asacol....

Just started my acasol 800mg today....can anyone share what their experience was or is on this Med?? Was on salfaulk n entocort but the entocort seems to make things worse so I'm giving these guys a try

I was taking apriso and I felt horrible still from the uc, but asacol really helped instantly but you might get weird side affects at first like headache, fatigue but stick it out it works good

I have used Asacol for about 12 years with middling results.

While it certainly reduced the UC symptoms I had when I was completely untreated, it has never entirely subdued them.

I would say that Asacol made for about a 70% reduction in my symptoms.

Of interest are two other, OTC treatments that have been very useful adjuncts to the Asacol.

1) Psyllium, the active ingredient in Metamucil and similar generic products. When mixed with water, forms a gel in the body that has led to a very noticeable improvement in my symptoms. I have been taking this for about 10 years. A fair amount of medical literature exists regarding psyllium and UC.

2) Melatonin. This one is the real surprise and I only stumbled upon it by accident within the last year or so - there is relatively little medical literature on it as a UC treatment. It may work by increasing bicarbonate secretion in the digestive tract.

Both psyllium and melatonin are much cheaper than Asacol and in my personal experience provide relief that is at least somewhere in the ballpark as that provided by Asacol.

That said, UC is usually so miserable that a lot of people take everything they find that helps them.

That is true for me too - I take Asacol *and* psyllium *and* melatonin.

The advantage of the OTC products is that they are very useful adjuncts, they provide noticeable incremental improvements, and they have allowed me to reduce costly high Asacol dosages (which are sometimes counterproductive anyway - in my experience).

Asacol cleared up my colon, but stopped short of keeping the rectum inflammation free.

So I would add Asacol in enema form to your regimen. Mesalamine enemas treat that area.

Steve, The doctor thinks I'm taking one pill four times per day. I decided on my own to go down to one pill three times per day due to cost and experimentation. It has saved me money and has not worsened my symptoms. I never have taken the full dose of 4.8 grams per day. At one point the doctor had me taking 1200 mgs three time per day but it seemed to make me worse so I cut back slightly.

Before Asacol and diagnosis I was having 2-3 BM's per day but they were always bloody diarrhea. Since diagnosis and Asacol my stools are formed and bloodless just about all of the time but I'm going 8-15 times per day. I'm kind of in the twilight zone because I'm thinking the Asacol is making me go more but at the same time is forming my stoools and getting rid of the blood. I'm afraid to both cut off the Asacol altogether and see if my bm's decrease or increase the dosage to the full dosage.

As a note as of my last appointment my doctor believes my UC is under control and that now I have just IBS. I really don't believe him.

doc says since my current condition is IBS instead of UC then rectal meds would not work

I just knew you were going to ask that. Doc's did all of their usual during my UC diagnosis and based on my test results he felt that rectal meds weren't necessary. My thoughts on the subject are that I don't really want to do it unless I have a guarantee that it will put me in total remission. I have studied and read the board for quite a long time and I have only seen a very small handful of UC'rs who can claim that rectal meds put them into a total remission. There have been many who said that it improved their conditions but still experienced symptoms. Since I do better than a majority of the people here I do not want to put myself through rectal meds just to improve my condition when my condition is fairly good in the first place. Ditto all of the nasty drugs. However, I am keeping the option open in the future. And yes, you are right, I don't believe in IBS and believe my doctor pulled that diagnosis out of his ass.

geez gary, man up as somedud would say - it's not like stickin your weenie in the fan balde on your car ! you get your dumbass doc to write you a script for 10 days, you shove one up up your heiny every nite and at the end of ten days you either say hell yes or hell no -

what could be easier ?

ugh god i swear since the entocort everything has just gotten worse. this asacol doesnt seem to be helping much either. guess ill be going back to doing my salfaulk enemas now too. cant handle not getting straight answers i need from my doctor anymore. going back in wednesday to be referred to a specialist n hopefully getting some answers and something to help with this pain and bleeding

quincy im on asacol 800mg right now, one 3x a day. i agree i shouldnt have been told to stop my salfaulk! im definietly getting another case and starting back on them asap. this is exactly why im going in next week and just being asked to be referred to the doctor that did my colonoscopy. i have a good doctor but im not getting the answers i need, and clearly not being told the right things to do inorder to help with my flareup.. im so thankful i found this forum and and very grateful for the advice u guys give. its really helped alot and i thank u :)

Did not do much for me and also made me very nauseous while I was taking it. My GI then moved me on to bigger and "better" things.

Yeah, not enough time for the salofalk enemas. But one should always be on both oral/rectal 5ASA.

For the entocort, do you mean the pills or the enemas?

q

Thanks guys. Ya I was doing entocort enemas too. I'm going to fill another rx for my salfalk today n talk to my doctor next week about upping my asacol dosage too to maybe 2 pills 3 times a day rather then one. Fingers crossed! Can anyone recommend something else other then boscupan for pain during my flareup?? Trying to get pregnant n I'm reading boscupan is something u don't want to be on during pregnancy unless u really have to be.