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Given Salofalk instead of Asacol? Please help

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Ulcerative Colitis
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Posted 1/22/2015 7:21 PM (GMT 0)
Hello, I am at the end of my tether and on the verge of tears. I'm currently in a flare-up.

Before Christmas I was given some steroid enemas. I was reluctant to take these because I am not bleeding yet. Also it says you have to take them 3 times a day, I do not have enough privacy to do that.

So I went to the doctors on Monday who offered me suppositories or enemas. I said I would try the suppositories, but long story short I could not take them. So I rang again tuesday and asked for the enemas instead.

I asked if I could have Asacol enemas, as I have taken them before. The doctor said she didn't know Asacol did enemas, then she said "Oh yes, I've found them." She said she was sending the prescription over to the chemist. This was about 1pm. I had asked my mum to pick them up at about 5pm when she finished work. I remembered that I would need some lubricant, so I rang the chemist to ask them to put some aside with the enemas. They said the doctor had not sent any prescriptions over. So I had to ring the doctors again, they said they would send it. My mum went in to the chemist, and they told her the enemas were out of stock, and would be in on wednesday. My sister went to get them wednesday, and they had still not arrived. They did not come in until thursday (today), and when I opened the bag, they are Salofalk, not Asacol.

I am so stressed, I have never taken Salofalk before and don't know if it will help or make me worse. I was changed from Asacol to Mezavant a few years ago, and had to change back, because the Mezavant made me so ill. So now I don't know if the Salofalk will also make me ill.

I'm going to have to ring the doctors in the morning now, but I am dreading it. Also this is yet another day I can't take any extra medicine, and I am in a lot of pain as it is.

Any advice would be great, thanks
Posted 1/22/2015 7:27 PM (GMT 0)
It's the same active ingredient - mesalamine - so I'd just try them and see. The oral versions of mesalamine (both Asacol and Mezavant are mesalamine-based) pretty much all have different coatings so they dissolve differently, so one form can work better for a person than another.

However, it's my guess that the enemas are less different, since it's just liquids. Or were you expecting a foam version?
Posted 1/22/2015 8:36 PM (GMT 0)
I don't even think we get the mesalaming foam in the US. But I read that Asacol and Solflak foam enemas are equivalent brandswith 1g of mesalamine.

It might be hard to argue that they have to give one brand vs another.
Posted 1/24/2015 2:04 PM (GMT 0)
Hi, thank you both for answering. I have been researching it and found this report stating the differences. It's the 2nd result down. It won't let me link to it directly, not sure why. WARNING-It is a DOC so it will download itself when you click it. It is safe though. And they are both the foam version. /www.google.co.uk/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=difference%20between%20asacol%20and%20salofalk%20enema In a nutshell it says that Asacol enemas work over a larger area, and treat worse flare-ups.

I rang the chemist yesterday, who said they would order me some Asacol enemas. When I rang back today she said there is a manufacturing problem, and they can't get hold of them. My mum went to a different chemist and they said the same thing.

I'm going to give up on the idea of mesalazine enemas.

I had a brainwave that if I get up through the night, and sleep during the day, that I will have the privacy I need to take the Proctofoam enemas.

I'm assuming Hydrocortisone and Prednisolone are interchangeable? Does anyone know? I've been googling it for a couple of hours and can't find anything advising against it.

Thanks

Post Edited (Dizzy2002) : 1/24/2015 7:12:09 AM (GMT-7)

Posted 1/24/2015 3:02 PM (GMT 0)
I had read that doc last week. I think you are misreading it. The foam enemas are equivalent in strength, dose size, and doses per bottle. The difference in language is because they are using the exact language from the published research.

Asaol was apparently studied or inflammation over a slightly larger area, and was subsequently approved for moderate as well as mild.

But no study has ever compared the two brands. You can expect them to both work the same.

As for as proctofoam, it is much weaker than cortifoam.
Posted 1/24/2015 4:24 PM (GMT 0)
Oh, I see, thank you.

I think I will still go for the steroid one. I'm hoping it will be stronger than the mesalazine ones anyway.

I've never tried steroid enemas before so I don't really know if this one will be strong enough. I could probably go back to the doctors and ask for a cortifoam one, but I don't want to bother them too much in case they get angry with me.

I am going to try to get through to the gastro nurse on monday (the whole 'no doctors on weekends' thing is really, really stressing me out aswell). I still want to ask her about nicotine patches.
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