Sore throat as Mesalasine side effect

Hi all,
has anyone experienced similar issues?
6 months ago I've changed mesalazine pills to the form that finally helped me with stomach issues. I've been on Pentasa previously but it did not do much for me. I've felt some relief when I've started Salofalk.
Though my intestines calmed down I've started to experience strange things with my body: absolute lack of energy, leg pain and sore throat all the time.
I've tried ton of meds (incl. antibiotics, all kinds of sprays etc.) for throat but they do not help.
The only thing that helps with fatigue and throat a bit are B12 shots. Though after some time the problem comes back. (when I was on the peak of fatigue my b12 level was ~600 which is considered normal. may be not for my body though...)

Has anyone had problems with throat as a sequence of b12 deficiency because of mesalasine?

Thx in advance,
Jen

Hi Jen,

Sorry you're having trouble Some thoughts:

1. 600 is a pretty darn good level for B12, my guess is that's not your issue (but keep those levels nice and high!)
2. Is it possible your sore throat is due to GERD from the meds?
3. Looking at our vitamin and mineral deficiency database and plugging in your symptoms, I wonder about an iodine deficiency or possibly magnesium. Iodine seems to fit quite nicely in fact. Any thoughts on that?

I hope you start to feel better soon!

yes actually i have had sore throat and other flu like symptoms while on mesalamine aka masalazine oral including fatigue...its incredible right? I have felt like I am walking around in a lead suit at times. This is without any vitamin or mineral deficiencies mind you. It was worse when i was anemic due to iron deficiency.
I would contact your doctor if you haven't already and get them to do a workup on your blood to see if you have any deficiencies before dumping money into supplements besides the ones you are taking currently. Another idea is to seek out a competent ENT (ear nose and throat) specialist and see what they say and maybe a dentist. Also it could be that if you have crohn's disease you may have ulcers in your throat that could be causing the pain. An endoscopic exam would tell the doctor and yourself if that was the case. Hope you feel better soon.

Hi Jen,

I was doing a little research today and yes, Mesalazine can indeed cause sore throat.

David thanks a lot for the links!

Lynx, what dose of mesalazine caused your symptoms? How did you beat them: did you quit taking any mesalamine or changed the brand?

Here is a small update. I've started gradual decrease of salofalk dose. I was taking 2 gramms/day normally. Now I'm altering the days where I take 1 and 2 gramms. And what a miracle: the throat almost does not worry me on 1-gramm days, but comes back on 2-gramms days! I've tried huge amount of meds to beat it for 6 months previously but they were absolutely helpless.

Other side effects also get weaker on 1gramm days. So in my case many bad things happen with my body because of mesalamine.

Wow, that sounds mighty conclusive. Thanks for the update and I'm glad you have the problem figured out

I had a similar experience on Mesalamine. I was on like, 4.8g per day orally, and 1g suppository.

After 4 days I had trouble swallowing even water so I stopped taking them.

David said:

Hi Jen,

Sorry you're having trouble Some thoughts:

1. 600 is a pretty darn good level for B12, my guess is that's not your issue (but keep those levels nice and high!)
2. Is it possible your sore throat is due to GERD from the meds?
3. Looking at our vitamin and mineral deficiency database and plugging in your symptoms, I wonder about an iodine deficiency or possibly magnesium. Iodine seems to fit quite nicely in fact. Any thoughts on that?

I hope you start to feel better soon!

Click to expand...

After 20days mesalazine, i also got sore throat until now. now i think it is the side effect of mesalazine. should i change mesalazine to AZA/6MP or just tolerate with this side effect?

However, David, i think your advice about the deficiency of Iodine is maybe effective. because after 20days fasting, i barely income salt at all, maybe there is sth wrong with my thyroid.

I almost forgot, but I always felt sick on mesalamine with a sore throat for about 8 months. I also had the leg pain. Didn't like it and it didn't really help anyways.

As for the B12, yeah. I'm not deficient but for some reason some of my other B12 values are off even though the actual B12 is really high. Not sure. Not sure if there is a connection.

wolfem, could you describe the leg pain you've experienced with mesalamine please?

Jen said:

wolfem, could you describe the leg pain you've experienced with mesalamine please?

Click to expand...

Oh god. Trying to remember because it did eventually go away but took forever. This was back in 2010. OK, it was like my muscles didn't function right or something. Like sharp dull tendon pain. Started to get a shooting pain up my leg. Felt stiff. Drove me nuts but then I had other stuff going on like migratory joint pain after getting a sore throat. Might have been from the stupid high strep titers I keep getting and still get. However, the mesalamine I think can lower WBC? Right? Not sure. Anyhow, I just felt awful on that medication.

I have no idea what has happened to my brain but I completely didn't see my blood test results from February even while looking at them back in March. B12 seems to be OK and even the other values are good. I'm taking small amounts of a B complex and I've noticed the moons on my nails are coming back

Thanks! I've also been having a problems with strange feelings in the legs along with the sore throat. I'm still taking 1 g of mesalamine daily (Salofalk in granules) and occasionally I have a leg pain like you have described. Sometimes it feels like extremely tired legs as if you have walked many miles before, sometimes it is a feeling of strained nerve\muscle on the anterior side of the shank (I'm not sure whether it is an appropriate English word I mean a part of leg between the ankle and the knee). Sometimes I feel tingling and shots in the same area.
I'm still not sure whether it is a drug side effect, or vitamin B deficiency (I also have the normal B12 level according to all tests), or it is a neuropathy from my diabetes, though it is more or less controlled most of time.
I've noticed several people reported leg problems from mesalamine.

Jen, what is your actual B12 level? "Normal" is often not actually normal. I'll be happy to explain if you so desire.

I've been on Pentasa for two years now maximum dosage, last year I had a very bad sore throat but I thought is flu, I had a endoscopy after that and got diagnosed with second stage GERD. I still have sore throat and flu like symptoms all the time. I hope you get well soon

Thanks NancyHany!
David, when I experienced the worst symptoms my B12 was about 600.

Jen, I see I asked your level higher up in the thread. I'm really sorry about that! I clicked through with your new response and didn't read my earlier responses. Please forgive me.

David, that's totally no problem! I did not look at the top message as well
Thanks you for your willingness to help!

Hi everyone,

I'm having similar symptoms (sore throat, fever) as Jen mentions in the first post). Since I'm new to Crohn's (diagnosed just one week ago -- been on Apriso for 1.5 weeks), I'm wondering if these are symptoms of an allergic response to Apriso or if they're the signs of an oncoming flare (I had a sore throat and fever before the most recent "event" that led to my diagnosis). The Apriso has been great for managing stomach pain and allowing me to eat/live normally, so I'm reluctant to admit defeat. Other than call my doctor (who is currently away on vacation), what would you do in my situation?

Thanks,
Jackie

Hi Jackie,
if you have had a constant sore throat and fever before starting Apriso and even having the diagnosis - it is unlikely coming from Apriso. So there is no reason to cancel the drug.

Thanks, Jen! My doc's secretary relayed the message and she got back to me suggesting that I stop the drug. I'm getting an allergy test next week and hoping to have a more thorough discussion with the doctor now that she's back in town. I've been eating very carefully and so far my symptoms have been manageable. Thanks so much for your response.