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apriso is anyone familiar with this drug?

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Ulcerative Colitis
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Posted 9/24/2009 10:41 AM (GMT 0)
Apriso is a new messalimine drug that the dr is putting my daughter on. dr says it showed in tests better absorbtion through entire colon and less pills needed
also said that she should be able to use less 6mp due to increased absorbtion.
because of the cevical dysplasia and the staff infection she had over the summer i think this dr is heading toward trying to see if one day
the 6mp could be removed.

i'm nervous to have her start this, so far her other organs are ok with the mix she's on, and i'm afraid that any change could
bring on the colitis-
the dysplasia is under control and was very mild-does need regular checking!
i was at a dinner last night and the dr speaking basically said there "seems" to be more dysplasia amongst people on 6mp than those women who are not using 6mp.
don't know what to do? need to find some studies on this. bnut must go to work now.
Thanks
Posted 9/24/2009 3:34 PM (GMT 0)
I take Apriso and am doing well. I can't make any comments on the 6mp/dysplasia issue, though.

Maybe seek a second opinion?
Posted 9/24/2009 7:33 PM (GMT 0)
I'm on it right now--8 pills/day. When I'm over this flare I should go down to 4. I'm not sure if it's working yet...I am getting better but I'm on 40 mg. pred./day and some other enemas.

I really like that you only take it once a day.
Posted 9/24/2009 7:41 PM (GMT 0)
I've been on it for about 6 weeks and am tapering off Pred (down to 1mg per day). I am much better now but am not sure if I can give the full credit to Apriso. I take 4 per day but found that my symptoms were worse at night so I take 2 in the AM and 2 before bed. This has been working well for me.

Good luck!
Posted 9/26/2009 4:35 AM (GMT 0)
Was your daughter given Asacol by her 1st gastro? Apriso is Asacol with "extended release" properties & supposedly starts dissolving at lower intestinal acidity than Asacol does. Apriso also contains Aspartame, which is a dumb & unnecessary ingredient to put in an IBD med. I can understand your concern over the potential for a change in med to bring on a flare. Probably the safest time to switch would be when her schedule is lightest. Did she get the troublesome wisdom teeth extracted yet? Best wishes! / Old Hat (30 yrs with left-sided UC ... [etc.])
Posted 9/26/2009 11:31 AM (GMT 0)
thanks for all of your answers. her first med from the dr that diagnosed her was asacol-we gave it 3 weeks and then found a new dr it wasn't working even a lttle-the present dr put her on colazal and a whole lot of rectal meds plus the 6mp-and within days she was feeling better-i think it was the rectal meds and the colazol plus xifaxin that jump started her and stopped the d and bleeding. she reminded her dr now that 3 weeks on asacol had no results- dr says this is a better formulation-i pray so- we weren't looking to be part of a test-also the aspartame part is ridiculous, you are right, they tell uc people to stay away from artificial sweetners, i've finally got my daughter to never use it and here it is big time in her medicine-why? i wasn't at the dr appointment with her, i had to work, but i have a call in to ask these questions and more-

proctitis was found on biopsy through flex sig, (dr called her yesterday with that news) and i don't know what that means is there more disease above? shouldn't she use some rectal med? shold she have a colonocpy at this point?
thanks old hat for remembering her wisdom teeth-all 4 came out ok!

thanks
Posted 9/26/2009 7:41 PM (GMT 0)
The amount of aspartame in Apriso is miniscule...I looked up the amount that's in a diet Coke, and my four pills I take daily have something like 1/16 the amount that's in a can of it. I can't drink diet soft drinks, but Apriso doesn't bother me. I called Salix, the drug manufacturer to ask why they use it, and they said it's b/c the pills are so big, that the slight amount of sweetness makes it easier for people to swallow. I have no problems swallowing pills, so I can't say if it helps or not.
Posted 9/26/2009 7:52 PM (GMT 0)
They put dyes in pills which I think is also ridiculous. We're trying to get better, not sicker.

What if you're allergic to the dyes or unnecessary additive they put in these meds. They should at the very least have dye free versions for those that are allergic.

Sorry, for the rant, but that is a pet peeve of mine.
Posted 9/26/2009 10:02 PM (GMT 0)
I'm not a fan of the dyes either, especially in things like children's tylenol (at least you *can* get dye free versions now). But, I can kind of understand why they do it...a lot of people, especially the elderly who are on a number of different meds, remember they're supposed to take two of the blue pills and one of the red pills with each meal, and not necessairly the names of the meds.
Posted 9/27/2009 12:20 AM (GMT 0)
Rey, I'm glad to know that your daughter got over the wisdom teeth hurdle. That's great news! When you write about Apriso "we weren't looking to be part of a test"-- did the doctor ask her to sign any kind of consent form? I'm wondering because I was asked to sign in 2003 when 1st put on Colazal, and it turned out to be phase 2 (of 4) NIH clinical trials for this med. It's kind of annoying because they are still experimenting & the drug may end up with a somewhat different composition later on. In the case of Colazal, many suffered dizziness from the early formula. I know it has been changed from my own experience, though Salix does not publicize it! RE your daughter's microscopic proctitis, in the absence of obvious symptoms I'd say it means she needs to stay medicated & resuming rectal meds may be an added option. If Quincy answers, she'll likely comment on that because she has lots of experience phasing them in/out over a couple decades! / Old Hat (30 yrs with left-sided UC ... [etc.])
Posted 9/27/2009 2:59 AM (GMT 0)
I was not asked to sign any consent form with Apriso.
Posted 9/29/2009 10:50 PM (GMT 0)
i don't belive she was asked to sign a consent form. i'll ask her. i remember you writing that they changed the formula in
colazol-wow- how will i ever know if that is why there is now a sign of disease after there was none for a while-how long might it take?
i'm puzzled - it was going kind of ok and i was thinking maybe the colazol was working - but now i'm not sure if she started "rumbling because they
cut back her 6mp (because of her staff infection-cervical dysplasia...) or because of the change in the colazol formula-
thanks- i need to figure this out
Posted 9/30/2009 4:02 AM (GMT 0)
It's very hard to pinpoint change agents among UCers. If you read a lot of posts here over time, you'll see that many people go for scopes expecting one type of result, but then hear something afterward that surprises even the doctor. A couple have written that their scope results showed no sign of UC, this after yrs of flaring. So we just try to stay calm & positive. / Old Hat (30 yrs with left-sided UC ... [etc.])
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