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Asacol vs. Lialda - what's better?

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Ulcerative Colitis
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Posted 12/17/2009 1:16 PM (GMT -6)
I just switched from Asacol to Lialda due to financial reason and a letter from health insurance that Lialda is cheaper than Asacol.

I was wondering if someone had better results with Lialda than with Asacol? I mean one Lialda pill equals three Asacol pills. I have been taken Asacol for 12 years (well, for 5 years, before that I was on the German version called Salofalk) and hoping that Lialda is better and I get more benefits from it. I seriously don't know why I took Asacol, because it had no benefits for me. But one thing, the Lialda pills seriously reek ... like skunk! Ewww!

Any encouraging reports are very appreciated.

Posted 12/17/2009 3:52 PM (GMT -6)
I was on asacol for 2 years and just switched to Lialda 2 months ago. They switched me because I was in the hospital with a bad flare and they saw a lot of undissolved asacol pills just sitting throughout my colon during a colonoscopy and the same thing in my stool which I'd never noticed before. So either it was never dissolving correctly or just stopped for some reason. But Lialda has been great for me though. I hadn't improved much on 6mp, 60mg prednisone, and two Remicade infusions but two weeks after being on Lialda and I completely turned around and it's been great since. My GI is even stopped Remicade so I'll still have that as an option later on thanks to Lialda. I just hope it keeps going this well. But it really varies a lot from person to person. I know some people who just can't tolerate Lialda or it just doesn't work for them. And the same for Asacol and some people. But I would assume most people transition fine. You won't really know until you've been on it for a few weeks. All I know is Lialda has been much better for me. I wish I'd switched a long time ago. Hope it works as well for you! And I actually really like the smell of Lialda lol. I always take a little sniff of the bottle before I take it :P
Posted 12/23/2009 9:34 PM (GMT -6)
I switched from Asacol to Lialda 2 years ago. I had been on Asacol for 5 years (6 pills/day). Now I take 2 Lialda per day. The switch was seamless for me and I noticed no difference in the two drugs other than how many times a day you take them. It is kind of nice to only take pills once per day.
Posted 12/23/2009 9:49 PM (GMT -6)
I take Asacol but my doctor has mentioned moving me to Lialda. She said a lot of her patients do better on it.
Posted 12/23/2009 10:01 PM (GMT -6)
I recently switched to Lialda. I'm not sure if there's a huge difference because I was flaring when I started to take it, but I like the convenience of only having to remember my pills once a day. It definitely helps me stick to my regimen.
Posted 12/25/2009 1:30 PM (GMT -6)
I'm on Lialda now, been on either that, Asacol or Colazol since dx, not that any of them seem to help much. Perhaps I'd be even worst without them. What I like about the Lialda is that I on;y have to take them once a day (I take 4 capsules every morning). With the others I would forget the afternoon dose if I didn't set my phone's alarm to remind me to take it, and then I'd have to hunt up something to get them down with.

My GI switched me after Lialda had been approved for a while -- I wanted to switch as soon as I heard of it because of only having to take it once a day, but he likes to see what comes up once more people are approved for a drug so he doesn't tend to go for the newest things right away. Fair enough. Once he saw more reports that it seemed to be more effective he told me I could switch if I still wanted to. All three mesalamine drugs are the same copay for me, the highest on my tier, $45 a month.

Looking forward to being drug-free after my surgery!

Meesh
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