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Hi I'm new to this

Hi after years of fighting the various issues with my body including getting swine flu and pneumonia in 2011 which left me in a coma and on life support for months. when I started to recover I got a Pulmenary embolism. This in turn left me with fibrosis in my lungs. I had a hysterectomy at the beginning of the year. Then on Tuesday I was told the 'IBS' that I was told for years that I have is actually Crohns disease. I have been given Mesalazine but am so terrified that I havent managed to take them yet. The dose seems really high and the listed side effects fill me with dread. I have a problem like i said with my lungs and am so scared these pills will cause me further problems with my lungs. I would be grateful for any thoughts on this thanks.
 
Welcome to the forum so sorry to hear of all you have had to endure. It seems we are faced with the hardest decisions during the overwhelming time of diagnosis.

Keep in mind that the list of possible side effects are very rare. You can google the percentages of times a certain side effect has occurred. I am thinking you are speaking of Mesalamine? It has been used for quite some time and of the IBD meds is probably has the least risk of side effects. But, of course, that means nothing when you are the one faced with taking a new med. If there are side effects you are overly concerned with then I would write down all your questions and concerns and go over them with your GI.

We have a Treatment Section(<--click here) on Mesalamine that you may want to browse through.

This thread also has some great info on Mesalamine class of drugs:

http://www.crohnsforum.com/showthread.php?t=36292

I'm sure others will be along shortly with their experiences. Good luck.
 
You have had a horrible time, so sorry about that all. The meds are scary but not controlling the disease I think is scarier! God bless through all of this! 😔
 

Jennifer

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Hi GeordieAlly and welcome to the forum! :D Sorry for the late reply and sorry to hear about all you've been through. :(

Have you talked to your doctor about your concerns? I've taken Mesalamine in the past and never had any side effects from it (I do not have an issue with my lungs though yet this is the first time anyone's asked about this that I've seen on the forum). Its one of the more mild treatments out there for Crohn's disease. All of the medications have a huge list of side effects yet that doesn't mean you'll get them all or any for that matter.

Keep us posted on how you're doing. :)
 
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