Available medications for Crohn's Disease in the UK

[Matt645]

What meds are people taking? I ask because I’m not convinced that my meds are right for me, I was doing just fine without any meds for a year until I had some blood in my poo, the doc put me straight back on Asacol which caused acid which then meant I needed Omeprazol and now he’s got me on Adcal-D3 and Iron pills as well all of which give me D.

I can’t help but think my absorption would be better if I didn’t take the Asacol which would mean I wouldn’t need any of the other drugs, is there an alternative to Asacol?

 

[JillianB82]

I took Entocort for 4 months & it did wonders for me. I must say, I've been off of it for about 4 weeks now & this week has been HELL!!! The symptoms are back in full swing!

 

[Matt645]

I was on that for a month about ten years ago, it did nothing for me.

 

[beth]

I believe first line is things like Elemental/LOFLEX diet, prednisone, azathioprine/methotrexate, and the biologics like humira, remicade, etc.

Elemental and finding out what foods trigger symptoms has worked wonders for me, but not quite enough. So I'm going to be on azathrioprine soon.

 

[NatalieMT]

Beth is right, next line drug treatment might be some sort of immunosuppressant or you could try dietary changes if you feel that is not what you want, they do say the Elemental diet can be as effective in symptom reduction as steroids. I'm currently on it for the 2nd time and things are going okay.

Azathioprine I didn't respond to, so I have reverted to Elemental whilst I wait for Infliximab.

 

[Guest]

hi Matt... you could be right that the Asacol could be changed for something less upsetting on your digestion, but i think it might be a good idea to retain the Adcal and Iron.. Crohn's can cause depletion in calcium & iron, and the vit D in Adcal helps you absorb the calcium properly. if you're really struggling with these two, there are different ways of getting calcium & vit D, and iron - iron can be given in injection form, and there are other calcium preparations on the market too.

 

[kello82]

hey matt....do you know where in your bowels your disease is located? asocol is essentially the same as also pentasa and colazol. maybe one of these other types of the same drug would not give you the acid problems? just thinking out loud....

 

[crohnsappleadams]

hey matt....do you know where in your bowels your disease is located? asocol is essentially the same as also pentasa and colazol. maybe one of these other types of the same drug would not give you the acid problems? just thinking out loud....

Pentasa was my first thought also. Sometimes different formulations of the same medicine work very differently for certain people.