Is a new med really necessary?

Ok..call me crazy or uninformed if you will..

 I had been in a flare since January 2013...lost lots of weight, bleeding a lot, no energy at all.  I tried remicade with only some response, which did not last.  I then tried Imuran and 6mp, having a terrible reaction to both.  Now my new GI has me on prednisone, off of remicade after upping the last dose to 10mg, and off of the delzicol.  I am currently on 30 mg of prednisone (started at 40mg) and rowasa enemas.  All bleeding is gone, urgency mostly gone, D gone, slight pain/swelling from time to time, but feeling MUCH better.  Does anyone think I would respond to trying to taper off of pred and sticking with something like asacol or delzicol?  I am waiting for insurance to approve simponi right now, but I am just thinking is it possible to save this drug for the future?

Thanks! That is what I was hoping to hear. I guess I should call and discuss this with my GI. I really would prefer to go back to a 5 ASA if that works for now. I worked for a long time before! I just didn't know if it was foolish to think that would work for me at this point. I have never had such a long-lasting flare!

Yeah i do realize i need to start sometging now, but i guesd i just was hoping maybe simponi would not be necessary afterall. My previous gi wouldbt give me more than 20 mg of pred ...if i taper slowly and successfully i vould maintain on 5asa possibly, right?

You might feel wonderful on that much pred, however, pred masks your uc symptoms. Get off of the pred and your symptoms will likely return. You need some good maintenance meds, if remicade was recommended for you then you must have some stubborn, aggressive uc (like I do), so I find it hard to believe that just delzicol and rectal meds will be enough for you. You are welcome to try it but I am willing to bet simponi is in your near future.

Everyone wants to be hopeful that they will be able to maintain on 5ASAs but if you've been using them and it hasn't kept you in remission, chances are, it won't. It's really easy to fall into the thinking that you're doing great while on pred and you're going to be able to taper off without additional meds. It happened to me quite a few times. Unfortunately I was not able to taper off until I started 6mp. I think you could probably continue to taper and see how things go. If you're rock solid when you get under 10mg, maybe there is a chance you will get a remission but if you're starting to notice symptoms, they will most likely only get worse as you taper more. That's how it worked for me...