Rowasa Side Effects Center

What Is Rowasa?

Rowasa (mesalamine) Rectal Suspension Enema is an aminosalicylate anti-inflammatory drug used to treat ulcerative colitis, proctitis, and proctosigmoiditis, and is also used to prevent the symptoms of ulcerative colitis from recurring. Rowasa is available in generic form.

What Are Side Effects of Rowasa?

Rowasa may cause serious side effects including:

• hives,
• difficulty breathing,
• swelling of your face, lips, tongue, or throat,
• severe stomach pain,
• cramping,
• bloody diarrhea,
• fever,
• headache, and
• skin rash

Get medical help right away, if you have any of the symptoms listed above.

Common side effects of Rowasa include:

• rectal pain,
• pain while inserting the bottle tip,
• gas,
• joint or leg pain,
• nausea,
• vomiting,
• stomach cramps,
• diarrhea,
• fever,
• sore throat,
• flu symptoms,
• constipation,
• headache,
• dizziness,
• tired feeling, or
• skin rash.

Infrequently, Rowasa may make symptoms of your condition worse rather than better (acute intolerance syndrome or sensitivity reaction). Tell your doctor if you have unlikely but serious side effects of Rowasa including:

• worsening stomach pain or cramping,
• worsening bloody diarrhea,
• fever, or
• severe or prolonged headache.

Seek medical care or call 911 at once if you have the following serious side effects:

• Serious eye symptoms such as sudden vision loss, blurred vision, tunnel vision, eye pain or swelling, or seeing halos around lights;
• Serious heart symptoms such as fast, irregular, or pounding heartbeats; fluttering in your chest; shortness of breath; and sudden dizziness, lightheadedness, or passing out;
• Severe headache, confusion, slurred speech, arm or leg weakness, trouble walking, loss of coordination, feeling unsteady, very stiff muscles, high fever, profuse sweating, or tremors.

This document does not contain all possible side effects and others may occur. Check with your physician for additional information about side effects.

Dosage for Rowasa

The usual dosage of Rowasa Rectal Suspension Enema in 60 ml units is one rectal instillation (4 grams) once a day, preferably at bedtime, and retained for approximately eight hours.

What Drugs, Substances, or Supplements Interact with Rowasa?

Other drugs may interact with Rowasa rectal. Tell your doctor all prescription and over-the-counter medications and supplements you use.

Rowasa During Pregnancy or Breastfeeding

During pregnancy, Rowasa should be used only when prescribed. This medication passes into breast milk and may have undesirable effects on a nursing infant. Consult your doctor before breastfeeding.

Additional Information

Our Rowasa (mesalamine) Side Effects Drug Center provides a comprehensive view of available drug information on the potential side effects when taking this medication.

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.

Get emergency medical help if you have signs of an allergic reaction: hives; difficult breathing; swelling of your face, lips, tongue, or throat.

Stop using mesalamine and call your doctor at once if you have:

• severe stomach pain, cramping, bloody diarrhea;
• fever, headache, general ill feeling;
• rash, itching, eye redness;
• low white blood cell counts--fever, chills, mouth sores, skin sores, sore throat, cough, feeling light-headed, trouble breathing;
• signs of a kidney stone--severe pain in your side and back, frequent need to urinate, foul-smelling urine, dark or cloudy urine; or
• kidney problems--increased or decreased urination, swelling, weight gain.

Low white blood cell counts may be more likely in older adults.

Common side effects may include:

• fever;
• dizziness;
• rectal pain, colitis;
• rash; or
• acne.

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.