User login
Navigation
Syndicate
Chrons Meds
I know that someone here is has chrons and I was curious if you had heard of this drug they have recently put dh on. Its called pentasa? The dR put him on it a week ago and now he has to go in for a ct scan then in a month they will do another scan to see if it is helping.We finally after 3 years have a doctor that is doing more than saying here have another pain med.He had stopped even going to see any doctor for a while and I was worried he was making himself sicker by not getting any treatment. I had to yell, threaten, and tell him I would proclaim him no longer sick if he wouldnt go! They have him on a great deal of meds at the moment. A bacterial antibiotic for his current infection, nexuim for the corrosive ar, pentasa, and some time release pain meds that dont turn him into a stoned drooling heap. He had no oppreciable results to steroids 2 years ago so they didnt keep him on them past 3 months time. I have read good things about pentasa but I was just wondering if anyone had any experience with it. With a new med comes new hope that maybe he can get somewhere near normal again.Also the fear of new dissapointments should another med not work.
Comments
I'm on Pentasa
it dissolves earlier than Asacol, so it's better for patients with small intestine involvement as well as large. It's pain to take though because it tends to dissolve if you can't swallow it instantly. The Asacol can even be taken without water but it's coated so it doesn't dissolve quick enough.
What happened with me, and seems to be the normal protocol, is reducing inflammation quickly with steroids and Pentasa/Asacol at the same time, then tapering off the steroids and letting the Pentasa/Asacol maintain the level of inflammation. On its own it may not be enough to reduce the inflammation since your husband has been suffering so long.
I'd chat more, but my DH is about to get to a locked door, and I don't want him ringing the doorbell and disturbing my parents!! Hope the Pentasa doesn't cause any trouble (it shouldn't, other than actually swallowing it!) and ask if you've got any questions. I think Becky will know more than me since she's been dealing with this so much longer than I have.
Kerri.
Pentasa
Pentasa is a very mild drug, as Kerri said. It rarely has side effects, but sometimes does not work all that well. Still, because it has so few side effects, doctors sometimes like to start with it first to see if it works. If it doesn't work after about 3 weeks or so, in my experience, they usually add something else such as prednisone; Pentasa is much milder than prednisone or other steroids. If your DH has not responded well to steroids in the past, Pentasa might work slowly or not at all, but it shouldn't hurt him and is certainly worth a shot before trying something stronger. There are also immunosuppressant meds such as Imuran, 6mp, and Remicade which are what they go to if neither Pentasa-type medications nor steroids work.
Other medications which are closely related to Pentasa are Asacol, Dipentum, Azulfadine, and Colazal. If your DH's doctor switches him from Pentasa to one of those for whatever reason, it pretty much is a switch to a different formulation of the same drug. FYI
Good job getting your DH to go to the doctor. Maybe you can get mine to go to the dentist.
Post new comment