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Going cold turkey on uceris?

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Ulcerative Colitis
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Posted 4/26/2015 3:44 AM (GMT 0)
The new GI I saw on Monday wants me doing 2/3rd for one week, followed by 1/3 for one more week. I can't take being on meds right now and have been doing 1/2 a pill the past few days. I missed today's dosage, though, and am considering just going cold turkey with the uceris. I've been on it for a little over a month now, so I'm wondering if it hasn't been long enough to worry. I still can't get rid of the awful metallic taste I've had for a month now and neither of the GIs I saw, or my PCP, can tell Mr what it is.
Posted 4/26/2015 3:21 PM (GMT 0)
I tapered off Uceris but quickly. If you're at 1/2 a pill, I'd go to alternating days with nothing, then 1/2 a pill, then nothing again for 4 or 5 days. Then stop.

That's what I did but I tapered out of caution. It probably wasn't necessary and I was on it for 10 weeks.
Posted 4/26/2015 3:34 PM (GMT 0)
Prednisone at high doses and long periods absolutely must be tapered and not stopped cold turkey to avoid adrenal shock, which has the possibility of killing you. There are two completely different reasons to taper it though, one being the above and the second due to your symptoms.

Uceris is not like prednisone and can be stopped cold turkey (and is usually prescribed that way). So, the only reason to taper Uceris would be due to reason number 2. I don't think you actually mentioned how it is doing for you. Usually you take it at full dose for two months and then stopped cold turkey. Like prednisone, it is not a cure, so you must be taking maintenance meds that actually work well enough to keep you in remission once the steroid is removed. If they aren't then you have just basically wasted your time and screwed your body up with steroids. If you are still having symptoms then you are going to get worse the more you taper so it becomes a question of do you want to get worse more slowly by tapering or just quit cold turkey and get worse right away. If Uceris put you into a solid remission then it can either be tapered or quit cold turkey with only time telling whether your maintenance meds are going to be good enough to keep you in remission or not.
Posted 4/26/2015 4:21 PM (GMT 0)
Just read this from drugs.com:

Take Uceris tablets whole with water. Do not chew, crush, or break the tablets before swallowing.

www.drugs.com/uceris.html

They are specially formulated to release in the correct area. Breaking them cancels this ability and they release in the wrong area, probably in the stomach and probably why you have that bad taste.
Posted 4/26/2015 4:56 PM (GMT 0)
I used budesonide to taper, it comes in 3 Meg's. Stopped yesterday! First time since November no more steriod except enema. I am so happy. I can't believe dr would let me continue to take it, even more!!!!!!
Posted 4/26/2015 6:49 PM (GMT 0)
I agree with Gary, you aren't supposed to split uceris. It is extended release. I think with pills, generally if there is no perforation in the middle or if it's extended release, you shouldn't split it. I always went to every other day with uceris, then stopped cold turkey.
Posted 4/26/2015 7:33 PM (GMT 0)
Bud comes in 3 meg capsules and is cheap
Posted 4/26/2015 11:27 PM (GMT 0)
I've had the metal taste in my mouth since before I started breaking them up, so I know its not the partial tablets causing it. So, is my new GI wrong as well? I shouldn't be breaking them up to taper? As for symptoms, my new GI and current PCP don't believe that I have colitis and that I only have IBS. The new GI wants to put it to the test and first get me off Uceris, followed by getting me off of the purinethol. I personally think its the purinethol giving me that taste, though.
Posted 4/26/2015 11:54 PM (GMT 0)
You should definetly not be breaking up the Uceris. I would stop that ASAP and contact your docs so they won't do that to anyone else because they are dead wrong on that.
Posted 4/26/2015 11:59 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks everyone, I'm done with the Uceris. Going cold turkey from here on out.
Posted 4/27/2015 12:13 AM (GMT 0)
Did you ever have blood? IBS wouldn't cause blood in stool but you could have IBS and a hemmie...
Posted 4/27/2015 12:27 AM (GMT 0)
Nope, no blood. That's the thing, I've never really had constant diarrhea, blood, or pain. When my stomach problems started three years ago, I alternated between constipation and diarrhea, then had non-stop diarrhea when I got food poisoning last October which prompted my colonoscopy. The new GI I saw last Monday thinks its possible that I had leftover inflammation from the food poisoning which is why my primary GI said I have UC. The new GI pointed out that there were no crypt abscesses in my report and that my symptoms aren't very indicative of UC. My PCP actually agreed, too.
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