Apriso - long term use & side effects

Apriso is a 90 percent topical and 10 percent systematic medication. The bulk of that medication is purged from your body during bowel movements. The remaining 10 percent when you pee. They're safe medications with few side effects, many have used them for multiple decades without issue. Long term use is fine and you shouldn't worry.

In fact, long term use of Apriso (a type of mesalamine or 5ASA) has been shown to reduce the odds of colorectal cancer. Something that ulcerative patients normally have an elevated risk for. Rubin et al (2006) in a case control study reported 5-ASAs use of 1.2 g/d or more was associated with a 72% reduction in the odds of dysplasia and colorectal cancer (odds ratio 0.28 95% CI 0.09–0.085) and as the total dose of aminosalicylates increased, the odds of dysplasia and cancer decreased (p = 0.056)

well that's a relief! I appreciate your quick feedback. I'll continue to take this med :)

Well apriso isn't addictive so there is no physical dependency. I read dependence in the above context to mean "if I skip several days my symptoms reappear and return". That's a sign the medication is working, however, it's a very tenuous/fragile situation of a brief skip causes symptoms (suggestive of there still being some untreated inflammation remaining). I'd argue that the OP isn't taking enough mesalamine. 4 apriso pills is the recommended oral dose, but adding an extra 4 gram rowasa enema might produce better results and make it less tenuous.