Flare up during the pandemic :(

Hey , hope all is well and everybody is staying safe.

So as the title suggests, I am in a pretty bad flare up right now and feel kind of stuck about what to do do next considering the circumstances. I have been in contact with my doctor, but i feel like she's even unsure about what to do. Really just looking for some insight and other opinions. Long story short , Remicade is failing me and there is no more room to up my dose or bring appointments closer together. Prior to my infusion two days ago , i was bleeding for a couple of weeks. I started Entecort enemas one week ago and was hoping for some relief in conjunction with my infusion but have not improved in the slightest. At the moment, I am bleeding quite a lot and going to the bathroom 10-15 times a day. The large majority of the time i go it is just blood and no stool, however i do have formed pieces a couple of times a day but with a good amount of blood. I am not in much pain at all like i typically am when flaring , but i am mostly eating small meals and drinking Ensure. So just wondering:

1) How much bleeding is too much? Just worried about becoming anemic or needing a blood transfusion. I have been keeping my weight up to a decent level and have been taking vitamins but i am bleeding quite a lot.

2) I know that i will likely need Prednisone, but do not want to start it until i am home for 2 weeks following my infusion to make sure i do not have the Virus. I have a feeling my doctor will want the same thing as she is very hesitant to go the prednisone route at this time. What would you guys do?

3) I feel like i would have gone to the hospital already if not for the pandemic. I am in a hard hit city and just scared that if i go to the hospital , while flaring , to be put on solumedrol i might never come home again

That's what i plan on doing. I am just concerned that i will have to wait two weeks before i can start taking the prednisone due to leaving the house for my infusion. Worried that i might be bleeding too much to wait that long.

Uceris could be an interesting option for sure. I'm already taking Budesonide Enemas so it would just be along the same line. The only thing is that it might be too weak. Last time it took me 45 MG of prednisone for a month to get things under control before i could taper.

Long term i plan on switching to Entyvio. Have not spoken to the doctor about it yet but that seems like the next medication up. I worry that i will have to do some blood work at the very least and if i am on pred or uceris finding a way to get that done will be problematic.

Hi I dont know if I will be much help but I have been in a similar situation. I have been flaring since October and in january I took uceris (which I have taken thrice since ive been diagnosed) it started working for me after two weeks. After couple weeks I did a barium xray and ended up going back up to 14-15 bm. I then had to bite the bullet and start prednisone for the first time and had so many side effects and no remission. I am not willing to take biologis so trying everything else. My point of explaining all this is since ive been on prednisone even I was super afraid to leave my house and I am now anemic as well again. My GI doctor at the cleveland clinic makes me go take weekly blood tests and also said if I have to leave for the infusion I have to. He explained that situation of coronavirus won't die down anytime soon and you will have to take the chances but he also explained how bad prednisone and the infection risks. So I do leave my house but with a lot of precautions. I go with for the blood test with a family member. They wait in line and everything for me until its my turn I stay in the car until then. I wear a N95 mask and I do not touch anything my family member opens all the doors for me and then we sanitize ourselves and disinfectant the car and run home to shower without touching anything. I also suggest if you can avoid prednisone please do and give uceris a shot. Even i thought that i am flaring so severely that the uceris wont work and also because I took it thrice before but it did kick in after two weeks. I am also attempting uceris rectal next week to try to taper off prednisone faster.
I have been dealing with anemia issues as well. For years I took venofer infusions without any issues but since the past year it gave me abdominal pain. This past november while I was flaring I did the venofer infusion again and I had severe abdominal pain along with worse diarrhea and blood from it I could not tolerate it at all and due to my inflammation my body barely abosrbed the iron and it did not even reach normal hemoglobin. I am back to being anemic and looking for a different iv iron. I had to take one venofer last week and again abdominal pain. But I am looking into another iv iron which may suit me better and maybe i would need or 1-2 infusions rather than the 5 i have to take for venofer. Also someone on this forum suggested me oral iron spray at betteryou.com which I also started so far no issues with it maybe you can also give it an attempt.
Please be careful with all your decisions. Good luck! Keep us posted.