I got diagnosed with IBD last week and was prescribed melsazine and prednisone steroids. Although the urgency and diarrhoea have stopped, I am still getting intestinal aching which can get pretty intense. Am I ok to take paracetamol (Or another painkiller?) alongside it all?
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Can I take paracetamol?
- Thread starter Anxious855
- Start date
It's more like an ache rather then a cramp. It's the only thing bothering me at the moment as everything else that I was having problems with has subsided.
Paracetamol and Tylenol are the same drug. Paracematol is the term used more commonly in the UK and Tylenol is a brand name used in the US. This drug is okay for IBD patients to take for pain relief, but you should be careful not to take more than the recommended amounts because in high doses it can damage the liver and/or kidneys.
Thank you. The aching is really bad today. I worry this is my life now, it is very upsetting. 
I know it looks pretty bleak right now. Most of us have been there. But it's very unlikely that this pain-ridden state will be your life for now on. You are in the very early stages of finding the best treatment to control your disease. Right now you have been given prednisone, which is a standard first and temporary step to start to knock your disease down, and mesalamine, which is among the weakest and mildest of IBD drugs.Thank you. The aching is really bad today. I worry this is my life now, it is very upsetting.
There are several other choices that might help get you into remission: immunosuppressants such as methotrexate and azathioprine, and perhaps more importantly, the big gun biologics: anti-TNFs Remicade, Humira, Cimzia, and Simponi, plus the anti-integrin Entyvio and the anti-IL12&23 Stelara.
Many of us end up on one of these biologics (in my case Stelara), since they are the currently the most effective treatments for Crohn's available. The point is there is every reason to be optimistic. You are just beginning your Crohn's journey. There are many therapeutic options that have not yet been tried. Plus, there is a lot you can do with modifying your diet to identify and avoid trigger foods.
The chances are very good that one or more of these drugs, perhaps combined with dietary changes and general healthy living, will produce a good remission that will enable you to live a more or less normal life for many years.
I hope you are right. This pain is exhausting me and when I am at my lowest, I feel I can't carry on as I worry this is my life now. I hear of people who have IBD who are on meds but they are still in pain and nothing takes that away. That is terrifying to me, the thought of being like this forever.
If it doesn't go I will have to leave my job as it is becoming almost impossible to work through the intense aching.
I appreciate your positive words and I just hope something can be done in order to ensure I can lead a normal life without constant pain.
If it doesn't go I will have to leave my job as it is becoming almost impossible to work through the intense aching.
I appreciate your positive words and I just hope something can be done in order to ensure I can lead a normal life without constant pain.
I agree.
It's just frightening that it is still there, it is like an ache rather than a cramping pain. I just hope my consultant can help. My bottom feels a little swollen still as well so will have to try and get some suppositories or something. I just want to feel well again, I really hope I can be painfree one day very soon. It's unbearable to think otherwise.
I think like all of us I have good days and not-so-good days. Yes, I’ve had to be hospitalized a few times, and yes, when that happens I am in a lot of pain. IV steroids and a change in maintenance medication then helps me and I feel better. Living with a chronic condition is frustrating and can be challenging, but now that you’ve been diagnosed and have begun treatment you should feel better after a few weeks.
I worry that I will never reach remission and will always be in some form of discomfort and pain. It terrifies me when I read of people who are on medication but still very ill and who have no real quality of life. I just feel that I will never be painfree again and that thought is unbearable.
Feel so depressed. 2 weeks on Tuesday on Pred and Melasazine. Yes it has stopped the diarrhoea, urgency and night trips but my stomach aches so much and feels so sore. I am sat here crying as I can't imagine being like this for life. It is so delibitating. I am seeing the consultant again next week and am sure it will be a poor outlook as he said in the write up notes that I have inflammation through the whole colon so must be pancolitis I honestly feel so drained by this and I am only weeks into this horrible disease. I just hate the thought of being in pain for life.
I honestly feel so drained by this and I am only weeks into this horrible disease. I just hate the thought of being in pain for life.