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stopping endocort

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Posted 3/15/2008 1:11 PM (GMT 0)
I saw my GI yesterday and he wants me to stop my endocort.....yay for me right......nope not really..... im on 9mg a day and he wants me to stop cold turkey.......i have 2 days of pills left so im going to do 6mg today and then 3mg until they are gone......what should i expect from this sudden stop of endocort........i know its normal to do a slow taper, but this is what he wants me to do and he didn't refill my RX so i don't have anymore at my disposal......and if i have a problem with flares then im to see my regular doc  to have an increase in my imuran from 100mg to 150mg..he sayes that will help........... oh my im a bit worried about the withdrawl that i will have in stopping the endocort so fast......HELP what should i expect or what should i do........am i worring for nothing.......he said my stricture in my TI is not a prob for me..........sigh
Posted 3/15/2008 3:28 PM (GMT 0)
lady,

I did the same thing a couple of years ago. I went off all my meds. I kind of underwent a revolt from western medicine, and went au natural. Maybe not the smartest thing I ever did, but to tell the truth the endocort was not having much of an affect anymore and I really didn't suffer much more than I already was. I went on a rigid exclusion diet (even gluten free for a time as I tested pos for gluten allergy) and started getting deep tissue massage. I would actually tell them to work directly on my gut. I get a lot of tension in my ileo-cecal valve area. The person I say also did cranio-sacral work and polarity therapy. I'm not saying you need to find someone with this specific knowledge, but find someone experienced and I think just having body work done every month was good to control my tension and stress, which for me is very important. I have been having recent luck with acupuncture, but my goodness it's expensive. I pay more out of pocket for AP than for my Humira!!

I am suprised to hear that your doctor told you to go cold turkey. endocort is still a steroid like prednisone; don't let anyone tell you different. There is a study done with endocort on people with rheumatoid arthritis and a high number of subjects given study drug experienced significant decrease of symptoms in their RA. Lesson: endocort is NOT just staying in the GI tract. It's not as bad as prednisone, but...

Anyway, good luck with kicking the cort.
Posted 3/15/2008 4:03 PM (GMT 0)
Lady,
I saw my GI yesterday and he told me to stop taking Entocort yesterday as well. I, like you, was also on 9mg. Entocort has not worked for me AT ALL so I am back on the prednisone-40 mg. (Most) docs know what they are talking about so I would say next time if you are unsure about something he wants you to do then ask him (or her) why they wanted you to stop cold turkey and voice your concerns. There may be a specific reason why he wanted you just stop. When in question, ask! That's what you're paying the doc for!
Posted 3/15/2008 7:19 PM (GMT 0)
That does seem odd, i was taken off on a taper i read that they do that because it can put your body into shock if you stop to soon because your body doesnt have enought time to adjust whatever levels the meds effect. but maybe the case is different if your not responding but i would definatly ask.
Posted 3/15/2008 11:04 PM (GMT 0)
There has been others on here on Entocort and their drs did a taper to keep them from flaring. I am on Entocort, Lialda and Imuran. Been on the Entocort 2 yrs now. My gi has no intention of taking me off anytime soon either. Susie
Posted 3/16/2008 2:36 PM (GMT 0)
the entocort has been working for me i have been on it since october 07 but he wants to see how the imuran is doing on its own and if it will keep me where i am or get me even a bit better.........i was confused on the cold turkey quit rather than the taper...........but im using my last 6 pills to taper myself....and if i have a prob im supposed to se my general doc in the interm
Posted 3/19/2008 6:28 AM (GMT 0)

My daughter has been on Entocort for nearly two years and it has kept her in remission. The only time she flare was when she tried to go off that one last pill. Her doc did a slow taper - 9 mg for 5 weeks, 6 mg for 4 weeks, and 3 mg for a month...then to try to taper her off, he asked her to try taking one pill every other day. After just a few days she flared. So now there is no plan to take her off Entocort, any time soon.

Her blood work seems to indicate she is in remission, and she has no symptoms, but we are thinking of letting the doc do an SBFT to confirm that she is in remission.

Posted 3/19/2008 7:15 AM (GMT 0)
I've actually read (either on answers or wikipedia or in the CPS) that you can stop Entocort without tapering. It's not as strong as prednisone (less systemic effects etc) and that's why tapering isn't essential.
Posted 3/19/2008 12:26 PM (GMT 0)
thank you for that info i was really worried, the only thing that has been happening are headaches but the guts been okay so far......and i have been very tired but i will adjust to that...im hoping the imuran is working as well as he says, i really don't want to up it to 150mg..
Posted 3/19/2008 1:57 PM (GMT 0)
My Gastroenterologist told me to never stop taking my Entocort cold turkey, I don't think you should ever stop any medications cold turkey, best to taper down slowly over the course of a few weeks. That seems really odd to me that so many of you have had Dr's tell you to stop meds cold turkey.
Posted 3/19/2008 7:23 PM (GMT 0)
When I stopped taking Entocort too quickly, I wound up with bouts of sweating, dry mouth, fatigue, and weakness to the point of feeling faint. I'm sure it was from steroid withdrawl. My doc probably wont agree. He also thought the chronic UTI's that had while on entocort couldn't be from the drug. Everyone seems to have their own opinions.
Moodindigo
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