Predicting a flare?

Hi everyone,

I’m new to UC and the forum. I'm in my mid-20s and was diagnosed in October after an aggressive flare. Over a matter of weeks, I experienced 20lb weight loss, violent vomiting, abdominal pain, blood, increased frequency and some urgency. It’s all a blur, but I think I had around 10 BMs per day. After my colonoscopy, I was put on 40mg of prednisone which I continued for 6 weeks and now have begun tapering. The doctor put me on 4.8g of Lialda when the tapering started. The prednisone took a few weeks to kick in but eventually resolved many of my symptoms. I still have some abdominal pain and 2-3 BMs per day (no blood).

In the year before my diagnosis, I had no gastrointestinal symptoms but terrible hip pain/leg pain. The doctor believes it was a manifestation of the UC. The pain went away but seems to be returning now that I’m on a lower dose of prednisone (10mg). Could hip/leg pain as well as continued abdominal pain be the first sign of another flare? Would this suggest that the Lialda isn’t strong enough, and I need an immunosuppressant? Thank you for any insight!
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Welcome to the forum.

Prednisone eases joint aches and body wide inflammation when you're on high doses. At 10mgs of pred, you're no longer on a high enough dose to eliminate those other body aches and pains. As your body naturally produces cortisol at the equivalent on 10mgs of pred a day. Prednisone is synthetic cortisol.

So, no, i would'nt say you're predicting a flare by having those aches reappear.

You could ask your doctor to switch your lialda prescription with Sulfasalazine as that's effective as both a rheumatoid arthritis and an Ulcerative colitis medication. Good for body aches.

Thanks all! I'm scheduled to see a rheumatologist as the pain is getting worse and will look into medicine change.