Nauseated on Entocort

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shewhowalksonland
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Joined: Tue May 19, 2009 11:28 pm

Nauseated on Entocort

Post by shewhowalksonland »

Hi! I started taking Entocort about a week ago and just started to get the nausea. What do you take (if anything) for the nausea?

Also I am on Asacol (800 mg twice a day) and Entocort (3mg 3 times a day). Is anyone else taking both? my understanding is one is usually given up for the other.

(bleh)

Thanks,
Kate M.
Anyone else feel like they take pills ALL DAY LONG?
starfire
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Post by starfire »

When I was first diagnosed I was given prednisone and Asacol. The goal was to wean down the pred and maintain on Asacol. Every time I started the weaning down for the pred I started developing some problems. Ended up being on it 3 months and gaining 40 lbs. Finally, I told the doc I was coming off the pred no matter what (wish I had done it sooner) so he had me continue weaning off the pred but started Entocort (low then increasing as I cut down the pred). I was on that (with the Asacol) for another 3 months at which time I had weaned off the Entocort and have maintained on Asacol from then on. I started on 6 tabs a day of Asacol but only take 4 a day now.

I didn't have much nausea after I started on pred. I still sometimes today get nausea but not too often. Before I was diagnosed I took Phenergan for the horrible nausea.

Does dairy bother you? Asacol has some dairy in it so quite a few people here haven't been able to take it.

You didn't have nausea at all before starting the meds? I can't remember. It was such an integral part of my symptoms that I can't imagine having MC without it, lthough I know a lot of people do.

Don't know if this helped or not.............

Love, Shirley
When the eagles are silent, the parrots begin to jabber"
-- Winston Churchill
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tex
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Post by tex »

Hi Kate,

Sorry to hear of the problem. To add to what Shirley said, Entocort seems to cause nausea for a few people, and sometimes it causes other issues, (neurological effects). I believe that most people are affected sooner, though, (within 2 or 3 days), so I wonder if something else might be causing the nausea, (such as a virus, for example). I suppose that it's also possible that the combination of the two drugs could be causing the problem, though I don't recall ever hearing of that before.

If the nausea is not due to some other cause, and you don't develop any more serious problems, and you intend to continue taking both drugs, you might need to get a prescription from your doctor in order to control the nausea. As Shirley mentioned, MC causes nausea for some people, and it was a major problem for me, (I never took any meds, so I know the nausea was not drug-connected).

I am not a doctor, or course, but I have often questioned the wisdom of prescribing a 5-ASA med and budesonide concurrently. I would assume that the reason for doing so, would be to enhance the chances for success, in case one of the meds is not effective, because I don't believe that I've seen any evidence to document that two drugs will bring remission any sooner than one, provided either drug is effective. The problem with doing this, is that it doubles the risk of a drug reaction. And, there is no way of knowing which drug is the problem, without discontinuing the use of one. If one of the drugs is simply not effective, that's not a problem, and the other drug might pick up the slack, and bring remission as desired. However, if a patient reacts adversely to one of the drugs, then the other drug will not be able to overcome this problem, and remission will be unattainable, until the offending drug is discontinued. For that reason, I see no reason to be taking more than one drug at a time, for treating MC.

If I were in your shoes, (and assuming that the nausea is not due to a virus or something else), since Entocort is the most effective med for MC, anyway, I would try it without the Asacol for a while, (in one trial, over 8 % of users listed nausea as a side effect of Asacol), to see if that resolves the problem. If the nausea continues, then obviously the Entocort is causing it, and you will have to decide if you want to continue taking it, or you want to try to control the nausea, instead. Unfortunately, about 11 % of Entocort users in official trials, report nausea as a side effect. By that point, though, you might be in remission, which could influence your decision, of course.

IOW, as usual, there are no "easy" answers. I believe that most members who develop nausea from the use of Entocort, end up discontinuing the med, (FWIW). Good luck with whatever course of action you decide to take,

Tex
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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.
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