Prednisone Question

Hello! I'm back after about 3 years in remission... while I was on Pentasa most of this time (I went med-free last November), the symptoms started to come back 2 months ago and now I'm back in full-flare mode.

So my question is for those taking or that have taken Prednisone. My doctor (well, a PA) prescribed me 30mg of Prednisone a day for a week, and if everything goes well I'll taper after that. He told me I could take it at any time of the day, the full 30mg, but from what I remember, the last time I was on pred (about 5 years ago) I didn't take all of it at once... I may be wrong, but I remember taking part in the morning with food. How do you guys do it? What has your doctor told you about how to take it? twice a day? three times a day? I'd appreciate your input, just to validate my doctor's input.

Anyway, remission was awesome while it lasted, and I'm thankful I got to live 3 years of my life pretty much symptom-free. Now that I'm getting into my 3rd flare I hope I'll have the endurance I'll need to overcome it.

Thanks!

If you take the prednisone all at once, first thing in the morning, then it will be easiest to sleep at night. If you take prednisone later in the day it can cause insomnia. Prednisone insomnia is terrible, try to avoid it if you can.

Ditto on flaring a few months after going med free; totally not worth it to cause a flare like that. Ulcerative colitis is caused by your immune system attacking the lining of your large intestine, which causes inflammation that results in diarrhea, bleeding, etc. Your medications are anti-inflammatory and stop that symptom; those medications cannot cure you. Stop the medications and the inflammation and uc symptoms return, as you found out.

Full on flare after 3 months of stopping meds. What a great lesson! Thank you for sharing! I will never EVER do that. That's a very low dose of Prednisone, I hope it works for you!

Taking all your Pred in the morning does mimic how the natural system works and that's the way I prefer to take it. That should keep Pred from disturbing your sleep. However, if *colitis* is disturbing your sleep with diarrhea and pain, you can take some (10 mg) in the evening with your dinner to keep those nighttime symptoms at bay. This works better when you are taking doses greater than 20 mg - less than that you should try to take all of it in the morning.