Strange reaction to Canasa

I've finally tried Canasa again. about four months ago I was pretty sure that it wasn't helping my minor flare and then I started to worry if it was making things worse.

Well, the only thing that seems to work for me now is Cortifoam and I'm not too happy about that. Even though I know the dose of steroids isn't too terrible, I'd much rather use something else. So I tried the Canasa again and suddenly I was up 3 times during the night to run to the bathroom with diarrhea. I haven't been up in the middle of the night like that in nearly a year!

But here's the strange thing -- it actually helped stop the bleeding for half a day and added some bulk to the stool. So in some ways, I actually think it's working. But I need to sleep! So I guess it's back to Cortifoam tonight.

Anyone have any ideas? Maybe I should just use it on the weekend when I can afford to be up during the night? Or give up trying? Has anyone used Canasa and had a bad reaction that eventually went away?

Thanks, everyone!

Thanks, Heather, for the reply!

So here's what I did: I've been starting to flare for about 1 week now. I was using Cortifoam once a day (at bedtime) for about a week. Seeing no results yet, my doctor told me to add Canasa in the morning. I suggested Canasa at night instead because I didn't want to try it and then go off to work! I used the Canasa 1 time at night and that's when I was up several times in the night running to the bathroom. The next morning I was also feeling lousy (D, but no blood) and I used the Cortifoam before work.

I had blood in the afternoon but at least it wasn't with D, but more normal-seeming stuff.

Last night I went back to the Cortifoam and this morning, I have to say that I'm seeing some big improvement. No blood, soft stool and mucus, but not D.

To answer your question -- I've never had much luck with 5ASA drugs. I used Rowasa on and off for years even though I never really saw great improvement with it. It would stop bleeding but not help otherwise with the flare.

Do you think that the Cortifoam is absorbed higher than the Canasa? I hadn't thought of that before.

I'm tempted to try the Canasa again this weekend when I don't have to worry about work in the morning.

I feel like I'm on the upswing out of the minor flare... so at least I'm started the day with optimism!

I can't tolerate neither Rowasa nor Canasa because it does the same thing to me that it does to you. Maybe a bit more worse though. Some people just can't tolerate mesalamines. So if they bother you, then you should let your GI know. If the Cortifoam doesn't give you the desired results you can always try Colocort too. These reach higher into the colon then the foam.