alternatives to asacol?

at one point asacol had me in remission for a couple of weeks - felt just like i did pre-uc days. then i took aspirin while on it & it has never worked the same since. to be honest, i don't think it does much for me. without prednisone symptoms slowly return & on a regular basis i'm seeing full capsules, or at least the shells, coming out in my bm's (almost daily). i told my gi about this at an appointment a couple of months ago & he just upped the dosage by two pills per day, but i continue to have the same problems. i really feel if i could just find a decent oral mesalamine in combination with rectal meds i could finally keep from flaring without having to go back to pred every couple of months.

at this point i feel like i am just wasting $250+ per month buying these pills. i'm going to make an appointment with my gi for next week to discuss other options.

does anyone know if switching to another oral mesalamine would help? what other brands are there? which one worked for you?

You can try Pentasa. no Lialda here in Canada.  There might be Mezavant, however..I'd have to check.

There's also an asacol 400mg generic. I've had no problems with it.

If you see the shells..that's normal. Are they cracked open?

It's also based on how many bms a day you're having...and how fast they're leaving.

ARe you taking them all at the same time? firstly, try splitting the doage twice daily.

How are you doing bm-wise, by the way?

 

Would you mind to change your signature to reflect the rectals and how you're using them now, so that it doesn't read semiregularly?

 
q

Are you taking probiotics? are you taking them with food?

ABSOLUTELY split them.

q

i'm taking one capsule of primadophilus reuteri at bedtime every night. i take my asacol with a small snack (some type of snack bar usually). did 4 with breakfast today & 2 now with my lunch so we'll see how that goes...i'm guessing some trial & error will be required to see how best to split them up.

i've had problems with eczema for the past several years, long before taking asacol...i have a bit of a rash right now but wouldn't contribute it to the asacol though.