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Questions about pred alternatives

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Ulcerative Colitis
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Posted 2/4/2010 6:17 PM (GMT 0)
I'm feeling much better now, but I have decided that I'm not going on prednisone again as it messes me up about as bad as my UC does. So I want to be prepared before my next flare, and decide what course of action I want to take if and when it happens again.

First, steroid enemas (cortifoam etc): do you usually get the same side effects as pred, or are they lessened? Will they work if I have half-colitis? Also, do they contain the same sulfites as, say, rowasa?

Second, Imuran/6mp: Can you start and stop these for flares, or are they like remicade where you have to keep taking them or they might not work? What are the possible side effects?

At this point I want to save biologics as a last resort...due to the fact that they lose effectiveness for a lot of people.
Posted 2/4/2010 7:03 PM (GMT 0)
The side effects of the steroid enemas are much less than pred because much,much less goes into your system. I was on them for almost a year with no moonface, stretch marks, etc - oh, I did gain 2 lbs. (lol)
The steroid enemas are what I do if I need steroids.

I'm unclear as to what you mean by "half-colitis".... I have pancolitis, but the flares don't always go through the whole colon. I have used the steroid enemas even when the inflammation has gone up into the transverse - if the bottom gets healed, it's all easier to deal with. And in my case, the rest healed up.

I don't know about the sulfites. That might depend upon the brand....? Maybe if you googled "steroid enemas" you'd get the lowdown on the various brands...?
Posted 2/4/2010 7:09 PM (GMT 0)
My inflammation goes to mid-transverse colon...so it's not really pancolitis, or left-sided colitis. My GI calls it half-colitis. Thanks.
Posted 2/4/2010 7:14 PM (GMT 0)
in regards to 6MP, I'm currently taking 100mg/day and from what I understand it's a drug that can be stopped without tapering BUT 6MP takes a bit of time to get into your system when you start it.
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