The FDA has not put restrictions on use of phthalates except for a 2001 guideline that warned hospitals that phthalate-containing intravenous tubing and other plastic medical devices exposes infants to large doses of the chemicals.

Dr. Shanna Swan, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology and of environmental medicine at University of Rochester, called DBP, used in Asacol, “one of the most toxic” phthalates. It was associated with feminization of newborn boys – a shortened distance between the genitals and the anus – in a study that Swan and her colleagues published in 2005.

about 20 million prescriptions for Asacol have been written in the United States since it was approved by the FDA in 1992, according to Procter & Gamble Pharmaceuticals, the drug’s manufacturer."

http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/ehs/news/prescription-drugs-can-deliver-high-doses-of-phthalates

I haven't tried that yet, gd. I've been thinking about it. Maybe I will get used to swallowing them.

beatUC -- Yeah, i read that article a couple months ago...pretty crazy.

RE phtalates & 1992 FDA approval of P&G Asacol: it would be interesting to find out whether the med originally made in Germany contained this stuff. It was being imported into the U.S. from there in mid-1980s, when my doctor had me try it. From reports in French newspapers I've read over the past few yrs, EU countries have pushed to get the plastic out of consumer products sooner & harder than U.S. regulators. / Old Hat (32 yrs with left-sided UC; presently in remission taking brandname Colazal)

Holy crap they're secretive. What a bunch a bullcrap. They won't say anything to cover their butts. God, I hate them and hope a generic comes out. Basically, I'm pretty sure the capsules are BS. When I kept asking what the purpose of the capsule is and if I could remove them, all she kept repeating to me was "some people prefer capsules." Um right, like who?!?!?! She said the capsules dissolve in the stomach and the enteric coating is still on the tablet, just like gd said (I believed you, just wanted to hear it for myself, gd :). I bet you anything that the only reason they added that capsule was they couldn't get a new patent without it. They don't care about the consumer.

I asked about eating before or after and they told me they just didn't test it with food, like someone previously mentioned. So basically it makes no difference!!!!!! Screw Warner-Chilcott.


I just emailed the patient advocacy group OldHat mentioned earlier in this thread. I'll let you know if I receive a response.

Hi MossPiglet. Welcome to the forum and thanks for chiming in. For me, the Delzicol is working the same as Asacol (I've only been on it a week so far). I actually don't follow the no eating rule because from what the pharmaceutical company rep told me, it seems to not matter. She told me the reason that rule was put on the bottle is because they didn't test the medicine with food...so basically they had to put that rule on there to cover their butts. But it's basically the same med as Asacol so it shouldn't matter one bit. I also have been taking my tablets out of the capsule because the capsules do nothing and are hard to swallow. I'm sorry you're doing worse on the Delzicol. Hopefully the Lialda works for you.