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Ulcerative Colitis
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Posted 6/4/2014 5:00 PM (GMT 0)
After my diagnosis at the end of February, I was prescribed Pentasa 2g a day, and I went into remission really quite quickly....I am a little worried though, because the last three nights I have woken up with a fever, which I have not experienced in quite a while, also I noted I had a very slight tummy ache, which is unusual for me, so I am wondering is this a sign of active inflammation rearing its ugly head?

Yesterday I had 2 BM instead of one, and today just the one, but its softer, looser. I don't want to just disregard this in case it means something, do you think the Pentasa is possibly starting to lose its effectiveness, or is it too soon to say? I would appreciate your views on this. :-)
Posted 6/4/2014 5:43 PM (GMT 0)
If I'm honest, it does sound like it loosing its effectiveness. I'm kinda having the same kinda problem. If you're not staying in remission you should get seen. Although, is is something you ate or stress? If not, I'd go see your GI. It really sucks to think you're in a good place then bam, starts to fall apart :(
I'm so sorry and hope you feel better :) this is all coming from a newbie so I'm don't know if I'm that experienced to know anything haha :)
Posted 6/4/2014 6:01 PM (GMT 0)
I also wonder if it could be stress or something you ate. You need to keep an eye on it but it doesn't necessarily mean good times are coming to an end or that the Pentasa is losing it's effectiveness. If it were me I would up the Pentasa to 3 or 4 grams per day for a little while to get you over this hump.
Posted 6/4/2014 6:12 PM (GMT 0)
pentasa isn't the best medication for UC regardless and 2g is a low dose. That is besides the point that everyone, even people without UC, have ups and downs. You may be experiencing something that will come and go on its own. It's never a bad idea to call your GI and explain your symptoms.

On the other hand, Asacol did lose effectiveness for me after about a year of remission. It happened as you describe. Symptoms started coming back slowly while i was taking 3600mg. I was also using rectal meds. I went up to the max dose and I was unable to get things under control, needed to take a course of pred and eventually started 6mp which got me into remission. I wouldn't expect that this is the case for you but perhaps calling your GI and seeing if you can add rectal meds and maybe trying Lialda/Asacol at 2400mg or 3600mg would get you back on track - or even a higher dose of pentasa might help.
Posted 6/4/2014 6:37 PM (GMT 0)
Typically for me the very first signs of a flare are: stomach aches, loss of appetite- not that I'm not hungry really it is just nothing sounds really good to eat, Bloating, gassy, general overall rumblings, more fatigued than usual. From there BM's get looser, more frequent, then the blood and mucus. So for the most part it does sound like some inflamation, the only thing I don't get that you mentioned is a fever, not sure if others get fevers early in a flare or not though. I will get a fever with a flare but it has to be a lot worse for me at least.

But at the same time I will get bumps in the road where things might be a little off for a few days I have noticed that usually is at the same time as other things going on in life - stress, different eating, maybe drinking, sleeping habits change, etc.
Posted 6/4/2014 7:30 PM (GMT 0)
Thank you all, I think I am going to up my Pentasa to 3g for a short while, bearing in mind 2g is quite low, and take my rectal meds every night instead of alternate. I don't have blood or mucus, but the fever, three nights in a row is a bad sign I think that something is not quite right, for me anyway, so hopefully this is a good plan..thanks much appreciated.
Posted 6/4/2014 8:29 PM (GMT 0)
Well, uc has a tendency to spread and get more severe over time. I wouldn't say the medication looses effectiveness. You just need higher dosages, or different medications to maintain the same quality of life.
Posted 6/5/2014 1:00 AM (GMT 0)
@iPoop..thanks I will bear that in mind.
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