When does the D go away???

The good news is I am improving - I'm probably being impatient. I started 30mg of pred last Wednesday, and then this past Tuesday my GI bumped it up to 40mg - I was still having a ton of bleeding and a fair amount of pain. Most of it feels lower and I wasn't able to retain my rectal meds. Today is day 3 at 40mg and things are better - the pain is pretty much gone and the blood is becoming less in volume. I'm also not having movements that are blood only.

That being said, this early morning diarrhea is the worst! I had it with my first flare a couple of years ago and feel like it took a couple of weeks on pred for it to get under control - is that the case with you all? I just feel like I should see more formed action happening. I wake up between 4:30am and 5, and then am in and out of the bathroom for a couple of hours until I can eat breakfast and take my pred. Before I went up to 40mg, I felt like things were getting a little more formed but I was also bleeding more and more - the bleeding is getting better. What can I do to get this D under control? I do pretty well throughout the day otherwise.

Right now, I've really backed out of my supplements since I feel like my body hates everything right now - I'm only doing VSL with some glutamine at night. I tried some resistant starch last week and that did not go well. I'm back on the Autoimmune protocol and am only eating cooked meats, veggies, and fruit. Any ideas are welcome.

Great question, Chantrelle - the ones I'm eating are the few that seem to work for me right now. For veggies, super soft cooked carrots and zucchini are really all I can handle. For fruits, very ripe bananas and some strawberries. I also bought a canteloupe yesterday but only had a little bit. I'm eating more meat than anything since that seems to give me the least amount of trouble.

I have interviews for a promotion at work today and tomorrow (in the afternoons, thank goodness!) so if there is anything I can do to hustle things along (short of Immodium or the like) I am open to it.

Thanks Gary - I agree with you. There are a lot of things that are supposedly "safe" that I know I can't tolerate - AI is the closest thing that hits most of my tough groups. When I am flaring, the quickest way for me to have an accident is to eat something that has touched a tomato or pepper. It's tough when the rules change even during the course of a flare!

Thanks, iPoop - that's helpful to hear. The last time I was on it was over 2 years ago and that flare was much, much more severe. I feel like it took a couple of weeks to see more forming but then yes, you hear the "I was formed after 2 days!" stories and start wondering if you are doing something wrong or aren't taking enough. I'm going to stay the course and try to be patient - not one of my strong suits but I am trying. I am hoping I will get better at retaining rectals as the inflammation goes down and that will help too - and at least my fevers are gone. I have to remind myself of the good things that ARE happening sometimes.

CGK1998, Sorry to here you are getting hit so hard this time. My last flare had me thinking similar things, "I thought corticosteroids were supposed get things under control in three days...."

Strawberries and anything with small seeds is not good for you during a flare.

Here's a link to a list that can help you pick low fiber fruit and veggies:

National Institutes of Health MedlinePlus
https://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/patientinstructions/000200.htm

What do you tend to eat for breakfast? I find oatmeal has been beneficial for me, it's starting to create more sausage-like stools which is the kind that is considered a healthy stool, I'm seeing less and less skinny but that's also adding some issues with passing bm's with ease, seems there's always a battle to fight with our guts. Oatmeal would be a great lunch rather than breakfast so long as you can handle it but I'm guessing if you're doing okay with fruits and veggies you should do fine with oatmeal/grains etc.