Posted 2/5/2010 3:36 PM (GMT 0)
I'll stick up for entocort.
A little background...... I was diagnosed two years ago with pancolitis. For the better part of the first year and four months prednisone is the only thing that could get my out of a flare. Same cycle, get below 10 mg of predisone, flare starts..... I was very frustrated as my gi insisted (for obvious reasons) I had to get off steroids. He said we will start remicade. I said NO WAY! He said we'll talk to a surgeon. I said NO WAY! He gave no credence that changing a diet would work, told me probiotics will make me worse, and there was only two choices I had left - remicade or surgery.....
I basically told him to EFF off and I'll find myself a new gi. So I left a big University research center where the doctors only knew what their textbooks told them and sought out a gi at a smaller hospital in town. The first thing he did was take me off asacol. He said 12 a day and you flare anyway, why be on them? Good point. He then said to get on a REFRIGERATED probiotic as soon as possible. He put me on Flora Jen 3. The next thing he said is no more prednisone. He said entocort is usually a chron's drug, but we will see if that help for a two month max and go from there. It worked wonderfully for me.
In the meantime this allowed me to really get serious about this disease and try other avenues. I went dairy free (with the exception of plain yogurt), I went pretty much gluten free, and so far (knock on wood have never looked back). Without prednisone, I never reached remission, even while on imuran and asacol. Entocort changed that.
So since June, I have been flare free and only take 3 colitis pills a day (150 mg of imuran), down from 25 colitis related pills per day at one time. I credit a lot of that to entocort helping me and also gave me time to try other things. So now I have the most bland diet in the world, but by God I am not sick, am the father I want to be, the husband I want to be, and the person I want to be. My life is back. My bowels are just like they were before diagnosis - one every 48 hours like clockwork (formed, no urgency, no blood, no diarrhea).
Breakfast: 2 bananas, 1 plain yogurt, 32 oz of water (1 flora jen 3 probiotic, 50 mg imuran, 1000 mg omega 3, and 1000 mg vitamin d)
Lunch: 1 cup of plain white rice, 1 boost giving me the vitamins and minerals, 1 banana, 1 apple, and 1 plain yogurt, and 32 oz of water (1200 mg vitamin b12, 50 mg of imuran, 1000 mg omega 3, and 1000 mg vitamin d)
Dinner: Grilled, marinated, or baked chicken breast (or salmon/other fish), spinach, California mixed veges, 1 banana, fresh pineapple, and 32 oz of water (900 mg of tumeric, 1000 mg omega 3, 1200 mg folic acid, 50 mg of imuran)
Before bed: I have a small portion of skittles or reese's pieces. For some reason HFCS in moderation doesn't bother me. After all, I am human. I feel I have finally gotten control of my body back. I no longer worry about bathrooms while out to eat, shopping, kids activities, etc. I no longer sit in the bathroom for 2 hours every morning with urgency, gas, blood, etc. I know longer stress about what my future holds or what my bowels look like. I love life!
I believe entocort got me started on the right track. It was only for not quite two months, but it got me off prednisone, it bought me time to research other supplements, it bought me time to figure out a diet that worked, and it saved me from having a tough decision (at least for the time being). I am not naive. I know I can start flaring tomorrow, but for now.....I'll just go on loving life the way it should be for everybody.....