Probably a stupid question but I'm asking anyways

So prednisone has always been great to kickstart remissions for me. Or to just get that little jolt to get you back on track. Always works great for me. But as we all know it's not good to be on pred frequently and for long periods of time. So I've been on uceris. Last time was during the worst flare of my life before I met my current GI. It did nothing. My current GI gave me samples on Monday to give it another go in case my flare the previous time was just too severe for it to do anything. So far this time, nada again. He wants me to call on Monday to see how it's working and it sounds like it's gonna be a big fat no unless some miracle happens this weekend.

What I'm wondering is, why does pred work wonders for me but uceris doesn't even make the tiniest dent? They both have the same active ingredient but uceris targets only the colon. So shouldn't that kinda mean uceris would work well for people who have such good results with pred because it's going straight to the source? Or is it simply the 9mg of uceris (or whatever it is, I don't feel like moving to check the label lol) just isn't enough?

Yeah that's true the colon is really long. I don't think it's doing anything at all so I'd say it's not releasing in the right place at all. I've heard people say they've pooped out the entire pill before. That's possible too except I wouldn't know because there's so much blood you can't see a thing. I swear if I forgot to flush and someone came in after they'd think someone just got murdered on the toilet lol. My GI said 6MP is next but that takes at least a month or 2 to kick in so we were hoping the uceris would help so that 1-2 months wouldn't be horrendous. But my body is so finicky it's difficult to tell which drug is giving me problems so we didn't want multiple variables.

Haven't tried steroid enemas and my blood is bright red. But it has always been bright red even before a colonoscopy that showed inflammation in the entire colon. So they could be worth a shot but I'm not sure if they would go far enough. They might help at least a little though.

Uceris is slower to have an effect than pred. If you don't start to see any improvement in about 2 weeks it's probably not going to work. I think that's about how long it took to start doing anything for me the last time I took it.

Get the hydrocortisone enemas. They work miracles for me. It won't take more than a week to tell if they're working and you can do them at the same time as Uceris or Pred.

Uceris didn't do much for me.

Hi Catie, You shouldn't probably switch to pred that you know works. Given your current condition and bloody stools, it is not a good idea. In my son's case, we had to up the remi to 7.5 mg/kg and reduce interval to 6 weeks. Have you discussed upping dose and reducing interval with your doc. Regardless, you will need a short pred course to get you stable. I would also consider 6 MP, I am am thinking of it for my son too. Another option is methotrexate. You should discuss these options with your doc. Uceris did not work in my son's case either, in fact it caused him some nausea and burning, so I gave up after 10 days or so of trying (yes the dosage is standard 9 mg).

Sorry, re-read my post - multi-tasking and mistyped. It should read - you should probably switch to prednisone, and it is not a good idea to continue uceris. Also, if flare started a week after infusion then yes, it could be remi isn't working. We did an A/B and remi levels test to see if antibodies had developed. Did you do that test? In my experience, prednisone may still be needed even when on remicade to get you through a flare.

Yaay! All the best! In my son's case, he has also developed social anxiety over the last few months - which I think stresses him and doesn't help with UC. So starting treatment for anxiety too.