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Health Information and Tools > Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) > Treatment >  Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD): Medicines

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Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD)

Medicines

Phases of treating IBD with medicine

Patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) are often prescribed medicines to treat their IBD very soon after their diagnosis. Treating IBD with medicines starts early to help avoid flares and help keep the inflammation under control for as long as possible. Treating IBD with medicine happens in 2 phases: induction and m​aintenance.

Induction of therapy

The initial phases of treating the inflammation associated with IBD with medicine is called the induction of therapy. The medicine prescribed to you during the induction phase is meant to help you get well. In the induction phase, your healthcare provider is trying to get your inflammation under control.

The induction phase generally involves extensive monitoring through blood and stool tests. The induction phase lasts until your inflammation is reduced and you are in remission.

Maintenance of therapy

After the induction phase, you will enter the maintenance of therapy phase. During the maintenance phase, your gastroenterologist will use medicine to help keep you well. Even though you are in remission and might be feeling well, maintenance therapy is as important as induction therapy since IBD can be a complex and stubborn disease.

It is important that you do not stop taking any of your IBD medicines during the maintenance phase unless your gastroenterologist or primary healthcare provider tells you to, even if you feel well. The type of medicines you get as maintenance therapy may be the same or slightly different than what you use during a flare.

Types of IBD medicine

There are 5 main types of IBD medicine.​ They include:

5-ASAs (also called 5-aminosalicylates or sulfasalazine)
Immunomodulators (also called immunosuppressants)
Steroids (also called corticosteroids)
Biologics (also called biotherapies, originator biologic, or biosimilars)
Small molecules (also called JAK inhibitors or S1p modulators)

When you start a new medi​cine, pay close attention to your symptoms and if they change. Write down any new symptoms, as they could be side effects o​f the new medicine.

If you smoke, it is important to work towards quitting. Smoking can reduce the effectiveness of many IBD medicines, making it harder to get well. To get help with quitting smoking, visit AlbertaQuits. ​​​

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