3 weeks on Asacol and no improvement

[jakubla]

My 17 year old was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis and started Asacol HD three weeks ago. (six tabs per day).
He initially felt a little better but now is back to multiple bloody stools a day, slight fever, and feeling very bad.
His doctor says it may take a month or more for the meds to work, but he seems to be worse.
Some websites suggest this may be a negative reaction to the drug.

Any thoughts? He is having a terrible time finishing his senior year of high school.

[lynn4jas]

My son (20yrs) has been diagnosed w/ UC last fall, he has been on Asacol since. He has noticed his muscle weakened. He had UC symptoms last month again, with the increase dosage of Asacol helped the UC symptoms but he muscles got cramped frequently, join pains, cold/hot feelings, he even couldn't walk or move. We rush him to the local emergency, but the GI Dr's couldn't figure out he had UC issues since there were no typical symptoms. They were keep saying Ascol is safe to take and not too many side effects. But it has paralyzed my son. His muscle pains stopped after he stop taking this drug.