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Proctitis flare and Cortenema

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Ulcerative Colitis
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Posted 1/2/2015 4:07 PM (GMT 0)
Hi everyone! I am new to the forum, but not to UC and UP. I started having some very mild symptoms like occasional mucus and a tiny bit of blood every once and a while so my doc did a flex-sig and everything looked good. I saw it for myself, so no worries. The problem is I started flaring like two days later! confused I called and the doc said it was mild proctitis and started me on Cortenemas. I am on Remicade and it has kept me in remission from UC for a year, but I'm not scheduled for another dose for a week or so. The doc wants to keep me on my schedule so he didn't push it up. Anyway, I just have a couple of questions. Has anyone been on Remi and ended up with a mild UP flare because of something like this, and if so did the Remicade help once you got your next infusion. Second, did the Cortenemas give you some side effects like being really tired or racing heart like prednisone can? I really want these enemas to work, but I don't feel the best. Thanks for your replies! smilewinkgrin
Posted 1/2/2015 5:15 PM (GMT 0)
Steroid enemas, such as cortenema, are supposed to be equivalent to a very low dosage of oral prednisone. Steroid enemas are 90 percent topical and 10 percent systematic (which is where side effects derive). Where as prednisone is 100 percent systematic.
Posted 1/2/2015 5:27 PM (GMT 0)
Thank you! The 10% is hitting me pretty hard some days. Any insight as to how long it will take for them to work? It's been 4 days with little improvement. Thanks again!!!
Posted 1/2/2015 6:03 PM (GMT 0)
Unfortunately, as with everything with this disease, its impossible to say how long it will take. Some people respond right away while others take up to two weeks. If cortenema isint cutting it for you though, you should look into something stronger like a prednisolone enema (its 4 X as strong as hydrocortisone)
Posted 1/2/2015 6:40 PM (GMT 0)
It could take days, weeks, or longer. Keep your gastroenterologist informed especially if you don't have an improvement within a couple weeks time then the steroid enema is not strong enough. If the steroid dose is sufficient than a response should be fairly quick. However, your colon and rectum still needs to heal before uc symptoms improve. If the flareup has already caused a lot of damage then it'll take time to return fully to normal. Good luck,
Posted 1/2/2015 7:07 PM (GMT 0)
Thank you so much! 😊
Posted 1/6/2015 3:53 PM (GMT 0)
hiii i also have proctitis and i found that the cortenemas actually made me worse!! everyone is different but if you have no improvement after a few weeks i would go back to your doc and maybe try betnesol enemas... juts monitor and mke sure if theres no improvements you go back to your doc
Posted 1/7/2015 4:58 PM (GMT 0)
Thank you Kathleen! I got my Remicade two days ago and immediately saw a difference. I'm on the enemas until the end of the week, but the pain is gone and most of the blood. I only have the mucus to deal with, but that tends to be the norm for me anyway! 😊
Posted 1/7/2015 5:41 PM (GMT 0)
I'm glad the remicade infusion improved things. Maybe it's time to increase your remicade frequency or dosage? See if it happens again...
Posted 1/7/2015 7:58 PM (GMT 0)
My doctor is considering it. He thinks the flare came from my flex sig because at the time of the test I was completely normal then right after bam! Remi typically keeps me in check. I am going at 6 weeks instead of 8 this time though.
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