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Flare wont stop....possibly need more pred?

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Ulcerative Colitis
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Posted 1/7/2008 4:37 AM (GMT 0)
Ive had a few month flare going on here -it is relentless this time.  My doc started me on 40mg pred and bumped asacol to 12 a day.  At first the high dose of pred made me feel great - cant believe I just said that about pred - but I felt great and had solid stool within days.  Now I have tapered to 10mg - and I am bleeding, running to the bathroom, fearing crapping myself, and having lots of the typical UC symptoms.

I actually want to be on more dose of pred - for a longer time - cant believe I just said that again - but I think my doc prematurely tapered me off...  He is talking about Imuran or Remicade - but I am somewhat afraid of those - Id rather be on pred....

UC SUCKS! mad mad mad

Posted 1/7/2008 4:54 AM (GMT 0)
mbx, with my history I don't encourage anyone to stay on steroids for long periods. And some people here have found that Prednisone eventually stopped working for them, so probably you don't want to get too psychologically dependent on it. A lot of people here have had great results from both Imuran and Remicade, so they can greatly improve your life if they work. On the other hand, some have just gotten tired of all the medication and had surgery.

Only you know what's best for you, and all of our decision seem to be hard ones, don't they. Hope you're soon feeling better, regardless of which course you take.
Posted 1/7/2008 5:26 AM (GMT 0)
You don't mention whether you have tried any of the enemas.  Before considering Imuran or Remicade - you should speak to your doc about adding either Rowasa (mesalamine) enemas or Colocort (steroid) enema.

Posted 1/7/2008 2:51 PM (GMT 0)
I was terrified of Imuran, but it isn't a big deal, really. It is much much much safer than pred. I know how you feel about wanting pred... I once tried to convince my GI to let me use it as a maintenance drug (he laughed at that idea). But I agree with Judy that you don't want to over use it, both because of side effect issues and because it will eventually stop working. If you can't get off the pred, I think a good option is imuran or 6-mp (which I would try before remicade). I hope you feel better soon. hang in there.
Posted 1/7/2008 11:16 PM (GMT 0)
I was terrified of Remicade at first, too. But it worked pretty well for me for 2 years with pretty much no side effects. I recently had a reaction and it was horrible, I will admit, but also I am now taking Prednisone for the first time in 6 years. The Prednisone is awful, so mayny side effects and it doesn't even work. I would rather take Remicade any day if I didn't have antibodies against it now... just my 2 cents...
Posted 1/8/2008 12:00 AM (GMT 0)
I may have a different opinion that everyone else.  I am not ready to try Imuran or Remicade yet either.  I'm sort of saving them for a last resort.  I've been on pred 3 or 4 times in 9 years for a few months at a time.  The last severe flare I had a very hard time getting it under control even with pred.  I needed an infusion of IV steroids then started back at 60 mg pred.  It took a few more months than usual to taper but I did eventually.  That was over 2 years ago and I've been relatively well since then.  I would probably go back up on the pred and give it another shot before trying the other options.
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