Posted 3/25/2016 11:34 AM (GMT 0)
Yes, mesalamine is the safest uc drug and many do well without side effects. It's a 90 percent topical medication that's purged from your body when you poop. Howver, 10 percent is systematic (meaning it's absorbed into your blood) and that's passed when you pee. I would ask your doctor about the family history of kidney issues.
In mild/moderate active disease mesalamine has response rates between 40%–70% and remission rates of 15%–20%. Considering that the efficacy of 5-ASA is dose dependent, 4.8 g/day and 2.4 g/day have been shown to be the optimal dosages for mild-moderate distal active disease and for maintenance therapy, respectively.
In clinical trials of active ulcerative colitis comparing mesalamine with placebo, the fraction of patients with adverse events ranged from 13% to 73% with mesalamine vs. 22% to 61% with placebo (Loftus et al 2003).
The most commonly reported adverse events with the 5-ASA formulations include headache, GI symptoms such as diarrhea, bloating, nausea.
Other rare side effects (less than 1 percent of patients experience these) include interstitial nephritis (a kidney disorder), hepatitis (liver inflammation), pericarditis (heart inflammation), pancreatitis (inflammation of pancreas), pneumonitis (lung inflammation), dermatitis (skin inflammation), myocarditis(heart inflammation), and hematological (blood) disturbances.