Is it true

i have thought about this and i think that's true. i was on mesalamine enemas for a month and while i wasn't improving at all, i wasn't worsening too much. it was when i added lialda (oral mesalamine) that i got tons of diarrhea, urgency, bleeding, hives- you name it. just pure hell. my doctor said it was my UC worsening and i'm sure it was- from that darn lialda.

It's definitely true, oral prednisone tends to cause many major side effects for a lot of people, but the rectal steroid meds generally don't cause any for the majority simply because barely any of it gets absorbed into the bloodstream the way oral steroids do.

The point is systemic compared to topical....you're not clear on that point as of yet.

oral 5ASA and rectal 5ASA are considered topicals, because they're released and dispersed in targeted area (ileum, terminal ileum, colon, rectum)   

Steroids such as Entocort, either oral or rectal are also considered topical.

Prednisone is considered systemic. It's dissolved in the stomach, then through the liver bloodstream and works on the entire body's immune response, not topically.

Both topicals, either steroid or 5ASA are somewhat absorbed through the intestine (be it the latter part of the small intestine and colon or the rectum), and eventually can reach the bloodstream but  in small amounts.

q

I don't think any different than the oral TOPICALS, but the rectal is in a smaller area and one does poop it out eventually.

It's not like a medication that provides systemic symptoms/relief such as narcotic meds, antinausea meds, or even aspirin


q

how much hair have you lost and when did it start?

What other meds are you taking?

Have you been on steroids in the past year?

how old are you?

Are you recently pregnant? or in menopause?

Are you having irregular periods?

Have you recently cut out certain foods?

Does baldness run in the family?

Are you on blood pressure meds or on HRT or supplements that affect hormones?

There are many reasons for hairloss....but keep this in mind...a new growing hair is what pushes out the old hair. So, if recently you've had more than usualy loss or noticing that you have patches or just some less hair....that process would have started about 6 months ago.

1g dosage would probably not have any effect regarding hairloss...at this point if you've been on Pentasa for 3 years.

Are you on oral 5ASA?

q

I'm going to have some tests done for perimenopause tomorrow just in case!

the colon absorbs very little except water from whatever it contains. Obviously it does absorb some of the active ingredients in an enema (maybe even more if there are open ulcers) but any medicine meant to be active in the colon will have very little systemic absorption, including enemas.

That's not to say that the enemas are not causing your acne or hairloss.

You should probably be taking folate, which should stem the hair loss to some degree.

Just out of curiosity, or to play devil's advocate, so to speak - if very little gets absorbed in the colon except water then why do many UC'rs lose weight and become malnurished? Either our thinking is wrong or there is more going on here than just in the colon.

Pb4 I'm using pentasa enemas. 1g at night.
No other meds.

"less side effects" -no.
Anything absorbed into the body has the same side effects.
Absorption by any means yields the same results. There are people who take drugs and alcohol through enemas and they claim the "buzz" is actually better. Prednisone, for instance may be better in enema form if only the first 12 inches of your colon has UC.
Plus you have to remember, rectal meds only treat maybe 12 inches of colon -NOT very effective.
So, if your are thinking you will spare yourself side effects by enema, I think that is not accurate.

Ive been using Pentasa Enemas for 10 months - just about every night. I do have hairloss but im pretty sure this is due to the UC and other issues i have with inflammation not the meds.

Thanks! I've made an appointment at Drs for a saliva tests for hormones.. I know this isn't accurate but it's considered the most accurate. Maybe my acne is peri menopause! I noticed a lot of increased PMS and hot flushes with periods.. It's progressively gotten worst. Just what I need in the middle
Of dealing with the rest of me