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Lialda + toilet bleach tab = ?!!!

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Posted 3/12/2019 3:34 PM (GMT 0)
So I’ve spent the past several weeks wondering if I was soon to perish from liver disease as, once or twice each morning, my pee has been a terrible rusty orange color — but only ever in our downstairs powder room. Never in the master bath.

Finally worried enough to google (but not, like, call a physician) it seems that mesalamine can react with bleach and change color. Has anyone experienced this?

Makes sense cause I take my Lialda at night, and I’ve run out of bleach tabs for the upstairs bathrooms so the downstairs ones are the only toilets currently bleaching themselves.

I’m so happy to probably not be deathly ill. 😜
Posted 3/12/2019 3:46 PM (GMT 0)
Sorry you had the scare. Yes, mesalamine turns urine darker colors, from orange to brownish. Adding bleach to mesalamine instantly turns it dark brown to purple. Mesalamine can darken your pee, I randomly pee a darker brown to orange color and that's also a known affect. Mesalamine when exposed to air can change to a dark brown to purpler.

You're best to flush the toilet after each usage, and hitting it with the toilet brush cannot hurt!

> The use of sodium hypochlorite bleach as toilet detergent is related to a red-brown urine discolouration in
> patients taking mesalamine.It seems that the red-brown discolouration relates to a harmless
> reaction.Polymerisation of mesalamine and/or metabolites could be a theoretical mechanism of
> this discolouration.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmc5005790/
Posted 3/12/2019 3:51 PM (GMT 0)
I do flush after every use, and for the first time today I watched it happen in real time. Very exciting! 😂
Posted 3/12/2019 4:10 PM (GMT 0)
Yes, i've had it happen to me. It doesn't happen anymore. Crazy the stuff we deal with because of UC. Purple stains, orange urine...
Posted 3/12/2019 4:55 PM (GMT 0)

Yes, in fact it happened to me three times but last time I ran to my doctor and he did bloodwork and urine cultures on me. I thought my liver was diseased for sure. Then I read about the interaction between Mesalamine and bleach. I asked my husband if had poured bleach into our toilet and he said yes on all occasions and let it sit in the toilet water. When I mentioned this to my doctor he had never heard of it. Goes to show that our doctors dont know everything. Glad we have support groups and DR Google to fall back on.
Posted 3/12/2019 5:30 PM (GMT 0)
Yup. I remember this one. At least its pretty well known now (at least in this community), but at the time I remember thinking, "well, either I'm dying or my pee turned the toilet cleaner red"....¯\_(ツ)_/¯
It only happened twice. Both times at work after 5 pm. And I didn't feel like I as dying. I still spent a few hours with google figuring this one out.

I've also had to switch to plastic toilet seats, b/c ceramic ones get a very disturbing purple stain thanks to my mesalamine pee.
Posted 3/12/2019 7:14 PM (GMT 0)
How are you doing celeriac? Didn't see you post for a while and I was wondering if things had settled down.
Posted 3/12/2019 7:55 PM (GMT 0)
There’s just so much excitement associated with UC ... 😂

Glad I’m not the only one who’s had a bit of panic about this. I felt like a total goober for not thinking about the Lialda sooner.

Poopydoop - Remicade is working and I’ve been out doing all the things I haven’t been able to do for the past year. It has been MAGICAL!! I forgot how much I liked doing very ordinary stuff like errands and generally living a life outside my house. Also: so busy eating my hands are never free for typing 😂 Thanks for asking. 🙂
Posted 3/12/2019 8:10 PM (GMT 0)
Yay!! I am happy to hear this smile Hope you continue to improve and stay well for a very long time!
Posted 3/12/2019 8:55 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks! Me too — I could get used to this!
Posted 3/13/2019 11:59 AM (GMT 0)

Celeriac said...
Remicade is working and I’ve been out doing all the things I haven’t been able to do for the past year. It has been MAGICAL!! I forgot how much I liked doing very ordinary stuff like errands and generally living a life outside my house. Also: so busy eating my hands are never free for typing 😂 Thanks for asking. 🙂

Happy for you! Celebrate the little things that flares rob us of.
Posted 3/20/2019 12:14 PM (GMT 0)
iPoop— I had no idea how big a victory granola (with nuts! And fruit!) would be 😄
Posted 3/20/2019 1:40 PM (GMT 0)
Celebrate the small things for sure, that other's just take for granted. Eating a broad spectrum of foods is one such little victory to celebrate. When I'm flaring nuts mess with me. My wife would make me homemade granola and trailmixes for a snack at work. Those would totally wreck me when I was flaring, sad as I love those!
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