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bleeding by stopping cortisone enema??

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Posted 6/18/2010 4:30 PM (GMT 0)
I went on the cortenema for two days and at the end of the second day i could start to feel body aches really similar to when I'm on oral prednisone, but the oral usually takes a couple weeks to start the aches. I was very surprised b/c you all said that the enemas don't have the same side effects. I'm in my best friend's wedding in 2 weeks and don't want to have a moon face for it, so i stopped the enema and didn't take it last night and had a small amt. of blood this morning in my stool, which i hadn't had 6 days prior to that...

I was kinda wondering if the blood could be from stopping the enema... I took it two nights and then didn't last night. I know that the box says if you stop, it could cause sympoms to worsen... i'm not sure

have any of you had experience with this. I was so surprised i started getting the side effects this quickly. It takes me weeks on oral to get this bad of body ache and soreness in my face... any one??

emma
Posted 6/18/2010 4:38 PM (GMT 0)
It would be very rare for a person to get the side effects from the enema you are talking about, specially in the time frame you are talking about. I would suggest you call your GI. Your best shot at making your friends wedding might be in taking the enema's...They do have other rectal meds..Call your DR..
Posted 6/18/2010 7:58 PM (GMT 0)
Let me clarify... more specifically than a body ache, its a intense feeling of tenderness and sensitivity on my cheeks (face) arms, sides, legs, etc. This happens to me on prednisone... I tend to hate being on prednisone b/c of this feeling and the moon face associated, as well as the other symptoms. Does this happen to anyone else on cortenemas??

oh, and my enemas were 100mg per night... is that the standard of what other people's dosage is? It seems like a lot to me, but I was told that it didn't absorb as well as oral prednisone does. Maybe I absorbed it all b/c i did retain it all night...

Post Edited (emma ann) : 6/18/2010 2:14:03 PM (GMT-6)

Posted 6/18/2010 9:05 PM (GMT 0)
100mg is the standard for the steroid enemas.
My goodness, what a thing for you to be going through!

I have been on them for months at a time (not a good idea, I know....) and have not had any significant side effects. If my colon was horribly inflamed I would sometimes get that flushing-face thing after a week or two, but I never gained more than a pound or two - and I'm a weight-gainer.
Maybe you absorbed a whole lot? My box of them says that people "can" absorb up to 30%, but... I'm not sure how the 100mg/60 ml of liquid would equate to in dose form (that's the amount of liquid, not the amount of steroid, if you get my drift.)

I can't remember; have you tried the mesalamine enemas? If not, maybe they'd be great for you?
My hunch is that, 2 nights, it's like you were never on them at all, and you're having bleeding now the same as you might have if you had not done them. But.... you could ask the doc or the pharmacist.

I don't think the fact that you retained it all night made much difference - in all the time I've taken them I think there was only once or twice that I didn't retain it all night.
Hmmmmmmm..... what a puzzlement!
Keep us posted on how you're doing!
Posted 6/18/2010 10:02 PM (GMT 0)
Yeah, I tend to get the familiar joint aches and I'm on cort enemas. When I try to skip a night, the blood usually come back the next morning, and the joint pains by the afternoon but not as bad as oral pred. I'm going to take it nightly till I see my GI July 26, which means I'll have been on it for 5 months.

I tend to have about 25% left in the 100mg bottle no matter how much I squeeze/bend/fold or mutilate it. If I was paying for this stuff I would be making up an extra bottle every third night!
Posted 6/19/2010 12:14 AM (GMT 0)
Emma,

I haven't posted in awhile, but I have been persistently lurking and reading lately. I have been fighting a flare for over a year now and have been taking hydrocortisone enemas for longer than I should because it is the only thing keeping my flare at a minimum. In regards to side effects....I too react easily to the enemas. I get the "sensitive" skin, where I touch certain parts of my body and it almost feels as though it is bruised. I also get a moon face and weight gain. I know many do not get side effects, but I was also sensitive to the oral prednisone. I just recently started the SCD diet and I am trying to ween off the enemas. I am doing them every other night and the side effects seem less. I have dropped 9 lbs in a week if that tells you anything about the weight that I can gain on the enemas.  I know its not the diet alone b/c I have only done the diet for 4 days.

I wish you luck. I know that it stinks to deal with all the side effects, but sometimes the side effects are better than the symptoms of a flare.

Natalie

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