Uceris or other next steps to get out of this flare?

I've been flaring since January, probably my worst flare ever (though not as bad as many here, I know): loose stools, blood on the TP and surface of the stool, tons of gas and discomfort, urgency, occasional leakage, mucus, fatigue. My UC has been very well controlled until now, with few flares, and I could always get out of a flare fairly quickly by upping my generic Colazal and adding morning Canasa suppositories to my nightly Rowasa enemas. That regime hasn't worked for me this time. I mostly blame stopping birth control pills in late 2019 and starting menopause, as my body has pretty much fallen apart since then, plus stress from the pandemic and losing my job in September. (I started a new job remotely on March 1.)

I have a colonoscopy scheduled in two weeks. My GI doctor's recommendation for my next step is generic Uceris. He says it's less systemic than prednisone, which he's hesitant to prescribe during the pandemic and I want to avoid anyway, but I'm still terrified of it because of its potential for weakening the immune system. I have to go into the office starting in early July, and even though I've been vaccinated, I worry a lot that the drug will leave me unable to fight off Covid.

I don't think I'm at the biologics stage yet. Are there any other feasible alternatives, or is budesonide my best option?

UCyousee said...
I think it's definitely better to try a gastro-resistant steroid that releases in the bowel before having to resort to higher doses of prednisolone that'll have a systemic effect. I try to avoid steroids wherever possible, but would rather take a targeted steroid than a systemic one. The same goes for my asthma.

Thank you! Pardon my ignorance, but is budesonide always gastro-resistent, or are there different formulations? I know I will have to take the generic, because on my insurance, a month of Uceris is over $1,200.

Thank you! Definitely sounds like we have different options (or at least different medicine names) in the US and UK.

Michelejc said...
Try the Uceris. I took it and it worked very well.

yes


TT

Thank you for all the replies! I expect I will try the generic Uceris if my doctor recommends it. I've actually been doing OK the past few days, haven't had any blood or mucous (gigantic knock on wood!). We'll see what the colonoscopy reveals on Wednesday.