• Welcome to Crohn's Forum, a support group for people with all forms of IBD. While this community is not a substitute for doctor's advice and we cannot treat or diagnose, we find being able to communicate with others who have IBD is invaluable as we navigate our struggles and celebrate our successes. We invite you to join us.

Pentasa question

Location
Wisconsin
Quick question on how to take Pentasa:

I need to take 2 capsules 3 times per day, so is it OK to take 2 with breakfast, 2 with lunch, and 2 with supper or do I need to take them 8 hours apart?

thanks!
 

My Butt Hurts

Squeals-a-lot!
That's how I take my pentasa, just so I remember it - plus I take 2 at bedtime. I think it should be 4 hours apart. Sometimes I take my lunch one later if I get up late on the weekends, but 4 hours is good.
 
My Doctor said that the earliest you should do it would be 4 hours apart like MBH stated. I do what everyone else does, breafast, lunch, dinner, and bedtime. Not to hijack this thread, but does anyone have reactions when they take pentasa with Grapejuice?
 
Location
Wisconsin
Thanks guys! I'll do it like that then - breakfast, lunch, and supper. I was surprised I didn't have to take it 4 times a day since that seems to be the norm. They are 500mg capsules - and they're HUGE!

I don't know about any reactions yet, but I don't like grapefruit, so I guess i don't need to worry about that one. Not sure about grapes either, but it seems those bother me a lot, so I'll be avoiding them from now on. And I really like grapes too............
 
Grapefruit is just an example of a very acidic food. Pentasa is made up of many little pellets that each have a different thickness in their casing. As that casing dissolves it releases one pellet at a time all the way down your GI tract giving a consistent dose to all of your intestines. The drug works locally and not through the blood stream and without the controlled release the drug would all be absorbed within the first 2 feet of your small intestine and would leave the rest of you untreated.

Lemonade, soda, etc, are generally a bad idea for anything that has a timed release. Water is really the preferable drink with meds because it's very close to neutral acid/base-wise and what the drugs are calibrated for.
 
Top