Pentasa dosing

I was in this exact same dilemma earlier this year. I finally decided on two 500mg capsules twice per day. I could never figure out if you could take three at the same time but I guess you could.

It says to take with food, is that mandatory?

I take the blue capsules but I do not take them with food. If you are taking just the granules only then it might be a good idea.

I am also taking pentasa granules. My GI told me to start with 4g a day - 2g in the morning, 2g in the evening - to try to get into remission. Later, when the colon looked OK, he told me to switch 2g a day. I could choose to take the 2g either in the morning or evening. (Not 1g in the evening and 1g in the morning. This seems to be the general recommendation.)

But I can't tell what was best for me.

So I've taken two doses of my pentasa now. I notice it's giving me a heartburn/indigestion type feeling which I hope goes away. Also, my tablets are really hard to swallow! They get stuck in my throat! Lol. This morning the one tablet actually started to break apart in my mouth and throat while swallowing it!! This concerns me because it says you must swallow whole! But then I also saw this:The tablets must not be crushed or chewed. They may be swallowed whole or broken up. To facilitate swallowing they may be dispersed in 50ml of cold water. Stir and drink immediately.

So...if it dissolves in water it must be ok if it's trying to dissolve in my throat as it's lodged in there? Seriously it was only stuck for like half a second!

I'm wondering why everyone else has capsules... Maybe the tabs are a canadian thing? Mine says:PENTASA® Slow Release Tablets 500mg and this description is accurate:Tablet
White-grey to pale-brown, specked round tablets, scored and marked 500mg on one side and 'PENTASA' on the reverse side.

I'm in Canada, wonder if that's why I have this type and not the capsules you guys have. I think I'm getting better at swallowing these exploding horse pills. I guess if I'm still having issues when I see my doc in a couple of months I can ask if there's a different form of pentasa I can take. The heartburn seems to be gone now. I'm actually taking them on an empty stomach and been having no issues...so far.
Man I hope these GD pills work....so sick of pooping!!!!!!

toomuchpoopin said...
I'm in Canada, wonder if that's why I have this type and not the capsules you guys have. I think I'm getting better at swallowing these exploding horse pills. I guess if I'm still having issues when I see my doc in a couple of months I can ask if there's a different form of pentasa I can take. The heartburn seems to be gone now. I'm actually taking them on an empty stomach and been having no issues...so far.
Man I hope these GD pills work....so sick of pooping!!!!!!

Have you been doing better on pentasa the past few weeks? You think the 500mg tabs are hard to swallow? Try taking the 1g tabs, they are massive lol.

I just started with Pentasa today for maintenance reasons, I was med free. I am trying 1g in the morning and 1g at night. I have read a lot about dosing and seem to read if you are on it just for maintenance reasons 2g in the morning should work too. My GI actually recommended 3g daily, 1g three times daily. I just want more room to increase up to the max 4g/daily if things go bad and I start to flare. What are other peoples experiences with dosing?

I actually don't mind the size of the 1g tablets, I can get use to anything. I just know they are a lot bigger than the 500mg ones. Canada also has tablets, I've actually never seen the capsules.