Recently diagnosed - having trouble with meds and symptoms

Hi Everyone,

I was recently diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis on December 12th.
My doctor originally put me on 4g of Salofalk a day. My abdominal pain and bleeding got worse and I ended up in the hospital again. Then my doctor changed my meds to 100mg of cortenema a day. These seemed to work better but after 2 weeks I started getting side effects (my doctor also started me on 2 pills of mezavant at this time, along with the cortenema). I gained weight rapidly, had a puffy face, acne, swelling in my legs and ankles, night sweats, constant sore throat, inability to get rid of infections, suppressed immune system (kept getting colds that wouldn't go away), and heart burn. Then I got severe chest pain, about 10 days after starting the mezavant. I ended up in the hospital AGAIN and the ER doctor said it could be pericarditis (swelling of the pericardium) due to a viral infection OR the meds i was on. So my specialist told me to stop taking the mezavant.... I saw him today and he said he had another patient who got chest pains and pericarditis from mesalamine medications so he wants to send me to a cardiologist....

So i've been off all medications for about a week. 2 days ago, i got a rash that started on my lower abdomen... it then spread to my shins, inner thighs/groin area, armpits and forearms.... The rash has now spread to practically my entire body and is extremely itchy. I thought this was because I ate gluten/wheat the other day, because I have restricted my diet during this flare to gluten free, wheat free and dairy free, and when I ate poorly, the rash appeared shortly after. But I'm really not sure anymore.... has anyone else ever got a rash like this? It can't be because of medications because I'm not currently on any until I see the cardiologist to determine why I was getting chest pains...

This has been a pretty horrible experience so far. I used to understand my body but since this flare up, I feel totally out of control and my body is doing crazy things. From weight gain to chest pains to a full body rash, I can't seem to figure out what's working and what isn't for my body.

Any help anyone can offer would really be appreciated!

Thanks for the information Joanna!
I stupidly forgot to bring it up to my GI today because we were talking about so many other things. I've had some sort of reaction to every medication i've been on so far so its hard to narrow down what causes what!
Hopefully my GI and I will narrow it down soon.

@kbrown12, The rash is likely definitely due to mesalamine reaction - both salofalk and mezavant seem to be mesalamines. My son had a rash with sulfasalazine around his face but we detected it the next day so after 2 days of sulfasalazine we stopped it. I would talk to your GI about the rash and take antihistamines to control it. I also think you should change your GI - he can't pause your treatment without telling you his proposed plan to up the level of treatment when you are in this condition. Get a more competent doctor, and tell them you are likely intolerant to mesalamines so they can think of other treatment options - immunosuppresants or biologics.

It does sound like you are intolerant to mesalamine - hopefully you'll be able to find a med that works soon!