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Posted 1/12/2011 8:39 PM (GMT 0)
Hello Healing Well Friends!!

Entocort?  Side effects?  Anything I should know about it?

I am going to start taking Entocort.  I am excited to start, but wanted to get feedback from you!!!  I have had crohns for 6 years and my doctor started me on Humira because I have upper GI crohns.  long story short... I wasnt happy with my GI Doc and switched and my new doctor wants me to try Entocort w/ Omeprazole for my upper gi.  He said if I dont tolerate and start having issues we can have a treatment talk and get me on a stronger med.  I did tolerated Humira well; other than shortly after I started Humira my blood pressure ran high 130s / 90s.  Since I stopped the humira my BP is still high but has came down a bit... 130/high 80s  Overall, I feel so blessed that my Crohns is under controll and it dosent run my life.  I pray that it continues.  Even though I am excited to start a new med I am also scared!!! 

Thanks for all and any input!!!

 

Posted 1/12/2011 8:58 PM (GMT 0)
Hi sweetbabyray,

I have been taking Entocort with Pentasa since my diagnosis in 2006 with good results and no ill effects. I hope your experience with it is as good as mine.
Posted 1/12/2011 9:05 PM (GMT 0)
I was on it for two years, no back effects at all, which was sooooo welcomed after being on prednisone and getting all the nasty side effects and no relief! Takes 2-3 weeks for the med to start working so hopefully you'll get some relief soon!
Posted 1/12/2011 9:06 PM (GMT 0)
I started on Friday and I haven't noticed a thing... I was just diagnosed and I don't have any symptoms right now so... I have no idea what it's doing. :)
Posted 1/12/2011 9:21 PM (GMT 0)
I was on it for 2 months. Didn't really notice any side effects. It worked OK, didn't totally give me relief but my doctor had said it works more effectively depending on the location of your disease. I believe he said if you had it more in the small intestine it'd work better. I have Crohn's scattered in my colon, not the small intestine, so that may be why it didn't help as much as I'd hoped.
Posted 1/12/2011 11:10 PM (GMT 0)
You may want to do a search of HW forum posts on Entocort - there have been a lot of discussions about it recently.

It is a corticosteroid rescue medication that is supposed to be used for relatively short periods of time - up to 3 months or so - to get you into remission or to allow time for other maintenance meds (like 6-MP) to kick in and take over.

Has the same side effect profile as prednisone but usually the side effects are less severe since you are getting a smaller amount amount of steroid.

Best wishes,

Patricia
Posted 1/13/2011 3:15 AM (GMT 0)
My only real side effect I have noticed that is still going on after I got use to the meds was the hair falling out thing and hair thinning. At 1st I was really thirstay all the time, was hungry after eating etc but that has since subsided
Posted 1/13/2011 6:20 PM (GMT 0)
LOVED IT - no side effects and put me into a good remission - hope it works for you :)
Posted 1/13/2011 7:29 PM (GMT 0)
I think I am going to take the pills in the morning... is that what you guys would recomend?
Posted 1/13/2011 7:32 PM (GMT 0)
How long can it be taking for?
Posted 1/13/2011 7:51 PM (GMT 0)
I believe it is initially prescribed to take all of you pills at the same time.  Usually first in the in the day.  My first dosing of the day was 2 pentasa and 3 entocort.
Posted 1/13/2011 9:36 PM (GMT 0)
Hi Sweetbaby
Take all pills together first thing in the morning. This is the direction from the manufacturer. They were not working for me and the sypmtons were pretty bad as I did not know the correct way to take them. Once I changed to what the manufacterer says (someone on this site told me) then the symptons went way down and I started feeling well again.
I usually have a bit of food first though but you should check what the package directions say.
Dave
Posted 1/14/2011 2:11 AM (GMT 0)
Entocort is FDA-approved to induce remission, at a dose of 9 mg for up to 8 weeks. Clinical trials showed that if patients stayed on Entocort for another 12 weeks, at a dose of 6 mg, they had a better chance of staying in remission for a longer period of time. (The total would be about 5 months.) So Entocort is also FDA-approved as maintenance therapy.

Hoever, many docs use Entocort for maintaining remission for longer periods of time. My daughter stayed on just one pill of Entocort, combined with dietary changes (modified SCD) for years, with no flare...her symptoms were gone and her stricture disappeared.

I hope it works well for you!    

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