People with life-long diseases, such as ulcerative colitis, may not always take their medicines as instructed by their doctor. This may be due to fear of possible sided effects, feeling much better and therefore thinking the medicine is not necessary or forgetting to take their medicine.

When your symptoms are bad, and you can feel the effects of the drugs, it may make remembering to take your medicine easier. However, when you feel better, it may make remembering to take your medicine more difficult. You may also be tempted to stop taking your medicine or feel despondent about having to take your pills every day.

These are all understandable feelings. However, IBD cannot be cured but can be managed and many studies have shown that continuing to take your medicine, even when you feel well, helps to reduce the chance of flare ups. Repeated flare ups can increase the risk of irreversible damage to your intestines and may lead to complications, such as your colon becoming stretched and enlarged. Continuing to take your medication may also mean  that you are less likely to need to take more or stronger drugs in the future.

The tablets should be taken by mouth whole, they should not be crushed or chewed. If you have difficulty swallowing the tablets you can disperse them in a small quantity of cold water (approximately 50ml) then stir and drink immediately.

Yes they can. The movement of Pentasa® through the gut and its release is not affected if taken with or without food.

Please tell your doctor or pharmacist if you are taking or have recently taken any other medicines,  including medicines obtained without a  prescription.

This is specially important if you are taking any of the following:

• Azathioprine, 6-mercaptopurine or thioguanine

• Certain agents that inhibit blood clotting (medicines for thrombosis or to thin your blood, e.g. warfarin)

The active ingredient for both oral and rectal Pentasa® preparations, and their coatings, are not derived from animal sources. Therefore Pentasa® is suitable for vegetarians.

None of the Pentasa® formulations (Enema, Sachets, Suppositories, Tablets) contain lactose.

Yes.

Latex is not used in any of the products nor in their packaging. However, the finger cots for the suppositories are made of latex.