Octasa and Diarrhea

[Sma4fh]

Hi there, I have diagnosed UC, on last day of an 8 week course of steroids which stopped all my symptoms (bloody lose stool).I am also on day 10 of 6 x 800 mg Octasa. In the last 48 hours started getting diarrhea and fatigue and mild stomach cramps. 6 x loose/watery stools a day. Is this a normal side effect of Octasa, and if so, how long might it last?

It's tricky going from being symptom free on steroids l, to back to diarrhea again!

Thanks for reading/replying!

[Zkowski]

hi there. You post describes exactly what I went through, OCTASA takes a while to build into your system. I tools a good 2/3 weeks for it to build up enough where OCTASA was the only medication I took and was completely symptom free with no side effects what’s so ever. I lived completely normal for over a year eating and drinking what I like taking the exact dose you’ve been prescribed. I eventually fell ill again but was partly my own fault. (Longer story I’ll not go into unless asked about). From my personal experience I’d consider asking the gp to extend the steroids for another week or to for the OCTASA to hopefully take full effect if your symptoms continue to get worse.

[Sma4fh in reply to Zkowski]

Thank you for taking the time to reply. Since posting 2 days ago things haven't improved....I'm getting muscle aches and can barely stay awake.....I'll contact the IBD nurses tomorrow as I'm in 2 minds....it could end up that the octasa works well like it did for you, or the side effects just become too much to bear! Take care and hooe you're well