I've had a diagnosis of collagenous colitis for a year and a half, but tried working with a Naturopath before finally agreeing to take regular medication. I've been on 2.4 mg of Lialda for 3 weeks but its not helping yet. How long have any of you stayed on the medication before deciding that it wouldn't work and should try something else?
I don't see my Dr. again for another 3 weeks, but I'm not sure I should wait that long if I should have noticed a difference by now.
How soon does Lialda start to work?
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Why,
Welcome. This forum saved me from months (at least) of wandering in the dark with MC - I'm sure you're already looking around and finding some helpful resources. The assembled knowledge of MC housed in the archives here, and in the collective 'brain trust' of the members, exceeds anything out there in the real world, I am convinced!
I took a different version of Mesalamine some years ago. It didn't seem to help me much. I believe that is because, at the time, I wasn't aware of the diet connection to MC. Eliminating problem foods has made all the difference for me. I believe medication can still be a useful tool to use toward recovery. For most here, though, medication alone doesn't do the trick. Some have achieved remission with diet alone, which can be tricky with multiple intolerances (or a busy travel/work schedule).
Gluten is the primary culprit for most of us. There are exceptions - for people whose MC was drug-induced, for example, stopping the drug can sometimes stop the symptoms. But for many, an underlying gluten sensitivity, even if triggered punctually by a drug reaction, stays "on" once the switch is flipped.
Dairy intolerance is the second most common. I see you've already found you're not tolerant of soy - and that is Food Suspect #3 (Tex, who hosts this forum, has reported about 50% of us, as compared to darned-close-to-100% for gluten and casein).
For many, a super-limited diet during recovery is helpful. For me, it was a lifesaver. Chicken broth was my best friend on the worst days. I was lucky that those worst days were relatively few.
Everyone's path and pace and diet seems to be a little different. I hope you find your way to healing and remission quickly.
--Sara
Welcome. This forum saved me from months (at least) of wandering in the dark with MC - I'm sure you're already looking around and finding some helpful resources. The assembled knowledge of MC housed in the archives here, and in the collective 'brain trust' of the members, exceeds anything out there in the real world, I am convinced!
I took a different version of Mesalamine some years ago. It didn't seem to help me much. I believe that is because, at the time, I wasn't aware of the diet connection to MC. Eliminating problem foods has made all the difference for me. I believe medication can still be a useful tool to use toward recovery. For most here, though, medication alone doesn't do the trick. Some have achieved remission with diet alone, which can be tricky with multiple intolerances (or a busy travel/work schedule).
Gluten is the primary culprit for most of us. There are exceptions - for people whose MC was drug-induced, for example, stopping the drug can sometimes stop the symptoms. But for many, an underlying gluten sensitivity, even if triggered punctually by a drug reaction, stays "on" once the switch is flipped.
Dairy intolerance is the second most common. I see you've already found you're not tolerant of soy - and that is Food Suspect #3 (Tex, who hosts this forum, has reported about 50% of us, as compared to darned-close-to-100% for gluten and casein).
For many, a super-limited diet during recovery is helpful. For me, it was a lifesaver. Chicken broth was my best friend on the worst days. I was lucky that those worst days were relatively few.
Everyone's path and pace and diet seems to be a little different. I hope you find your way to healing and remission quickly.
--Sara
Hi Why,
Welcome to the board. The 5-ASA medications are not known for bringing a fast resolution of symptoms. They do better as a maintenance med. Some patients see improvements in a week or so, but most people with MC find that it typically takes around 4 or 5 weeks, (and sometimes longer), for significant improvement to occur. We're all different in our response to the various meds, though. For some of us, mesalamine-based medications make our symptoms worse, especially Asacol, which contains lactose, (most of us are casein-sensitive, and the lactose used in pharmaceuticals apparently must contain traces of casein).
If you don't see any noticeable improvement after 5 or 6 weeks, if I were in your shoes, (and I wanted to try an anti-inflammatory medication), I would ask my GI doc, (or whoever is treating you), for a prescription to Entocort EC. It's arguably the most effective "safe" drug available for treating MC, based on our past experience. It's as effective as prednisone, without anywhere near the risk of the side effects that are associated with most of the corticosteroids, (because only 10 to 15% of it is absorbed into the bloodstream - the rest of it stays in the lower third of the small intestine and the colon, where it needs to be.
I agree that by the time you see your doctor again, if you haven't seen any significant improvement, it will definitely be time to consider "plan B".
Hopefully, you will begin to see some improvement any day, now. Again, welcome aboard, and please feel free to ask anything.
Tex
Welcome to the board. The 5-ASA medications are not known for bringing a fast resolution of symptoms. They do better as a maintenance med. Some patients see improvements in a week or so, but most people with MC find that it typically takes around 4 or 5 weeks, (and sometimes longer), for significant improvement to occur. We're all different in our response to the various meds, though. For some of us, mesalamine-based medications make our symptoms worse, especially Asacol, which contains lactose, (most of us are casein-sensitive, and the lactose used in pharmaceuticals apparently must contain traces of casein).
If you don't see any noticeable improvement after 5 or 6 weeks, if I were in your shoes, (and I wanted to try an anti-inflammatory medication), I would ask my GI doc, (or whoever is treating you), for a prescription to Entocort EC. It's arguably the most effective "safe" drug available for treating MC, based on our past experience. It's as effective as prednisone, without anywhere near the risk of the side effects that are associated with most of the corticosteroids, (because only 10 to 15% of it is absorbed into the bloodstream - the rest of it stays in the lower third of the small intestine and the colon, where it needs to be.
I agree that by the time you see your doctor again, if you haven't seen any significant improvement, it will definitely be time to consider "plan B".
Hopefully, you will begin to see some improvement any day, now. Again, welcome aboard, and please feel free to ask anything.
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.