What kinesiology class would be safer to take? And lots of other Q's!!!

I signed up for a 1hr tennis/raquetball class toward the beginning of the summer. It puts me up to 18 hours which is kind of a safety net so I can drop a 3 hour class if things get too rough and keep the 15 hours I need for scholarships.

My whole deal is that my UC has not really gotten any better this summer. I started pred in December, 30mg and I started tapering every 5 days, then every 7, then it became a 2 week thing (see the trend?). My bleeding stopped right before class started (Thank God) and I finally got down to 10 mg. But as soon as i dropped to 7.5 toward the end of the semester my problems started again and I would have intermittent periods of bleeding with a few good days (D but no blood) so I had to go back up to 10. Then summer started and I was bleeding again. Then I finally stopped bleeding a week before the doc put me on 40mg of pred because I was still having the urgency, D, and 4-6 BMs a day.

But now I've been on 40mg of pred for nearly 2 months (June 24), and the only real improvement I've had is going about one less time per day and maybe a little less urgency. I had a colonoscopy last Tuesday (Aug 11) and it actually looked good except for the last 6cm so I was put on Canasa. I go to the doc tomorrow and 6MP has been a major consideration. I've already had the blood work and everything (8 vials! gah!)  And I know that takes about 3 months to work, so basically I'm not going to be any better before I move in to college this Saturday and I've come to realize it might be the end of the semester before I'm finally in remission.

So back to my first question, with good days of going twice, and bad days with 6 or 7, do you think I could handle tennis/racquetball at 8 am Tuesday/Thursday or should I switch to a weight training class at the same time? I was kind of worried about running around at 8 am since I'll be on the Canasa for a while and those go in right before bed. lol...

Also, based on everything, what can I really do to get better? How bad is the 6MP?? Is there hair loss and fatigue like with the cancer patients who take it?

Oh, and I know prednisone can thin your skin, do you think that's a possibility for me based on how long I've been on it? I feel like I can see all my veins..But I'm kind of pale anyway. No stretch marks, no weight gain. Got the moon face about 3 weeks ago, I get shaky sometimes, and I have to pee twice a night every night but no diabetes (checked twice).

I'm an 18 yr old girl. Turn 19 soon and start my 2nd year of college next week. Diagnosed a year ago. Doc said it goes halfway across the transverse colon when first diagnosed. I think mine is classified as moderate, maybe moderate/severe because of how poorly I'm responding to the pred and he was worried about me being steroid dependent :-/

And I haven't noticed any trigger foods. I did the naughty thing and had a sonic coffee when studying late one night and had no reaction. And I did starbucks one night with no problems. But that's the only serious caffeine I've indulged in since my doc told me to stay away from it.

9 colazal (switched from 12 asacol about a month ago)

40 mg pred

folic acid

vitamin d  & a

vitamin C most days

yaz for cramps

allign once a day

SORRY TO RAMBLE! I'm just frustrated because I was supposed to be better by now, especially before school starts...

What if you add in a 5ASA or steroid enema, and then use the Canasa in the mornings (on those mornings you DON'T have a sports class!). You also might just need a higher dose of pred to do the trick. Some people have to go up to 60 mg to get everything healed and then wean down from there.

Fleet enemas are totally different, though, since they're designed to make you poop. Canasa is a 5ASA, but the enema will go up so much higher, and the topical rectal meds (suppositories and enemas) are actually much more effective at treating the inflammation than the oral meds. So by using the enema, you'll be treating a larger portion of your colon in a much more effective manner. I honestly don't find the enemas that bad at all. You could use the canasa after your morning BM.

Well, maybe....I sort of missed that part! Maybe you could do canasa AM and PM?
I lie on my left side, on a towel (in case of leaks, etc, because mesalamine enemas stain), on the bathroom floor, and reach around and squirt it up there. Then I hurry and wash my hands and jump into bed, also lying on my left side and stay that way for at least 30 minutes (I usually fall asleep before then, though). You're probably technically not supposed to move for the 30 minutes, but I don't want to do it in bed for fear of a bottle breaking and ruining all of my bedding and I want to wash my hands before bed, and there's no way I'll stay on the bathroom floor for that long.

I've asked a lot of birth control questions on here, and lots of people complained about Yaz. Have you thought that might be making things worse? Did you notice things get worse UC-wise when you started it?

Also maybe do an enema at night and a suppository in the morning? A suppository might be easier to keep in while exercising lol. Or if it's hard, maybe you could just sneak away and do it after that class. The enemas aren't bad, there isn't much in the bottle. If you make sure to squeeze out all the air beforehand, it's much better.

I would probably do weight-training too, or just no kinesiology class. Unless it's required I guess.

I'm not sure if the Yaz would affect the UC if you started the Yaz first but I don't see why it wouldn't. Maybe you could start another topic about it in addition to talking to the doctor. When I suggested to mine that my birth control might be affecting things she said, "hormones can affect things" and left it at that. Duh! lol that's why I asked her. Good luck!

     I would try the 6MP first too.  I've been on 6MP for seven years.   I was able to achieve complete remission for two years after being on the 6MP along with prednisone for three months.  However, I had a lot of stress in my life, as do most people, and the UC (I should say UP because it is in my rectum and not the rest of my colon) and started getting flares mostly every year.  My dose of 6MP was usually 50 mgm for the  maintenance but this past flare the doctor increased it to 100 mgm.  He should have kept closer tabs on my white count instead of waiting an entire month and my white count dropped from 4. 0 to 1.6....not GOOD.  He immediately took me completely off the 6MP to see if my white count would go up on its own.  I had it drawn on Friday, so don't know the results yet.  I am slowly coming out of the flare.  I believe the Cort enemas and Canasa are helping the most. 

     I refuse to go on Remicade.  Read too many horror stories about it and in most cases the symptoms of UC come back.  Plus I was exposed to the TB virus back in the 60's and test positive on the skin test for TB.  It is not active in my system, negative chest xray, but Remicade can activate the virus...so, not taking that chance.