UC meds

I was diagnosed with UC 4 years ago. Started off with salofalk 9 pills a day. Never got into remission. 1 year later got it really severe and was prescribed prednisone and asacol. Got into remission after 1 week. I never really fully understood what I had and never bothered with medication after. This year in January it came back with a vengence. I was hospitalized in February. I was diagnosed with pancolitis. They started me on prednisone IV 60mg. Wasn't helping and having severe and frequent bloody stools. My GI started me on remicade. After 1 infusion we noticed a slight and I say slight improvement. Blood was starting to go away but still there. I lost a total of 45 pounds after 1 month. Pretty much on a liquid diet. Doctor was contemplating surgery if he didn't see less bowel movements. I started having fewer movements and they sent me home. I was home 1 day and that night I had to get an ambulance cause I had a kidney stone. Because of this I missed my scheduled second infusion. So after 4 weeks I had my second one. Started noticing more of an improvement but still not in remission. Unfortunately I got MRSA while in the hospital so no clinic would give me my third infusion. So once again I missed my third dose. After 8 weeks instead of 6 I finally got approved to get it. It's been one month since it and I'm starting to get worse again. I've been cycling down 2.5mg a week for prednisone currently taking 12.5mg. I've been toying with omega 3 supplements and vitamin E but no effect. I live in Canada so I'm not sure about this humira. The GI wants to eventually get me on imuran but thats pointlless if remicade won't get me into remission. Does anybody have any suggestions?? Don't want to be on prednisone or remicade for long periods too scary of side effects. Surgery is not really an option for me .

Any ideas or suggestions would be helpful

30M

Hi and welcome to Healingwell :) Wow what a rough road you've had! I don't know much about Remicade but if I am not mistaken, Remi and the immune suppressors such as Imuran or 6mp use a different path of suppressing the entire immune system. But you really don't know if the Remi is truly working though because you've missed infusions. So maybe you just need to give it more time at regular intervals? If you don't want to be on it long term then maybe you can give a good go to see if it will get you in remission and then stop it but stay on some sort of medication to maintain your remission. However, I've heard that if you stop Remi that you can build up an immunity or intolerance to it if you were to start it again.

But I definately agree that if you haven't given it a go yet is to try a probiotic.