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Mid flare / caught covid / on prednisone

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Ulcerative Colitis
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Posted 12/30/2021 5:47 PM (GMT 0)
Hi all,

Was hoping someone is in a similar spot and I guess was just looking for some moral support. I've been in a flare for about a month now and came home for the holidays only to get Covid from a relative. Boooo. For the flare I've been taking 40mg prednisone and Uceris daily. Also last Inflectra infusion was Dec 8. I have high levels in blood and no antibodies but it's just stopped working for some reason.

As soon as I tested positive, my GI knocked my prednisone down to 20mg until I am over the virus. He said it's likely the Inflectra will not hinder my recovery process. I was actually getting a lot better flare-wise until I tested positive. Now the flare is horrible AND I halved the only medicine that was helping. Has anyone been in a similar spot? Where you got Covid mid-flare when you're taking prednisone. There's so much scary stuff about prednisone and getting Covid. The flare is a lot worse than the Covid symptoms right now but for some reason, I'm more anxious about Covid taking a turn. I'm an otherwise healthy 38-year old. I don't smoke, drink, drugs. I exercise, etc. My doc said I was a candidate for antibodies but they have no supply for two more weeks so I couldn't even get them if I tried.

I guess I'm just looking for reassurance that people like me, like us, will be okay and get through this virus even tho we were/are on these immunosuppressives. Or any tips and tricks while dealing with this specific of a situation.

Thanks,
D
Posted 12/30/2021 6:46 PM (GMT 0)
The inflectra shouldn't impact covid negatively. It could actually help (look up anti tnf and covid for more information). I think your GI did the right thing bumping your pred down. Are you saying you're on pred and Uceris at the same time? That's unusual.
Posted 12/30/2021 7:02 PM (GMT 0)
How are you feeling with Covid? I would assume a higher dose would hinder recovery, especially since you're on another immuno med.

Would you be able to add steroid enemas?

Feel better soon,
q
Posted 12/30/2021 8:01 PM (GMT 0)
Hi DavidEA,

As I have asthma as well as UC, my strategy when I got Covid (back in March 2020, so probably the Wuhan strain, and before vaccines were available. At the time it was a very distinctive set of symptoms - no cold, and deep lung pain) was:

- check lung capacity with peak flow meter twice a day (I lost 20% lung capacity while ill but as an asthmatic that's nothing unusual for me. As the Omicron variant is apparently settling in the nose rather than getting into the lungs I imagine it doesn't affect lung function as much as the variant I caught did)
- check oxygen levels with oximeter bought online (Amazon)
- take vit D, as well as home made lemon, ginger and honey
- take temperature regularly
- watch and wait

I was reassured that the biologic I was on at the time was likely to help prevent a cytokine storm, but I wasn't on steroids at the time.

I was unwell for 5 days, then very fatigued for the next 3 weeks, but fortunately had no lasting problems.

I hope you feel better soon!
Posted 12/30/2021 8:14 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks for all the support.

I would say this is mild. I've had low-grade fever the last few days, a light cough, aches and pains, headache, extreme fatigue. And that's about it. It sucks still, especially the fever making me just feel like restless and really lousy but overall I'm feeling positive. I assume the GI thought that high-dose prednisone could potentially hinder recovery so that's why he halved it asap. So now I'm on 20mg. And yes I also take Uceris. I think we're throwing everything at the wall right now just to calm the flare, if even for a little bit. It's interesting to know that anti-TNF could actually be useful! Happy to hear it. That's why it seems my GI said not to worry about that. So it appears it's just the steroid, which I cut. So hopefully I continue on the mend.
Posted 12/30/2021 9:35 PM (GMT 0)
It could be Covid that is making things worse rather than your flare. I know 2 people who had Covid recently who said they had horrible diarrhea. Both were non-IBD people. One of them said her nurse sister said the diarrhea was her body expelling virus. Don't know if that's true, but she was better in just a few days after the D started. Hopefully when the Covid goes your flare will get back to where it was before
Posted 12/31/2021 7:53 PM (GMT 0)
Hello,
I just wanted to say I hope you feel better soon. I did have Covid in April 2021. It was the original strain also. I was not however on a biologic or prednisone. I was on mesalamine.

I wanted to mention that I had looser stool and even some diarrhea for about a week during the height of the virus. As my body shed the virus I slowly got better with the G.I. symptoms. I was not necessarily in a flare that I knew of at the time however a few months later I had a scope and was discovered that I was in a very mild proctitis flare.

Please know that you’re not alone and sadly I feel it may be inevitable that everyone gets this new variant. Take care of yourself and just try to drink as much as possible.
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