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Ulcerative Colitis
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Posted 2/8/2008 10:38 PM (GMT 0)

I am totally confused & aggravated with my colitis treatment due primarily to my Doctor and his staff. The latest problem I encountered was a new prescription for Colocort. The Dr. told me to use it in the morning. However, the instructions clearly states at bedtime. I will have to wait until Monday for a callback for explanation or correction. Can one use Rowasa and Colocort suppositories at bedtime? Could some crazy interaction happen? Have any of you had this predicament? Is Colocort effective and normally troublefree? I am seriously thinking about changing physcians - communication is awful.

Thanks for reading,

JL   

Just took out your too long signature.....

Post Edited By Moderator (Red_34) : 2/9/2008 6:06:49 AM (GMT-7)

Posted 2/9/2008 1:34 AM (GMT 0)
I've used Rowasa but *never* with another rectal med at the same time. I've been told to use a different kind of rectal med in the morning and Rowasa at night, for example. But the idea of using two different meds before bedtime sounds bad to me.

If I'm trying a new rectal med, I prefer to do it at bedtime. Trying something new in the morning and then trotting off to work just doesn't work for me! If you're comfortable using the Rowasa, then you could use that in the morning and try the Colocort at night. It's good if you can lie on your left side for a half hour after using the Rowasa, but if you can't, you'll still get a lot of benefit from it.

I've never used Colocort suppositories. I've used Cortisone enemas and Cortifoam (cortisone rectal foam) and found them both to be great for calming a flare.

Did your doctor say how long to use the Colocort? If I'm flaring and my doctor tells me to start a new drug, she always asks me to check in after a week so she can adjust the dosage.

Other than being aggravated with your doctor, how are you feeling?

And yes, I think that if the communication with your doctor is not good, then changing doctors might be a good idea. Since so many of us need to adjust our meds often, it's helpful to have a doctor you can really understand and trust.
Posted 2/9/2008 2:04 AM (GMT 0)
JLH, it wouldn't seem to be useful to use both at the same time. I'm suspecting your doctor told you to use the colocort in the morning because you're already using the Rowasa at night. If he didn't put that on the prescription specifically, though, the pharmacy might say at night because that's the usual use for enemas. Hope you hear from your doc soon.

By the way, can you please change your signature up to limit it to ten lines? That's one of our forum guidelines.

We're happy to have you here at HealingWell.
Posted 2/9/2008 3:23 AM (GMT 0)

Hi there - initially my husband had colocourt which was to be used at bed time.  His was a liquid not suppository.  He had a difficult time retaining those - he would lay on his left side for as long as he could hold it in which would vary from 1 1/2 hrs plus.

Cortifoam was prescribed instead which made a big difference and he prefers those over the colocourt ones.

Posted 2/9/2008 3:44 AM (GMT 0)
Julie,

Thanks for the response. Sounds like the Dr. should have prescribed possibly an enema or foam as you suggested. I was doing very well until December 27 until I started tapering down from the numbers of Colozal and Rowasa. The Dr.'s plan was for me to miss every third night with the Rowasa and to cut the 9 pills a day of the Colazal to 6 a day. I started flaring around the third week after this and immediately went back to the everyday regiment. However, things kept getting worse. In addition the Prednisone I was taking started causing my diabetic numbers to more than triple (from diet controlled 120's-130's to 455). I had to start taking 4 diebetic pills a day and the numbers are still a bit high. about three weeks ago I was going to the bathroom over 20 times for about two or three days. Fortunately, this has now dropped to about 5 or 6 times a day now.

Yesterday I had a sigmoidoscomy. I heard the doctor tell my wife,"well the good news is the UC has not spread (I was still in the recovery room around the corner) but I could not hear all of the rest with all of the machine beeping, etc. I found out later that though it had not spread, it had gone from a mild case to a severe case and might eventually rupture if we are not able to get it back under control. Also about a week ago I got a staph infection because my immune system has gotten kinda low. the Dr. said it was probably from the Prednisone. But to my surprise he gave me another prescription for another 5 weeks of 20 mg a day when I was already tapering down from 15 mgs a day to 10 mgs a day. Another case of one-sided communication.

Judy,

Sorry for overdoing it with my profile I will modify it to fit at a later time and not use it on this post.

Thanks for both of your responses.

JL
Posted 2/9/2008 3:48 AM (GMT 0)
Just wondering if Cortifoam would be a good substitute for the Colocort for A.M. use.

Thanks,

JL

 

Post Edited By Moderator (Red_34) : 2/9/2008 6:06:24 AM (GMT-7)

Posted 2/9/2008 5:08 AM (GMT 0)
I love cortifoam myself, for me it's the only thing that ever gave me relief...although sometimes I'd have to be on it for a very long time (longest was 1 yr before tapering off of it) but compared to anything eles I've tried it works best for me, and it's not messy.

:)
Posted 2/9/2008 11:44 AM (GMT 0)
Thanks for your input PB4, Do you use the Cortifoam in the AM? I generally have about 3, 4 or 5 BM until about 8:30am or so. Would a person have to wait until these episodes are over or will the 'foam curtail these episodes? Does it help with the "D" and bleeding? Regards, JL
Posted 2/9/2008 7:30 PM (GMT 0)
Hey JLH :)

I use it only at bedtime when I know that I'm not likely going to have anymore bowel activity until the morning...I know on the box it says to use it in the am and pm before bed, but I've only ever used it in the pm (so once a day) and it still did me wonders.

The cortifoam will help with the symptoms and can even help clear up the inflammation in the rectom...personally the only thing that helped with my D and bleeding is taking bee propolis and fibre supplements (which was strongly recommended by my GI).

The cortifoam does likely help with bleeding more so than D, but it's different for everyone and how long it takes to kick in varies from person to person and flare to flare.

Good luck and be patient with it :)
Posted 2/9/2008 11:16 PM (GMT 0)
pb4, Thanks, do you know if Colozort has the basic ingredients as cortifoam? Seems like much of the medicine prescribed is a derivitive from another and just in a different delivery package aka Colozal, Canasa, and Rowasa (mesalamine -sp). Regards, JL
Posted 2/10/2008 1:26 AM (GMT 0)
That I don't know but you could google the ingredients of each to find out.

:)
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