remicade and asacol

okay so i  go for my third infusion tomorrow. since the first infusion 6 weeks ago i have

-stopped passing blood

-only go about 2-3 times a day (used to be 5-12 depending )

-limited stomach cramps

My doc pulled me off all of my meds (6-mp, canasa, Mesalimine etc) except for the asacol. She wanted me to continue taking 12 pills a day. Well i s tarted feeling so much better after the infusion that i stopped taking the asacol as often. it started with me takingin twice a day instead of 3 times. I have for 2 weeks been off of it completely. I feel fine. Although i have to admit i am slightly scared to tell my doc. She always gets on to me about stuff like this.

is anyone out there just on remicade and off of thier asacol?

TAMTAM....get back on the Asacol. Don't push your luck.

Tam Tam....I guess everyone is different and every doctor's advice is different. I personally have never felt that the 5 ASA drugs have been beneficial to me and have been told that they dont work for everyone. I recently started remicade (1st tx was last week), so in addition to that I am currently taking Imuran 150 mg a day. My doc says once the remicade kicks in, he will completely take me off the Imuran, leaving me solely on the remicade. I was taking Pentasa until about 2 months ago. I thought my continual hair loss was from that drug ( i think differently now), so I insisted I come off it completely. I was also taking Imuran at the time, so I didnt notice any difference when I completely stopped the Pentasa. I have had two docs since being diagnosed in Feb 06 and my first doc couldnt tell me a good reason to keep me on the 5 ASA. She said "well its a maintainence drug and once it is started, docs typically dont take their patients off." I just couldnt see why I was paying/taking a drug that wasn't aiding in the remission process, or keeping me there when I wasnt taking prednisone. I guess it might be a good idea to stay on it if you hope to discontinue remicade one day and you need a drug to help in remission. But dont be afraid to talk to your doc. In order for them to help you, you need to be honest with them. Just remember that it is your body and your disease, so you need to dictate your tx plan based on info and advice given to you by the medical professional.