ASACOL MR - Mesalamine

Asacol Used For

Asacol tablets are prescribed for patients with inflammatory bowel diseases such as mild to moderately active ulcerative colitis and for the maintenance of remission of ulcerative colitis. It works inside the bowel by helping to reduce the inflammation and other symptoms of the disease. Asacol may also be prescribed to treat mild or moderate Crohn's disease and help prevent it from occurring again.

Directions for Asacol Medication

The recommended dosage for treatment of ulcerative colitis in adults is two 400-mg tablets to be taken three times a day for a total daily dose of 2.4 grams. Treatment should be continued for duration of 6 weeks. For maintenance of remission of ulcerative colitis, the recommended dosage in adults is 1.6 grams daily, in divided doses for a period of 6 months.

How Asacol Medication works

Patients with pyloric stenosis may have prolonged gastric retention of Asacol tablets which could delay release of mesalamine in the colon. Certain patients who are hypersensitive to sulfasalazine may experience similar problems with Asacol. Asacol may also cause damage to the kidneys.

Side effects of Asacol Medication

Like all other medications, Asacol also has its side effects which include neck pain, facial edema, lupus-like syndrome, eye pain, taste perversion, blurred vision, tinnitus, depression, somnolence, emotional lability, hyperesthesia, vertigo, confusion, tremor, thrombocytopenia, eosinophilia, leukopenia, anemia, lymphadenopathy, interstitial nephritis, minimal change nephropathy, dysuria, urinary urgency, hematuria, epididymitis and menorrhagia. In rare cases, the medication also caused pericarditis, myocarditis, peripheral neuropathy, transverse myelitis, Guillain-Barré syndrome, agranulocytosis and aplastic anemia. It is advisable to consult a doctor if any of the above listed symptoms become aggravated or persist over an extended period.

Other Asacol Medication Information

Other commonly used names of Asacol are: Pentasa, Mesasal, Salofalk, Mesalazine, Sulfasalazine, 5-aminosalicylic acid & 5-ASA. Asacol tablets can not be split and must be taken in full, swallowed with a glass of water.