strange PM reaction

How much are you taking and what time of day? I know with pred some people do better if they split up the doseage and take in am and pm. Others do better all at once.

I take 9mg entocort two hours before breakfast as prescribed by the dr. I've found from past experience that splitting the dosage doesn't help in any way. This is certainly not a medication whose potency diminishes after 12 hours. Oh for a good night's sleep.

Post Edited (valleyguy) : 10/3/2012 4:59:03 PM (GMT-6)

Valleyguy,

This is from left field (though a few papers in Pubmed give some support) - how about trying melatonin in the evening, before you sleep?

Apparently melatonin helps increase bicarbonate secretion in the digestive tract which has been known to help with Crohn's/UC.

I tried melatonin (1mg Walmart/"Spring Valley" brand with B6) for sleep issues about 6 months ago and was shocked when my UC symptoms were significantly improved (on a par with mesalamine or psyllium).

I was very surprised by the result as there is little on Pubmed or even the internet as a whole on this result.

Since your problem seems tied to the clock, and melatonin is closely tied to body clock issues, it may be worth a shot.

Moreover, it was a surprise to find out that many of the neurotransmitters that the brain uses related to sleep (serotonin for one) are also heavily utilized in the intestine.

Melatonin may help to correct any dysfunction in either location: brain/sleep or intestine/UC.

Since melatonin has very few side effects (though always check out drug interactions on the web) it may be worth giving this "left field" solution a shot.

SSOOOO,

Please let me know if the melatonin (try the Walmart "Spring Valley" 1 mg with B6 - it seems to work better than straight melatonin for me) works for you.

Just post on the board.  I'll check in periodically.

I'd like to hear back because while there is some Euro research in this area, there seems to be little to no US research (although Emory U. was looking at it).

Despite the US' strengths in a lot of medical areas, I often wonder if the US system (pharma/reps/Drs.) aren't basically only looking at patentable/pricey solutions (look at the Asacol takeover and the subsequent price hikes - as well as the relative obscurity of generic mesalamine in the form of Colazal/Balsalazide).

In contrast the bias overseas is to find a generic/OTC solution (partial or otherwise) because it is cheaper for the national health care systems (somewhat regardless of true patient impact).

As somebody who has spent hours and hours on Pubmed looking for new/newish UC treatments (cures would be nice too...), it is remarkable how distinct the research directions of Euro/Asian docs can be relative to US docs.  

Anyway, I was shocked/amazed by how much melatonin helped my UC - having not expected any benefit at all.

If it works for others, it may be a clue as to what is actually causing Crohn's/UC (which doesn't seem to overly pre-occupy the US medical system for some reason...)

 

I usually don't like to try anything new until I've done some thorough research. It seems melatonin has some after effects but none that are very radical so I just may try it. What's to lose at this point?