Doing better on pentasa *knock on wood*

I was on Asacol hd which was definitely helping, but still had symptoms of diarrhea, frequency, etc, and noticed more and more often that I was pooping the pills out whole. My GI had me switch to pentasa, which seemed like it might be an odd choice since pentasa releases so high up and my last scope only showed rectal inflammation. Well, so far it's making an improvement over the asacol! I've not had diarrhea in a month or so (been about two months since I switched) and the frequency is going down, most days I'm at two BMs a day with the occasional 3-4 a day. But these are solid logs, and consistent, not like I had before where they'd start out solid and degrade from there to mush throughout the day.

I told my GI that I think pentasa is working better for me and he said it's likely that my gut is just moving too fast for the asacol and even though pentasa releases higher up my guts move quickly and it's still releasing throughout. I'm hopeful.

I also talked to my GI about the remaining issues, I mean, pooping four times a day doesn't sound normal to me. He said I can try to increase my pentasa, or, and this is his preference- I can use imodium. I clarified that I'm having solid BMs, even on the days of frequent poops. He said it sounds like my guts are just moving too fast and the imodium would slow things down. He suggested even half a tablet of imodium on these types of days. Thought that was interesting, since I always believed I couldn't use imodium if I was having solid BMs.

Hoping the pentasa continues to work and maybe even improve my remaining issues.

I'm so happy pentasa is working well for you! I feel like I'm in the exact same situation so your story really excites me!!
I was on salofalk and I felt it was doing a pretty good job, no pain, blood or mucous, but food just seemed to be flying through me. I never noticed whole pills in the toilet but I definitely felt like my body wasn't absorbing meds or nutrients (Totally undigested food, I could identify my last meal). My doctor was suggesting pentasa for a while, finally made the switch about 4 days ago. So far so good.

That's awesome. My dr also says that when my gut is moving fast to take half and imodium as long as there is no bleeding. His rule is to take half a day for 4-5 days and then half every other for 4 days unless they make me constipated. I have been known to pass whole pills before and I hate that!
Edited to correct autocorrect...

Thank you all for the kind replies.

Yes, the immodium comment from my doctor was surprising, but interesting. i did make it very clear that they were all solid poops, and yes, he said to use low dose immodium on these "bad days".

Gary- you mentioned that my symptoms now mirror yours. May I ask, when you have the days of several poops, are they spread out throughout the day or are they clustered together? Some days I will go four times but it's spread out all day, several hours between. I find this to be more "normal" as even my husband (healthy bowels) occasionally has a day like this. However, some days I will go 4 times in an hour....which I feel is much less normal.

Will keep y'all posted on how the imodium works on slowing things down