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I don't have time to explain, right now - I have to get back to work. Do a search of the archives of this board, using the key words mast cell, and you should find links to over a hundred posts about the topic. Be sure to select the "Search for all terms" option. If you also do a search with the key words mast cells, you should find around a hundred additional posts about it, though there may be some duplication between the two lists.
Tex
passing pills and brownish looking strings??!!!!
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well, spoke to the new dr. yesterday...now he did not sound too concerned....i did not take the asacol at all yesterday....dr. told me to keep taking it...if i still see the pills in the stool by the end of next week, he will change prescription...maybe ph in stomach is too low?? thoughts??? i did not take any yesterday....did not notice any this a.m. but just noticed at least one when i just went a few minutes ago....blood work was good....b12 was on the low side of normal and vit. d was low....(not sure of the number)....so i am to take calcium and vit. d....stool sample results should be in by the end of next week....maybe we'll know more....i just hate waiting!!
That's not possible - the lower the better, for good digestion, and for killing bacteria. The main purpose of the pancreas, (besides producing insulin and certain hormones), is to inject bicarbonate into the fecal stream, as the chyme leaves the stomach and enters the duodenum. The pancreas, (assuming that it is functioning normally), will automatically raise the pH of the chyme to the correct level, for the rest of it's journey through the intestines.willabec wrote:maybe ph in stomach is too low?? thoughts???
You don't want the Asacol to become activated in the stomach, because the stomach acid will digest the active ingredients and alter them, and they will be absorbed through the duodenum into the blood stream, sent to the liver, and become deactivated, and/or excreted as waste, before they can provide any pharmaceutical benefit. You want them to become activated about the time that they reach the ileum and the colon, because that's where the inflammation is located, so that's where you want the medication to become activated.
Pills in the toilet are simply a sign of rapid transit. As they begin to take effect, and your transit time slows down, you will no longer see them in the bowl.
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.
Willabec, unless all of the pills always wind up in the toilet, you are getting some benefit from some of them, and they will probably eventually begin to help.
Most enteric-coated pills are designed to activate at a pH of somewhere in the range of 5.5 to about 6.5, which is the normal pH in the lower one-third to one-half of the small intestine, and that's exactly where they need to become activated.
Enteric-coated pills require a certain amount of time at the proper pH, in order to become activated, (the coating can't break down instantaneously). Therefore, if everything you swallow can be found in the toilet, 10 minutes after you swallow it, that doesn't allow enough time for the coating to break down, so that the active ingredient can be released. If it takes longer than 10 minutes, then they will probably eventually begin to help.
Tex
Most enteric-coated pills are designed to activate at a pH of somewhere in the range of 5.5 to about 6.5, which is the normal pH in the lower one-third to one-half of the small intestine, and that's exactly where they need to become activated.
Enteric-coated pills require a certain amount of time at the proper pH, in order to become activated, (the coating can't break down instantaneously). Therefore, if everything you swallow can be found in the toilet, 10 minutes after you swallow it, that doesn't allow enough time for the coating to break down, so that the active ingredient can be released. If it takes longer than 10 minutes, then they will probably eventually begin to help.
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.
shirley, i have been on asacol since the end of jan....i just noticed the pills b/c i had to do a stool sample...i am just very worried, very scared....i am a little positive about the situation b/c at least right now the blood work looks good...curious to see what the stool sample says.....always guessing!!