Ulcerative Colitis Pills in Stool, a 48 Hour Self Study Recovery

This is anecdotal for only myself, and not medical advice.

I have often wondered how much medication I am actually receiving and absorbing from my maintenance medication as I often see the tabs in the stools. Here is a documentary of my experience for information on what is happening in my body with this med...you may recognize the med when you watch the video. My plan is to use this video to help my doc and I develop my plan of care. This is not medical advice. I share because it is interesting and for entertainment purposes only.
Also, I show the recovered capsules, it is not graphic, but they have passed through my intestinal tract. My opinion rough estimate is that I may be getting 60% of the med actually released in my gut.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RoYyrHWwBKI

Well, my doctor told me that all I was seeing was the capsule and the med had been expelled and she was sure of it. I debunk that for my case. Med is still present.

I'm in a gut remission, but I can't walk without a limp from joint pain and I'm not sure if the prednisone or the Remicade put me in remission. I was on both when I stopped bleeding.
I want to ask her why am I taking this med if I'm not getting half of the dose. You may be right I may not need any mtnc meds. But I would like to know what my remicade titer is at 7-8 wks to see if that is truly when is helping me.

I'm sorry if I offended you, I thought it was interesting to share, I can take it down if the community finds it offensive. I'm not trying to be rude.

ipoop- I think you are correct I have an elevated transit time with Metamucil. My dad has the same problem...another only anecdotal example but important...his MD told him and I quote, "Asacol prevents cancer, you need to take it." He is in the medicare donut hole where his cost for asacol is 250 dollars plus for less than a month supply. He is in remission and believes that much of the drug passes through without absorption.

My dad could perform that same study, present it to his doc, and let the doc decide what the best decision to make from there. My dad is not willing to pay that amount of cash on a fixed income for a drug that goes in the septic tank and does not help him per him. That is why I felt this is important for me and my dad. Maybe its not important for anyone else and I don't give medical advice at all. But I thought people might self reflect on the story. It was interesting to me. And your thoughts on PH maybe, my dad needs a different drug.. and if I would not have posted this I would not have had you tell me about ph and now your comments may help me and my dad; thank you!

I have wondered the same thing myself. When I was taking 3 Asacol 2x/day there were times when I would see 2 or 3 pills and when I checked them sometimes they were whole or still had a lot of med in the shells. It's better now that I switched to 2 pills 3x/day, but I still see pills (not just shells) occasionally. Since I don't dissect every BM I can't help but wonder how many times the pills are there that I just don't see. If I have anymore problems I am going to ask to try Colazal since that isn't PH dependent for release of the med -- it's released by colonic bacteria

ipoop -- I was typing as you posted lol

if transit time is too fast or ph too low, the med may not release.

I think you can just tell the doc that you are positive there are often whole pills. Basically if the doc won;t take you word that you checked, you need a new doc not a video.

that said, the video is not offensive - just overkill

I've argued with a few people here about the pills I was passing. They tried claiming it was the casings only and believed their doctors wholeheartedly that it couldn't possibly be whole pills. I know firsthand how irritating that can be. I switched from Asacol to Lialda (Mezavant) and the problem improved greatly. I now take Pentasa and don't have the problem at all anymore. I think part of the problem is that when you are doing better the pills get lodged in solid stool where the ph is different. I also wondered what the point was of taking them if only 33% of them were actually doing anything. In your case I believe the Remicade has put you into remission and therefore it is probably just a waste of money taking any mesaalamine. I think DB hit the nail on the head. The video is overkill and if your GI refuses to believe you then it is time for a new GI.