Colazal and Abdominal Pain

Hi all.

I'm on 40mg prednisone and have occasionally tried to lessen the amount of colazal I'm taking (thinking the pred should be enough).  Every time I've done this, I notice abdominal tenderness on the left side of my belly button and a complete loss of appetite (which is very strange on 40mg pred).  I'm not having any other typical UC symptoms.  Could this be from NOT taking the full dose (3/3xday) of colazal consistently?  I'm associating it with this, but maybe it's coming from something else?  It seems when I start taking it again consistenly, appetite comes back and tenderness lessens.  I know what you'll say ... so keep taking it.  I will, but wondered if anyone else has experienced this.

Thanks!

Do you have pancolitis? What is your doctor's strategy for getting you off Prednisone? Ideally, you should taper off Pred & onto 5-ASA med, such as Colazal. Colazal recently entered Phase 3 (of 4) clinical trials by NIH study participants. When it was 1st prescribed for me in 2003, the recommended dose was 3 X 3 capsules daily-- this was during Phase 2 of NIH clinical trials. I believe that the recommended daily dosage has since been decreased to 6 capsules daily; however, there are members writing to this site who take higher doses for long periods & seem to tolerate Colazal well. I myself cannot take Colazal at 6 or more capsules daily for more than 10 weeks w/o experiencing some u.t. problems, but did well on 1-3 capsules daily during a 20 month-remission period that ended with slight flare this past July. Hope this info helps you; I never had abdominal pain due to UC meds. / Old Hat (nearly 30 yrs with left-sided UC; currently on 3 Colazal daily; seem to have regained remission)

Thanks for all the info. I'm on prednisone for another auto-immune disorder called Churg Strauss. I *think* the Ulcerative Colitis is a result of the CSS (systemic over-inflammation of blood vessels). I've been on Colazal since I was dx with UC in May. I was told it was for maintenance and probably needed to take it indefinitely. I will be on prednisone for a while, unfortunately. The hardest part of all of this is deciphering symptoms from side effects. I'm on a lot of medication. I guess until whatever it is declares itself a little more obviously, I'll wait it out. I haven't lost much weight, so I'll try not to worry! Thanks again.