I think I am losing my MIND.............

So, I called my GI's office on monday.  His nurse told me that he wouldn't be back in until wednesday(that was fine with me).  So I got a call from him tonight after his office hours.  I had told him since he started to taper me off of my prednisone my symptoms are starting to come back.  He thought about it for a bit and then told me it is most likely the side effects of prednisone and they will start to go away shortly.  WELL, no these are not(or atleast I don't think they are).  When I first went to see this GI my symptoms were as follows(sorry if I just put things on the table without regard). I first noticed that my stools were extremely soft if not to the  diarrhea side.  I also always had a need to bear down(even if I didn't need to go).  I also feel as if I have gas trapped in my gut that can't come out.  I had lost a total of 85 lbs. no matter what I ate.  The only thing I didn't have was bleeding(good thing).  So after the GI did my colonoscopy he confirmed that I had pancolitis and put me on Prednisone 30mg's.  He had to lower it to 20mg's because of the side effects I had.  I stayed on 20mg until I say him last week and now he is tapering me down from 20 to 15 and so on.  It should take 6 weeks to get off prde.  I guess my question is, is what I am feeling side effects from coming off prdnisone or is it me that needs to go on something else?  I guess it is hard to explain how you feel to someone who is not going thru what you are going thru.  This is just not a nice game if you ask me.  I guess I should add that I am allergic to 5-ASA's.......Thanks for listening I really appreicate.

Since you're allergic to all of the 5-ASA's, your doctor should be talking to you about Azathioprine or 6-MP. These take effect slowly and generally the Pred is tapered over the first two to three months of therapy with them. Alternatively, he should be discussing Remicade or Humira.

The steroid fairy won't magically make the UC go away and not come back. It might put you in a remission you can sustain without drugs, but most likely not, especially as your symptoms have started returning. Your doc should know that and should have been discussing a plan with you before he started tapering the Pred. I'm concerned that it sounds like he's flying by the seat of his pants, with no plan. That isn't in your best interest.