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Mesalamine Intolerance

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Ulcerative Colitis
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Posted 3/28/2013 10:25 AM (GMT 0)
I know that one of the side-effects of Mesalamine can actually BE a condition that looks and acts like UC.

How quickly would this side-effect occur? To people who can't tolerate it, do we know within weeks, or does it take a couple of months? Or can they be on it for a couple of years and then all of a sudden become intolerant to it?

I've seen bits of info here and there but nothing concrete.
Posted 3/28/2013 11:12 AM (GMT 0)
I was on Asacol for years before I became intolerant of it. That intolerance than also spread to mesalamine enemas. Mesalamines increases my D, gives severe abdominal pain and make me feel like I have the flu.
Posted 3/28/2013 11:15 AM (GMT 0)
Sherry what medication did you replace it with and what Meds do you take now?
Posted 3/28/2013 11:16 AM (GMT 0)
Also how do you determine it's an intolerance not a flare?
Posted 3/28/2013 11:23 AM (GMT 0)
I replaced it with Colazal and I don't seem to have too many issues with that.

At first I couldn't tell the difference between the intolerance and a flare. But after my doc switched me to Colazal, my gut quieted down a little but I was still flaring so my GI put me on Rowasa. It seemed every morning after using them I just felt more and more terrible so I would stop them. Within the next day I would feel better. So I decided to experiment. I would do the enema for a few days - had the same reaction (flu-like feeling)... Stop them, felt immediately better. Than I tried repeating in a few weeks and same results.

When my GI first switched me from Asacol to Colazal, I thought that maybe the Asacol just stopped working but now I wonder if it was because I was becoming intolerant.

I'm currently on Colazal and Remicade.
Posted 3/28/2013 11:27 AM (GMT 0)
Aren't they all based on same ingredient?
Posted 3/28/2013 11:28 AM (GMT 0)
Colazal is a basalazide. I believe it's a form of mesalamine that is broken down. I can't seem to handle straight up mesalamines.
Posted 3/28/2013 11:31 AM (GMT 0)
I was on mesalamine enemas for about 8 months, about 3 months in, I was having major tummy aches like the uc, a little bleeding a little mucus, it wasn't until I decided I was fed up (was told to add cortifoam) and I stoped my meds ! I realized the next day and the weeks to follow that I had no more tummy aches, when I had to raise the white flag, I because of severe bleeding and mucus and frequency, and started back the enemas, I realized that it was causing the pain.
now that probalbly the Imuran is starting to make me sick, im considering going on the food issue, I don't understand why we have to shove so many pills to get better and then in a flare again, its a never ending circle..
Posted 3/28/2013 11:34 AM (GMT 0)
I often wondered why they are different when They all have same active ingredient. I'm scared of changing my Meds but the hair loss is really getting me down with pentasa. I don't know if it's a good enough reason to change. I'm hoping to have FT this year. I hope to be able to go med free after that. That's my glimmer of hope!
Posted 3/28/2013 11:35 AM (GMT 0)
Hardworkimg are you from Australia?
Posted 3/28/2013 1:27 PM (GMT 0)
I can now testify that since lowering my dose of Asacol from 1600mg to 800mg in december, I've had no joint pain at all. I used to get excruciating joint pain at least once a month since last summer.

Headaches are also another side effect I think I've been getting since starting Asacol.
Posted 3/28/2013 4:14 PM (GMT 0)
There is evidence that high doses of mesalazine block folic acid uptake, and possibly vit B12. I have only learnt this from reading directed by naturopaths, never been told it by a medical doctor. I therefore now ask for my bloods to include folate and B12 checks and I have felt much better since ensuring they remain at good levels.
Posted 3/28/2013 4:34 PM (GMT 0)
In my case, I originally only took boswellia and turmeric to control my symptoms. Then a virus caused me to flare right before we were leaving to take our kids to Disneyworld. Out of desperation I started on Lialda, and the next day things started getting better, so I assumed it was the Lialda working. However, I was flaring again within a month, and that time, no matter what I threw at it, I just could never really get back into remission. Until the lightbulb came on and I stopped the Lialda, and bam, immediate remission. So that is what mesalamine intolerance looked like for me. It's a bummer too, since they are safer than the big-gun meds.
Posted 3/28/2013 5:20 PM (GMT 0)
My reaction to high doses of Asacol is that I get this weird ear problem, like there's fluid stuck in it. When I reduced my dosage from 4.8g/day to 3.2g/day, it immediately went away.

I actually can't take Colazal because of intolerance. My doctor explained that Colazal is broken down to mesalamine (which is Asacol), and what ended up happening was that the process of breaking the drug down (and the byproducts of metabolism) were making me even sicker.

I've also reached a point where I'm not mesalamine intolerant, but they're no longer effective. It feels much different--my symptoms very slowly got worse, as if I weren't taking any drugs. On Colazal, I felt sicker immediately, and my symptoms included more pain/tenesmus, liquid instead of soft stools, etc.
Posted 3/28/2013 11:28 PM (GMT 0)
I'm from the US, Petah. If you're wondering why I post at the hours I do, well, some nights I can't sleep because my stomach makes awful noises and motions all night!
Posted 3/29/2013 10:22 AM (GMT 0)
Hardworking try the slippery elm for noises and gurgling it works for
Me. I have more sleepless nights dwelling on the what's ifs. I need to get a grip, its life consuming :(
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