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Ive been taking Asacole since June 08 at 3000mg daily...3 months later i saw my gi doc and he reduced this to 2000mg daily..this stands at present and my next appointment with him is not until march 09.
Lately when taking Asacole i have been feeling pretty yuk!! I get this feeling of bugs crawling all over my skin, i feel pretty itchy and i have found some of my hair is falling out. not in chunks but loose hairs. I probably shouldnt do this but i have missed a couple of days of asacole and felt pretty much better....then took it and the symptoms werre back..I know i should not mess with my meds but im experimenting to see if this asacole is doing me in!!!
Im thinking that i should try to get an appointment with my gp but i dont think the gp can change my meds without the gi docs consent...anyway ..its also difficult to get an appointment with him early days before your due your booked appointment... ...
I've been suspecting all along that you've been having an allergic reaction to Asacol, so if I were in your shoes, I would have stopped using it long ago.
Don't feel bad about experimenting with your treatment program - that's the only way most of us have been able to find relief. If we hadn't been willing to experiment, we would still be spending waaaaaaaaay too much time in the bathroom.
I don't know what the regulations are in the UK, but in this country, I believe that it's legal for any doc to prescribe any med that he or she sees fit, for any reasonable purpose, except that there are a very few meds with special risks, that require special training before a doc is allowed to write a prescription for them. If you're thinking about maybe trying Entocort, any doctor should be able to write a prescription for it. Of course, they have to be willing to do that, but over here, many/most seem to be willing to prescribe Entocort EC, once a patient has a diagnosis of an IBD from a GI doc. I doubt that they would be willing to write a prescription without a diagnosis, though.
I hope you can either change to Entocort, or just try the diet without a med, because you are spending way too many days sick, with the current med. It's high time you had some relief.
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
Hi Angy,
I posted a few weeks ago about the same thing. I was on asacol for about 2 months and my hair started falling out. I had a low grade headache, and I started gaining weight eventhough my diet did not change and I exercise every day.
I stopped taking it and the symptoms stopped. Tex sent me some links to other boards where people were posting about their side effects from asacol. I read them but I did not save them. Tex, do you still have those links to send to Angy? Hair falling out was very common, almost everyone I read on there had that symptom. As soon as i stopped asacol my hair stopped falling out, and the weight came off.
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
Thanks Tex!! andi!!
yes i did read those posts...and i think i replied somewhere in there...you know the funny thing is...i didnt get these symptoms to start with...just been the last couple of months......I took asacole yesterday and started itching...took today and no itching... Helps my gut really good but dont like those side events....while im writing this my parrot has just shredded my dressing gown.( yup!! im wearing it lol!!!
Anyway you know i always listen to you guys first before i do anything and i agree with you im going to stop the asacole... Ill get an appointment with my gp this week and sort something out...I would love to know what chemicals are in that asacole...
one other thing...entocort!!! its a steroid right!! not keen on steroids...
Yes, Entocort EC is a corticosteroid, but the EC stands for Enteric Coated, (the Eudragit S in the ingredient list), so that it doesn't begin to activate, until it is in the ileum and the colon. Because of that, only about 10 % of it is ever absorbed into the bloodstream, to be circulated throughout the system. That greatly reduces the side effects that the other steroids have on the adrenals, etc.
The ingredients in Asacol are:
Active
400 mg of mesalamine
Inactive
colloidal silicon dioxide
dibutyl phthalate
edible black ink
iron oxide red
iron oxide yellow
lactose
magnesium stearate
methacrylic acid copolymer B, (Eudragit S)
polyethylene glycol
povidone
sodium starch glycolate
talc
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
i thought that maybe the black ink might only be used to print a name on each capsule, but as high up on the ingredient list as it's located, there must be quite a bit of it in there. You'd think they could find a more suitable flavoring. LOL.
I believe a few members have gained weight with Entocort. Apparently, for many people, it increases the appetite. Also, if you have a malabsorption problem, due to your small intestine being inflamed, and the Entocort reduces the inflammation, thereby reducing the malabsorption problem, I would assume that you would tend to gain weight from the additional nutrition.
Good luck with the appointment.
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
Thanks Tex!! and gloria...I started taking the asacole again after 3 days cos my soft d was back...Now i have discovered that i am allergic to a couple of beauty products...for the hair and body...possible cause of itching..ive iradicated these products now...now ive taken the asacole again and its not started any itching... so im now wondering if it was the products or the asacole... Also the pain in my gut has ceased with taking the asacole...but im still in two minds here!!! god i dont know if im coming or going...
For years I used body butter every winter to combat dry skin. When my skin got red and itchy, I assumed it was because my skin had dried out and I'd lather on more cream. Last year, I decided to look at the list of ingredients on the body butter and sure enough, it had soy in it. Once I got rid of all the creams with soy in them, I stopped having the itching and rash. I never suspected an allergic reaction until I had the Enterolab testing.
Gloria
You never know what you can do until you have to do it.
That's mighty interesting about the soy in skin products causing an allergic reaction. I can't help but wonder if that might be connected with your GI intolerance to soy in foods, as well.
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
Yes, I bet it is. I've always felt that soy is one of my biggest intolerances. The little bit of soy in a vitamin E capsule was enough to keep me from achieving remission in September.
Gloria
You never know what you can do until you have to do it.
I'm not sure about food additives over there, but here in the US it's difficult NOT to ingest soy - it seems to be hidden in even more things than gluten! My guess is, you ingest quite a bit of soy, but not intentionally!
Just my two cents worth
G'ma Mary
Those who are not part of the solution, are part of the problem.
Visit the Microscopic Colitis Foundation Website
Ill get an appointment with my gp this week and sort something out...I would love to know what chemicals are in that asacole... 
