Prednisone: How soon should it work?

I have been on a prednisone taper (now at 20 mg - started at 40 mg) for several weeks. I think I had some improvement with daytime urgency, but there has been no change in night time "events". Pain, urgency, and GAS wake me up every night a couple of times. My stomach is so huge before I fall asleep at night I look pregnant (i am serious!) Bleeding little amount all the time.

Also on increased dose of Lialda.

So what should I expect my doctor to order next? Should I be expecting IV steroids? Imuran? If IV steroids do you have to be admitted?

Tried Remicade 4 years ago when I was first diagnosed, but had a severe reaction to it and had to stop. I have been without symptoms for 4 years until now! For 4 years I only took Lialda!

hiya i have the same problem im on 35mg only taken the 40mg for 10 days so far from diagnosis, but night times i get so bloated an is very difficult to sleep with the pain wakin me up, glad its not just me lol, how long have u known??

I'm on 40 mg of prednisone + hydrocortisone enemas at bedtime. Plus 4.8 g of Lialda. I've been on the prednisone for just about 2 weeks, and I re-upped my enema Rx on Tuesday. With the fresh enemas (the ones I'd been using were reaching their expiration date), I've been able to sleep through the night, mostly, and the bleeding is beginning to abate (my first 4 or 5 bowel movements this morning had little or no blood). I don't know whether this is caused by the enemas or the passage of time, but there's no way I'd be attacking this without the enemas. As Quincy's (I think) doctor says: TREAT FROM BOTH ENDS. That's probably the best advice I've gotten on this board.

Lialda (mesalamine) does have the potential side effect of gas, among other things. I really notice it myself when I do mesalamine enemas. WOW do I get a lot of gas! The oral meds don't cause quite as much, but I'm pretty clear they're responsible for the gas I do have -- not as bad as what you describe but more than I want, for sure.

As soon as you get over your reluctance to consider rectal meds, I'm sure you'll thank yourself. My anus is really sore from overuse, and there are nights that I think, ohhh, I really don't want to stick anything UP there, either because I'm in a calm moment and I don't want to stir things up or because I'm in a bad moment and I don't want to make things worse, but I do it anyway and I am always glad I did. One reason I tend to credit the enemas with my improvement is that the first time I used corticosteroid enemas, during my last flare, was also the first time I had a solid-ish stool during that flare. I really do think they make a huge difference.

This is kind of silly advice, but when babies have a lot of gas on their tummies, you put them down on their backs and "bicycle" their legs to get it to move out. I do that myself, alone in my home, either on the carpet or the bed, if I feel bloated and like I need to get a lot of gas out. It shuffles things around, relieves the pain, and gets it out for the moment.

Good luck

I think the bloating is partly from your flare and the pred--I had it pretty bad after almost every meal, and especially in the evenings when I was on around 20-30mg of pred. It did ease as I was able to taper off the pred, but it doesn't sound like you are there yet. Good luck with your scope, let us know how it goes.