Uceris - Anyone Try It

So i did 4 weeks on Uceris, maybe saw a slight improvement initially, but quickly faded. Then again, Prednisone seems to do nothing for me either so I guess it isn't very surprising.

Guys new to the forum, lot's of great posts. I was diagnosed with mild to moderate pancolitis in 2010. I have flared twice since then, and it has been limited to my rectum. Just responding to a couple of posts here. One person said they stopped Uceris after 10 days. Another stated they began "tapering off" because they were feeling better. Uceris is supposed to be taken EVERYDAY for two monthes. It didn't start working for me for almost three weeks. Seems to be a lot of self medicating and not following medical advice here.

"nono Guys new to the forum, lot's of great posts. I was diagnosed with mild to moderate pancolitis in 2010. I have flared twice since then, and it has been limited to my rectum. Just responding to a couple of posts here. One person said they stopped Uceris after 10 days. Another stated they began "tapering off" because they were feeling better. Uceris is supposed to be taken EVERYDAY for two monthes. It didn't start working for me for almost three weeks. Seems to be a lot of self medicating and not following medical advice here."

Well the reason for this is because the GI's themselves don't seem to have a firm decision on how long to administer the medicine for. My GI said 8 weeks. It worked well but when I got off and started flaring immediately again she said do another 8 weeks. I quit a month later after going SCD & FT and am on no meds now. It helped me transition.
I would think after 5 weeks if there is no improvement, then the drug isn't useful for that type of UC.

LR1 have you tried SCD instead of Vegan?

Lr21, yes there is protein in the diet but I ate a lot of fruits and veggies to and cheeses too right from the start. I basically skipped the intro part too. However, I may have been able to do that because Uceris was holding back the flair. Also I read a part in the book Break the Cycle where the author admits one may need to adjust the diet to suit how their body responds. I am able to eat rice and beans fine. I also haven't done the homemade yogurt yet which everyone says is great and a key component of this diet. I think the FT bacteria is making up for that, however. Have you/are you willing to try that maybe?
A week is really not enough time at all to know if SCD will work for you according to the book. Have you tried eliminating the gluten and sugar portion? I think those are the biggest offenders, according to the book. I hope you find some relief soon.

The way you are altering the SCD is probably the best way to approach it instead of giving up completely like I did. That intro diet was a tough one. I pretty much have eliminated most sugar, coffee, tea, and most dairy from my diet. I am also concerned that once I go off of the Uceris, that my flare will come back. Hopefully it will get it under control enough so that the Asacol HD will be able to maintain it. I have just added the l-glutamine back to the mix while trying to eliminate the Imodium. I stopped it, when I started the Uceris, but maybe it will help to us it in conjunction with it. What dose of l glutamine should I use during flares; I have been trying 1 tsp a day, but maybe this isn't enough.

Adventureuc, I think you may be right about the Asacol not doing anything. The Uceris may be doing something but as of this moment I don't see much help. Still three more weeks to go. about your probiotics question; I was taking them regularly, but have slacked off because I am not sure what is causing the D. I have been trying to eliminate supplements or food. Previously taking Renew life 50b in the Am. Do you think adding it back will help?

So I'm now on my 6th week of Uceris and it seems that I am mostly blood free. Stools not as loose today as they had been previously. I have added in Bental and doubled my dose of l glutamine, as well as eliminated salads for awhile. I know I shouldn't get excited over such a Short time of feeling a little better, because there is usually a bloody mucus surprise that shows up and ruins the day when you are not expecting it.

I've had a month of an increasingly-bad flare. Yesterday's flex sig showed inflammation as far as the scope could go. Lots, LOTS of blood, urgency, a little pain, and 10+ visits to the bathroom every day, mostly for blood.

I took my first Uceris 13 hours ago and I am a different person. No blood! I haven't been to the bathroom in 2 hours and I ate a meal for the first time in three days.

It's hard to know if the Uceris or the three-day (90%) bowel rest diet I put myself on is making me improve. I tend to think it's the Uceris. I'll update this thread on my progress.

Am especially worried about steroid side effects. I was on Pred for seven months last year and the moonface combined with my pointy nose was not a good look. I also gained 15 pounds and don't want to repeat it.

Hi- new member here. So, I just started Uceris 5 days ago after Aleve brought on a full blown flare that my regular meds (Asacol, Canasa) wouldn't touch. On my 4th day I noticed that I had 0 blood or mucus. What's also interesting and I would really appreciate any feedback, is this: I have had major sciatic issues since blowing out 2 discs 3 years ago. After steroid injections stopped helping I had surgery 5 weeks ago. I felt no pain UNTIL I stopped the Aleve because of the major UC flare up. All previous pain returned. On 5th day of Uceris I notice my sciatic pain is lessening. Coincidence or not? I think not. I think all the inflammation is tied together and the Uceris is bringing it down. Thoughts?

Post Edited (cbeau69) : 10/21/2013 9:21:01 PM (GMT-6)

"I was on 40mg Prednisone for 3 weeks prior to this. Is it okay that I switched from Prednisone to Uceris without any sort of taper or transition period? I'm not feeling so hot, but I think it may have to do with my not eating yesterday in order to have a stigmoidoscopy"
NO! NEVER NEVER stop prednisone with out a taper. That's very very dangerous. They are not the same drug. Eceris works locally and predisone systemically. Take them both, you can do that and safely taper off the pred, even the medical/drug websites will include that instruction/warning if you look them up.
i know i saw this months too late, but i hope maybe others reading these forums will know/learn that and not make the same deadly mistake!
(i'm looking over the forum now as i'm doing the pred taper/and researching eceris before i take it for the first time. my gi gave me that same advice. i'm also an rn and give a lot of prednisone to pt's, and assure you it should not be stopped suddenly)

Update and question:

I started Uceris 13 days ago. It definitely helped but I didn't feel a lot better until I added hydrocortisone enemas at night. Now the pain is gone, less blood, less time in the bathroom.

Since starting either the Uceris or enemas, I'm having severe neck/shoulder/shoulder blade/back-of-head pain that moves around. For 10 minutes, it's on the top of both of my shoulders, for 15 minutes, it's like a tension headache at the back of my neck, then it's my left shoulder blade. Something hurts most of the time.

My left ankle is also weak.

I suspect these are side effects of steroids because I had muscle aches (not like these but kind of similar) when I was on oral Pred.

Has anyone else had these side effects on Uceris?

The only other side effect I think I'm having from the steroids is I'm hungry. But I've lost 12 lbs. in 3 weeks so I might just be hungry.

kiptyn said...


Since starting either the Uceris or enemas, I'm having severe neck/shoulder/shoulder blade/back-of-head pain that moves around. For 10 minutes, it's on the top of both of my shoulders, for 15 minutes, it's like a tension headache at the back of my neck, then it's my left shoulder blade. Something hurts most of the time.

My left ankle is also weak.

I suspect these are side effects of steroids because I had muscle aches (not like these but kind of similar) when I was on oral Pred.

Has anyone else had these side effects on Uceris?

The only other side effect I think I'm having from the steroids is I'm hungry. But I've lost 12 lbs. in 3 weeks so I might just be hungry.

I haven't had any of those side effects, but I've had a few others that I think have been caused by uceris. I've had terrible muscle cramps, joint pain, nightly headaches, and swelling of the legs.

I'm on my 8th and final week of uceris. It helped me tremendously at first, but now I'm no better than before I started taking it. Unfortunately, it looks like I'll have to start prednisone now... The very drug I've been avoiding like the plague since being diagnosed 7 months ago.