What is mesalamine?
Mesalamine affects a substance in the body that causes inflammation, tissue damage, and diarrhea.
Mesalamine is used to treat ulcerative colitis, proctitis, and proctosigmoiditis. Mesalamine is also used to prevent the symptoms of ulcerative colitis from recurring.
Mesalamine may also be used for other purposes not listed in this medication guide.
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Precautions
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Instructions
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Side Effects
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Interactions
Precautions
You should not use this medication if you are allergic to mesalamine or to aspirin or other salicylates (such as Disalcid, Doan’s Pills, Dolobid, Salflex, Tricosal, and others).
Before using mesalamine, tell your doctor if you are allergic to any drugs, or if you have:
- a stomach condition called pyloric stenosis;
- a history of allergy to sulfasalazine (Azulfidine);
- a heart condition such as congestive heart failure;
- kidney disease; or
- liver disease.
If you have any of these conditions, you may need a dose adjustment or special tests to safely take mesalamine.
FDA pregnancy category B. This medication is not expected to be harmful to an unborn baby. Tell your doctor if you are pregnant or plan to become pregnant during treatment.
Mesalamine can pass into breast milk and may harm a nursing baby. Do not use this medication without telling your doctor if you are breast-feeding a baby.
Follow your doctor’s instructions about any restrictions on food, beverages, or activity while you are using mesalamine.
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Instructions
Seek emergency medical attention if you think you have used too much of this medicine.
Overdose symptoms may include ringing in your ears, dizziness, headache, confusion, drowsiness, sweating, shortness of breath, vomiting, and diarrhea.
Take the missed dose as soon as you remember. If it is almost time for your next dose, skip the missed dose and take the medicine at the next regularly scheduled time. Do not take extra medicine to make up the missed dose.
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Side Effects
Get emergency medical help if you have any of these signs of an allergic reaction: hives; difficulty breathing; swelling of your face, lips, tongue, or throat.
Stop using mesalamine and call your doctor at once if you have any of these serious side effects:
- severe stomach pain, cramping, fever, headache, and bloody diarrhea.
Less serious side effects may include:
- mild nausea, vomiting, stomach cramps, diarrhea, gas;
- fever, sore throat, or other flu symptoms;
- constipation;
- headache or dizziness;
- tired feeling; or
- skin rash.
This is not a complete list of side effects and others may occur. Call your doctor for medical advice about side effects. You may report side effects to FDA at 1-800-FDA-1088. You may report side effects to FDA at 1-800-FDA-1088.
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Interactions
Before taking mesalamine, tell your doctor if you are using any of the following drugs:
- azathioprine (Imuran) or mercaptopurine (Purinethol);
- pentamidine (Nebupent, Pentam);
- tacrolimus (Prograf);
- amphotericin B (Fungizone, AmBisome, Amphotec, Abelcet);
- antibiotics such as capreomycin (Capastat), rifampin (Rifadin, Rimactane, Rifater), vancomycin (Vancocin, Vancoled);
- antiviral medicines such as acyclovir (Zovirax), adefovir (Hepsera), cidofovir (Vistide), or foscarnet (Foscavir);
- cancer medicine such as aldesleukin (Proleukin), carmustine (BiCNU, Gliadel), cisplatin (Platinol), ifosfamide (Ifex), oxaliplatin (Eloxatin), plicamycin (Mithracin), streptozocin (Zanosar), or tretinoin (Vesanoid); or
- aspirin or other NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) such as ibuprofen (Motrin, Advil), naproxen (Aleve, Naprosyn), diclofenac (Voltaren), diflunisal (Dolobid), etodolac (Lodine), flurbiprofen (Ansaid), indomethacin (Indocin), ketoprofen (Orudis), ketorolac (Toradol), mefenamic acid (Ponstel).
This list is not complete and there may be other drugs that can interact with mesalamine. Tell your doctor about all the prescription and over-the-counter medications you use. This includes vitamins, minerals, herbal products, and drugs prescribed by other doctors. Do not start using a new medication without telling your doctor.
Other Names
Asacol, Canasa, FIV-ASA, Lialda, Mesasal Enteric Coated, Pentasa, Rowasa, Salofalk, mesalamine, 5-ASA, Apriso, and Canasa Pac
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Disclaimer
Every effort has been made to ensure that the information provided by Cerner Multum, Inc. ('Multum') is accurate, up-to-date, and complete, but no guarantee is made to that effect. Drug information contained herein may be time sensitive. Multum information has been compiled for use by healthcare practitioners and consumers in the United States and therefore Multum does not warrant that uses outside of the United States are appropriate, unless specifically indicated otherwise. Multum's drug information does not endorse drugs, diagnose patients or recommend therapy. Multum's drug information is an informational resource designed to assist licensed healthcare practitioners in caring for their patients and/or to serve consumers viewing this service as a supplement to, and not a substitute for, the expertise, skill, knowledge and judgment of healthcare practitioners. The absence of a warning for a given drug or drug combination in no way should be construed to indicate that the drug or drug combination is safe, effective or appropriate for any given patient. Multum does not assume any responsibility for any aspect of healthcare administered with the aid of information Multum provides. The information contained herein is not intended to cover all possible uses, directions, precautions, warnings, drug interactions, allergic reactions, or adverse effects. If you have questions about the drugs you are taking, check with your doctor, nurse or pharmacist.
Copyright 1996-2004 Cerner Multum, Inc. Version 2.05. Revision date 8/23/04
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