New to colitis//Is my medication working?

So on Saturday I was officially diagnosed with colitis after an emergency sigmoidoscopy. I was having extremely watery and bloody stools up to 10 times a day, so they put me on 30mg of prednisone a day and I'm not sure the mg of Asacol but I take two tablets three times a day. I started treatment on the Saturday and it is now Wednesday and if anything my symptoms have got worse, like recently I've been going in the night and it has just been blood that is dripping from my Anus. The hospital told me to have a low fibre + high calorie diet and told me to avoid fruits and vegetables when possible. It is really depressing me out as I cannot go to see my friends during the holiday to fear that I will need to go to the toilet and there won't be any around. As there has been no improvement is there something I should be doing or have I not left it long enough for the medication to work. Thanks for your help in advance.

Welcome to the forum. It's going to take a lot of time and patience to control your ulcerative colitis symptoms. I know the symptoms suck and you just want an instant gratification fix, however, the reality is it's going to take at least a 2-3 weeks to treat the worst of your symptoms. It's been just 4 days. To completely control all of your symptoms it might take multiple months.

To speed up your healing, i would request a rectal route anti-inflammatory mesalamine-based medication like canasa suppository or rowasa enema.

It will take a little time to kick in.

Im 3 months diagnosed and doing better. Its EXTREMELY stressful without it under control. I am a college student and couldnt get out due to the exact same problems you are having. While it may not get perfect, you will get better give it a little time and trust your doctor. I feel your pain right now.

Stay away from Seeds, Raw Vegetables, Fruits and Greasy/Fatty Foods for now.

Butthurt said...
As others have said it can take a while for things to kick in. I would not panic yet, though i would note that 30mg is a bit on the low-side for an initial dose of prednisone. It's all well and good to keep pred to a minimum, as it does have many long-term negatives, but, in my view, if you're going to take, take enough to get the job done. 40mg is a typical starting dose. I have gone as high as 60 mg when in a very bad flare.

I wouldn't encourage anyone to take any more prednisone than they need, but I feel as though 30 mg may be the worst of both worlds: enough to cause you problems over time, but not enough to benefit from the truly amazing efficacy of this double-edged sword of a drug.

i absolutely agree - if you're gonna take the pred plunge, it needs to work - and adding butt meds will be easier if the pred is doing it's job - i would ask the doc to up it to 60mg, and get you a script for enemas and suppositories -

good luck -