Quincy

Hi Quincy,

So I found that a hypersensitivity to mesalamine can cause minimal change nephropathy, aka minimal change disease, which is what I have.

I checked on the Lialda website and it says the above and to take w/caution if you have renal dysfunction. 

The mesalamine could have caused my MCD and why should I continue to take it?  So, I just left a message for my Kidney Doc and also asked about being on Lialda and Prednisone at the same time.  I'll take his response to my GI and make my own decision from there about continuing to take the mesalamine drugs. 

If I don't take the mesalamine drugs and I dont want to be on prednisone, what can I take?

Not making any decisions yet but definitely going to get to the bottom of this one.  Kinda aggravates me that the Doc didn't pick up on that........

Thanks,

Beth

Hi Beth...I wouldn't take any 5ASA if I were in your situation given the information you've found. Is prednisone the only thing that you could take or would other immunosuppressants be an option...?

What about long-term meds or care? What did your doc say about that? Was it a kidney specialist you saw?

Have you checked out any other kidney disease sites? I know the healthboards has a kidney disease forum...there would for sure be others where you can pose your queries.

Worth the research considering you're in early stages with the opportunity to possibly reverse or stop the progression...pred may only be the way to go...but do know all the possible treatments so that you can make a good judgement on your care.

As for the UC...there is always Entocort and steroid foam/liquid enemas that you could consider .. not systemic with much less side effects than pred.

The more research you do....especially considering you have more than one disease to care for...the better it is to make the decisions.

Regarding prednisone...does it have to be a high dosage or can it be a low dosage for longer?

You've already found valuable information which has now altered a choice med for UC.

What do you think?
quincy

Hi Beth....5ASA (5-ASA, 5 ASA..I type it the easy way) or 5-aminosalicylic acid includes mesalamine, mesalazine, ozalazine, sulfasalazine..etc..the whole grouping of that type of medication.

I hope the pred works for you...I think it's worth taking it since the possibility of it to reverse the MCD is high. That's not so with UC...but you shouldn't risk using the 5ASA with it.

Type in kidney message boards or kidney forums or MCD message boards or MCD forums to search for others that might be more specific or with more information that would be beneficial to you.

Keep me posted as to how it's working. I hope the side effects won't bother you too much...but it's good you'll be taking something to protect your bones.

quincy xx