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Colazal question?

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Ulcerative Colitis
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Posted 3/1/2008 2:41 PM (GMT 0)
Has anyone every experienced trouble taking colazal? If so what were your symptoms and how long after you started it did you have trouble. Also what's the difference between colazal and asacol?
Posted 3/1/2008 3:35 PM (GMT 0)
Colazal has an enteric coating which makes it break down lower in the colon. Asacol needs a certain PH level to break down and therefore goes straight through the body without breaking down at all sometimes.

Asacol didn't work for me. Colazal caused cramping and diarrhea. Once I lowered the dose, those side affects stopped. I take 4 Colazal a day and 1/2 Rowasa every other day and have been in remission for over a year.

You should consider taking Rowasa if you don't already use it. It's a rectal med. that works incredibly well.
Posted 3/1/2008 3:48 PM (GMT 0)
I was on Asacol for many years when I switched to Colazal. In the beginning, I had an increase of symptoms but eventually it evened out in about 2 weeks or so. Other then that, I've had no problems with Colazal.
Posted 3/1/2008 10:44 PM (GMT 0)
My gastro started me on Colazal in 2003 at 3 capsules X 3 per 24 hrs. Right away I found that it caused dry mouth overnight-- so I rescheduled my evening dose to 8 PM. It solved that problem! Colazal really helped me to get my UC under better control than any of the older 5-ASAs, but I cannot stay on full dose indefinitely. At ca. 10 weeks on full dose, my eyelids start to puff/itch. This has happened to me twice. My gastro has advised to reduce the dosage, which enables me to tolerate the med longer & use it to maintain remission. Occasionally I supplement it with Rowasa. What bad effects have you been getting from it? / Old Hat (nearly 30 yrs with left-sided UC; currently on 3 Colazal daily for maintenance of remission)
Posted 3/2/2008 12:20 AM (GMT 0)
I have also been on Colazal for a little over a year now. I went from 6 pills to 10, then to 12. After 12, I started to lose some of my hair and my poop was really mushy. Not quite diarrhea, but close. I just lowered to 9 a day and the hair loss has slowed considerably. The poop is still mushy though. I posted a question about the consistency of the poo and colazal and it seems to be a pretty standard response. Over 6 a day and you get mush. I don't know if these are the problems you are having, but I just saw my GI and he tells me there will be a better drug out in July that is far more effective at getting the meds to the colon than asacal or colazal, so therefore you can take a lot less of it. I am going to be waiting for that!!!
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