Hi Barb,
Welcome to our internet family. You're husband is lucky to have you taking such an active role on his behalf. Good for you. A lot of spouses are not nearly so supportive, (especially when the wife is the one with the diagnosis).
If he has been taking Entocort for 2 or 3 months, then something is obviously wrong, because the Entocort should have made a huge difference by now. There are 4 possibilities:
1. He is one of the 30 to 35% who either are not helped by budesonide, (the active ingredient in Entocort), or who are intolerant of it, and he is also deriving no benefit from the Asacol.
2. The Asacol is causing his immune system to produce leukotrienes, which is contributing to the inflammation in his intestines - anyone who is sensitive to NSAIDs is also almost always sensitive to mesalamine, (the active ingredient in Asacol). NSAIDS is a common trigger for LC. If he is sensitive to Asacol, then it will undo any good that the Entocort might do without it. IMO, doctors who prescribe the two drugs together, don't understand how to treat MC, they don't understand the risks of taking the two drugs together, and they don't understand statistical analysis, (which would tell them that using two such drugs together, leads to reduced odds of success, not improved odds, as they mistakenly believe).
3. He's sensitive to the lactose in Asacol, (which is true for many of us here), and that is making his reaction worse.
4. His diet still includes food sensitivities that cause autoimmune reactions resulting in the generation of inflammation in his intestines.
Sharaine is right on target, of course, with her comments about various foods. FYI, most of us here are sensitive to gluten, casein, (the primary protein in all dairy products - including yogurt, of course), and about half of us are sensitive to soy and all legumes. Some have additional food-sensitivities.
Reclining never seemed to shift my gut into overdrive, so I can't help with that question. I can assure you, (and him), though, that he's most definitely not the only one here to fail to make it to the bathroom in time, because of this disease - been there, done that, and so have most of us, at one time or another. I'll guarantee that he can resolve that problem if he takes advantage of the information available on this board, because not making it to the bathroom in time is definitely one of the high-priority items that make this disease so debilitating, and so humbling, and that symptom is probably not even on the radar of most GI docs.
I'm not a doctor, so I can't advise him to stop taking the Asacol, but if I were in his shoes, and I wanted to stop the D, I would stop taking the Asacol, immediately, because it is totally redundant for anyone taking Entocort, and all that taking it can possibly accomplish, is to prevent the Entocort from working. So why take it.
Again, welcome aboard, and please feel free to ask anything.
Tex (Wayne)
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