Mesalamine for Ulcerative Colitis User Reviews (Page 2)

• Hey...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• December 11, 2018

Mesalamine "I am 24 years old, and I have secret ulcerative colitis. I recently tried Apriso for the second time this year and had the same results as the first attempt: horrible nausea, cramps, and insanely urgent diarrhea. Up all night. Couldn’t go to work, couldn’t function. I had better control and management without the drug."

• Mil...
• August 27, 2016

Mesalamine "After being on an obscene amount of prednisone without working, I switched GI's, and he prescribed me Salofalk. When I know a flare is coming, I can take a few Salofalks over the course of a few days, and things usually clear up. Was a lifesaver!"

• Ste...
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• December 30, 2023

Mesalamine "I have had left side colitis since my return from Vietnam in 1970. I have been in and out of the hospital, put on Prednisone so many times, every drug imaginable over the years… Five years ago I had one of my twice yearly bad flares and my Dr. put me on 8 500mg tablets every day. It has been a miracle for me. In remission for 5 years. No side effects. I’m 78 years old, so I have had this a long time. The only negative side is trying to swallow those horse pills… my advice to my fellow sufferers is don’t give up! One last thing… I moved to Costa Rica with my wife 13 years ago. I belong to Caja which is the country's socialized medical system. It covers all the cost of the drug."

• Kim...
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• August 20, 2018

Mesalamine "I’m so happy with the results of this drug. I don’t have to worry about sitting on the toilet all day. I was diagnosed with IBS (irritable bowel syndrome) for years until I finally got the right Dr. Although I still have the symptoms from time to time, nothing like the years before. I recommend this drug to anyone who suffers from any type of inflammatory bowel disease."

• Lor...
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• January 6, 2017

Mesalamine "After years of being told I had IBS-D and it was all in my head, I was finally diagnosed as having UC. I was so sick at that point I was considering going on disability. After two weeks of Lialda, I started to improve and soon could live somewhat of a normal life, although with a very restricted diet. A routine blood test 11 months later showed that my kidneys had been damaged by this anti-inflammatory. I got off Lialda immediately, but four months later my creatinine level is still too high. I never had any kidney trouble before taking Lialda."

• Fre...
• October 15, 2016

Mesalamine "Developed UC at age 44. After being on Asacol for years with no further flare-ups, due to insurance coverage, was forced to change every few years. Presently, been on Apriso for about 6 months. Apriso seems to do its job, although I do seem to have softer stool now. Dr. said to expect that with some meds. Only complaint is the quantity of capsules. I need to take four 375 mg capsules (kind of big overall size) once per day. Does its job, what more can I say except I wish the price was better."

• MyN...
• Taken for 10 years or more
• May 7, 2024

"I have had UC for 24 years. I have been on Lialda (mesalamine) for 10 years. Ten beautiful remission years. Sadly, the hormone fluctuations of menopause have brought on a flare (Mayo score 3 spontaneous bleeding) & my doc is moving me off of Lialda onto Entyvio infusions. Up until now, I had a great experience with Lialda. Perfect colonoscopies 2-3 years apart. The only side effect I had, and ONLY if I took it irregularly, was a headache. If you miss a day or two, a headache will remind you to take it. My kidney numbers have always been fine, and I even take 2 other drugs (Allegra & Wellbutrin). I could take it with or without food. You can take it any time of day. Honestly, the hardest part of taking Lialda was the size of the horse pill. CVS makes a capsule form I just found out! They are much smaller & easier to swallow. I would recommend this drug & I'm sad I have to move to something stronger. It kept me out of the hospital. I pray some day I can go back to mesalamine."

• LDi...
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• February 5, 2025

"I’ve been taking two 1.2 g tablets for years. The first time I took this, after a few days, I went right into remission. About six months later, I quit, hoping my colitis was acute. Nope. I started bleeding again. Started them up and went right back into remission. Unfortunately, my greedy insurance company reclassified it in 2025, taking the cost from ten to seventy-seven dollars a month. Now what?"

• Flo...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• October 7, 2016

Mesalamine "I had been on Asacol HD until my insurance, Cigna, stopped covering it. I had been okay, but had to watch what I ate and often had loose bowel movements. The first night after taking Apriso was terrifying. I felt like all my muscles were numb in the middle of the night, and I had night sweats. (I had drunk some wine that evening.) But when I awoke the next morning, my bowel movements seemed okay. I kept on Apriso and saw the numbing impact at night dwindle. In fact, I seem to be getting more restful sleep. It has been 3 weeks so far, and I feel this is the best I have been with my UC since I was diagnosed 18 years ago. I certainly recommend trying it out!"

• maz...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• March 4, 2023

Mesalamine "This is the only drug that made a difference without awful side effects. I started with suppositories, which calmed things down but didn't alleviate the inflammation completely. I am now on the granules, and these have been a game-changer so far. 3g to settle the inflammation and 1.5 a day for maintenance. Feel great. Realized I wasn't feeling as good as before. I have more energy, my stools are normal for the first time in 3 years."

• jer...
• April 18, 2012

Mesalamine "I was told in February 2011 that I had ulcerative colitis from the top to the bottom. I was put on 40 mg of prednisone and Asacol 400 mg, 4 tablets, 3 times a day. It took about six months to clear up. I stopped taking it about 4 months ago, and now I am in a mess with pain. The doctor put me back on the same thing, and in 3 days I am so much better as far as pain goes, still have my stomach being upset. But I will never again stop taking this."

• No...
• May 31, 2013

Mesalamine "I have been on several ulcerative colitis medicines for the past 10 years. Lialda has been amazing - I feel like a normal person. Asacol worked for me, but I could never remember to take it 3 times a day. Lialda was 4 pills (a bit big) once in the morning. Lialda has been my life changer. I heard it is outrageously expensive, but with good insurance it is very manageable."

• cos...
• February 7, 2018

"I started out using Asacol until they came out with the generic mesalamine. Although this medication has been a miracle drug for me and my ulcerative colitis, the cost, even with my BCBS insurance, is absolutely ridiculous! I am super happy that my colitis is in remission and has been for a while now, all because of this medication, but, good gravy, how can they charge so much for medication? I have often thought about coming off the drug all because of the price, but they have me. I don't want to go back to diarrhea and hemorrhaging. These drug companies are like vampires, they just suck the life out of you. I work 40 hours a week, just so I can pay for my prescriptions."

• Tom...
• February 23, 2014

Mesalamine "This is the only mesalamine formulation that prevents my symptoms (with an anti-TNF medication), and since it's taken only in the morning, it's much easier to manage. Zero side effects. Very, very expensive. Sign up for the prescription copay card to make it as affordable as the generics. Note that while the active ingredient is available as generic, the delayed-release action of this brand makes all the difference in my experience."

• Cho...
• June 3, 2016

Mesalamine "I was given Pentasa 2 mg in sachets after having a bad flare-up of colitis. After a few months of taking it, I started noticing a regular pattern of not being able to sleep, a bad case of restless legs syndrome (unbearable) always at night and partly causing the not sleeping, irregular heartbeats, and having already asthma, it got much worse. So, after going on forums, I realized I wasn't the only one. I halved the dose to 1 g, the symptoms receded, but I still know/feel it's not good to take long-term, and I will start reducing. It also makes me feel constantly tired. On a positive note, it really is effective for what it was designed to do: stop the bad effects of colitis. It's finding a good balance in the dosage along with clean nutrition!"

• Vit...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• November 23, 2019

Mesalamine "Took it for about a week, and Doc gave me Prednisone, which worked really well until now. I stopped taking it, and my condition came back. I’m only 20 years old, and I’m in desperate help. I can’t work comfortably or even eat certain foods without having to go to the bathroom 5-10 times a day!"

• Pau...
• Taken for 5 to 10 years
• January 25, 2022

Mesalamine "Stopped smoking 9 years ago, noticed days later I was needing the toilet about 10 times a day, lots of blood in the toilet, lost 3 stone, left it for 3 months, what a fool, well the doctors thought I'd left it too late and would need a bag, well they were wrong, the strong steroids worked. I'm on Pentasa 500 mls in the morning and the same at night, got the powdered form, the tablets would choke a horse, anyway decided to just have the morning tablets, it worked until last year, when my joints were aching and I couldn't walk, not good when you're a landscape gardener. Doctor said it's inflammatory arthritis, and I will get this if I get a bad colitis flare-up, so I started steroids. After 5 weeks I'm back to normal, and started taking the Pentasa morning and night. As of writing this, it looks like I'm going to need another dose of steroids, joints are starting to ache again. P.S. I've put myself down for a trial new drug at a local hospital in Merseyside, if the drug is better I'll get back onto this forum."

• Kim...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• January 25, 2021

Mesalamine "I am a 31-year-old female. I had severe stomach pains and diarrhea for a month straight and lost 20 lbs before I was sent to a GI. They got me in for a colonoscopy and endoscopy to verify UC. Then I was put on prednisone and Apriso. I have tapered off of prednisone and am currently taking only Apriso. I am very happy with my current situation. It took two weeks for the cramp pain to get better and a month to make the diarrhea better. I am two and a half months into treatment, and I am happy. I have had no side effects from this medicine."

• Zon...
• May 17, 2018

Mesalamine "Got diagnosed with ulcerative colitis 25 yrs ago, and they said I had to have a bag, which I refused. Then said, you have to go on steroids, which I also refused. Then I gave up smoking! Wow, 4 months later, UC kicked in with a vengeance, ended up losing a half glass of blood. Can honestly say the toilet was my best friend for 4 months! I plucked up the courage to go to the hospital, had a colonoscopy, and was put on Pentasa, 4 tabs a day - bearing in mind I hadn't taken any tablets except paracetamol occasionally. I put on too much weight, which I didn't like! So it was decided that I cut down to 2 tabs a day. Anyway, still didn't feel right, so I went to the chemist and showed my belly. He gave me water tabs, said take 1 a day, so off I went. Next morning, I couldn't believe it, I had a half solid stool! I thought, that's odd! Now for 2 weeks I'm doing great, 1 Pentasa tab and 1 water tablet, and my weight is leveling off and my stools are normal! My experience maybe not good for everybody!"

• Ver...
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• January 19, 2016

Mesalamine "After taking Lialda for 2 years, my hair is very thin. It has not controlled me from going to the bathroom a lot. I started noticing, besides my hair getting thin, having severe headaches. Had to have a blood transfusion, and my urine started getting darker and darker. The straw that broke the camel's back was my tongue and lips swelled, and I had hives all over. They were so severe that I didn't get any sleep, they caused me to have blisters. After 3 trips to the ER, they finally found something to help the hives. I haven't eaten a full meal in over a year due to the fact that my mouth and lips were so sore and painful to eat. When all the side effects started piling up, I just quit taking it and called my gastroenterologist and will see him in 2 weeks."

• Sch...
• January 11, 2013

Mesalamine "I used Lialda for approx 1 month after a relapse of my Ulcerative Colitis. My doctor gave me samples of it. It worked very well. I had been on sulfasalazine for many years and was happy to find something else to take since I didn't have to take as many pills with Lialda. That said, after the samples ran out, I was given a prescription, and when I went to fill it at the pharmacy, I was shocked to see it was going to cost me over $300 for one month's supply, and that was AFTER my insurance paid more than half of it. I normally have a $5.00 copay, so needless to say, I am back on sulfasalazine and dealing with flare-ups again. (I got a discount card from Shire so the prescription would only cost me $120 a month, but that's still too much)."

• Pao...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• August 30, 2015

Mesalamine "Helps me somewhat. I was diagnosed recently, I'm only 19. I don't bleed anymore, thank God. I would have bloody stool 6-10 times a day. The only thing I do get is really gassy, and it hurts. Is that normal? Also, I am on Remicade."

• ang...
• January 19, 2013

Mesalamine "I was diagnosed 6 months ago with colitis. I started taking Asacol 400 mg 3x a day. I felt great immediately after the 3rd pill. No diarrhea for 2 whole days! Last night, my stomach started that weird rumbling noise. About an hour later, I had a severe headache! One of the worst I have ever had! I was on my 10th pill. One of the side effects of this medication. Be careful, always call your doctor if you have any side effects with this medication. I stopped taking this medicine, it did not work for me."

• Cur...
• February 22, 2019

Mesalamine "This medicine didn’t even help me find remission. It’s not a good choice, in my opinion, for anyone with colitis that extends throughout the entire colon and rectum. Might be good for people with sigmoid, but not pancolitis."

• Bon...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• February 23, 2019

Mesalamine "Sadly, I was one of the 8% of users who are allergic to Asacol, and I got very ill before the nurses suggested it may be the drug making my condition worse. Within a week of using Asacol, my C-reactive protein (CRP) blood test readings started to rise steadily from an already high score of 16 until at six weeks of still taking the drug, they reached 100. I was using the bathroom 5 times in an hour some nights and dropped weight rapidly. As soon as they thought I may have an allergy, I was told to stop taking them and went onto a decreasing dosage of steroids instead. By the time I finished the steroids, my CRP tests were normal."