A range of medications is available to help manage IBD symptoms. Medications for IBD are grouped into two broad categories:

• medications that reduce the underlying inflammation and, as a result, the associated symptoms
• those that manage symptoms without altering the underlying inflammatory process

Your doctor will decide the best medication(s) for you, depending upon your specific condition. Because each patient is unique, a medication that works well for you may not work well for someone else, and vice versa.

Your doctor will provide more detailed information about the potential benefits and side-effects of specific drug(s) that you may need to take, and may change medications if your condition, symptoms, or side effects change.

Medications generally have two different names. The generic or “nonproprietary” name describes the active ingredient, and the brand or “proprietary” name is the trademark — usually indicated by or ™ or ® — under which a particular product is sold.

For example, Aspirin® and Entrophen® are brand names for two products that contain acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) as the active ingredient.

In the discussion about medications, if several products contain the same active ingredient we will use the most common or recognizable brand name — even though this name may not the be same as that of the product which your pharmacist dispenses.