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prednisone tapered to 5 mgm...today diarrhea

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Posted 12/19/2009 2:28 PM (GMT 0)
     Just when I thought I was doing super, just some bleeding from the hemorroids, today I have diarrhea.  I only saw a tad of blood.  Is it ok to take Immodium?  I sure hope so because I already took two teaspoons.  Hope this isn't a stomach bug.  I did drink one cup of coffee earlier.  Guess I better lay off that.  Yesterday I tapered the prednisone from 10 mgm down to 5 mgm.  Sure don't want to go up to 10 mgm again.  I  have to wait till the 31st for my third Remicade infusion.
Posted 12/19/2009 2:44 PM (GMT 0)
So Sorry to hear you have D...maybe it is just a fluke thing.
Posted 12/19/2009 3:13 PM (GMT 0)
Just expect it whenever you go are tapering that last bit. Depending on the length you have been on it the adrenals have took a vacation and it may take them awhile to realize they need to come back..... You can google them to see how much they actually affect. It's really amazing to learn. I always take a few different things for adrenal support when I get on the ends of tapers and off of the pred for a bit.
Posted 12/19/2009 3:50 PM (GMT 0)
Dr-A....just wondering what exactly do you take for adrenal support when you're at the end of pred taper? It sounds like a good idea.
Posted 12/19/2009 10:28 PM (GMT 0)
I keep a pretty good stock of some stuff from Standard Process. Use their Adrenal dessicated. Using their prolamine iodine to get my iodine levels up too.... Finally starting to come out of this stupid 4 month flare. Actually slept 5 hours before waking last night.
Posted 12/20/2009 2:36 AM (GMT 0)

I know everybody's different but tapering from 10 to 5mg seems like a big taper.

I tried tapering from 10 to 7.5 and I had problems.

When I finally got down to 5mg I was having problems going down to 2.5 so I ended up tapering 1mg every 3 weeks.

Posted 12/20/2009 3:48 AM (GMT 0)

Christine, every time I taper down, I seem to have a bad day or two, not necessarily the same day as the next lower dose.  Then it evens out.  At this point, I've been on 5 mg for about a month or so, and I'm reluctant to go off it before I see what happens with the Imuran.  I expect I'll probably have the same thing happen when I go off.

Hopefully this is the same thing going on with you.  I don't think our bodies like change much.   

Posted 12/20/2009 6:32 AM (GMT 0)
Apart from the coffee, what is your daily diet like? Do you eat any plain boiled white rice? Just askin' because I had a hard time overcoming D after my March flare, even though the med got rid of other symptoms. I decided to try having at least 1 serving of plain boiled white rice daily, generally at suppertime, with very basic steamed veggies & skinless roast chicken or baked salmon filet. This routine took a couple months to work fully, but it definitely helped me. It takes patience since it's not a quick fix; on the other hand, it's not expensive to try in terms of $$ Lately I've been pondering reasons why this helped & started thinking that even if we didn't have food sensitivities earlier in our lives (such as to gluten), UC may change cells in our colons so that we become sensitive to a lot of relatively common things. Just some thoughts-- hope you feel better by now. / Old Hat (30 yrs with left-sided UC ... [etc.])
Posted 12/20/2009 9:38 PM (GMT 0)
     The 2 teaspoons of liquid Imodium did the trick!  Checked the diarrhea right away.  Today, no bowel movement at all...uh oh.  Tomorrow the dam will break. 

     OldHat.....I did watch my diet like a hawk.  I think the cream I put in my coffee may have been the culprit.  It said to only keep it in the fridge for a week after opening and I know I had it in there for two weeks, but it smelled fine.  I threw it out now though.  I ate salmon for supper.  I HATE rice..lol.  Actually it makes me gag.  My husband loves it, probably why he has no problems with his colonsmilewinkgrin .

Posted 12/21/2009 8:25 PM (GMT 0)
Everytime I taper I go into what I call a "mini-flare".  It's not as bad as the original flare, but a little D sometimes very minimal blood, too, for maybe a few days to a week.  I think someone else recommended a slower taper, maybe 10mg to 7.5mg, and then down to 5mg.  I've even tapered to 2.5 mg a few times to make it easier on my system.  You should ask your GI doc.  Be patient!  smile
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