Tapering and doing BAAADDD

So I'm tapering the Prednisone (started at 40, am down to 10, with 2.5mg decrease every week). However, for the past 3 weeks I've been doing very badly: 10+ bms, a day, a lot of pain, mucous, blood, the whole she-bang (never did hit remission on the 40mg of Prednisone anyway).
Should I stop tapering? Even if I never did see an improvement with the satan pills?
Also, I'm eliminating sugar and lactose from my diet. Can I do honey (just for my tea?)
Please don't tell me I have to start rectal meds because I cannot get them in my country. I'm limited to 5ASA's, Prednisone, and Remicade.

Thanks!

Where is your inflammation? How can something so effective as enemas not be available in your country. What a crime. Can you be put on Imuran?

I am sorry you're having symptoms. It's very frustrating when you're flaring up on steroids. I honestly don't think Iw ould be doing as well as I am if I hadn't given in to using 6mp. I was having no luck decreasing from 10mg. I hope you can find something that helps you. You could try diet but it doesn't seem to play a role in many people's UC. It seems to be split, some diet helps and others, diet does nothing. Are you taking probiotics? Where are you where there are no rectal meds?

I'm currently on 2 mg of Pentasa (mesalasamine), thinking of upping it to 4, possibly 8 after what I've read today.

I live in Guatemala, where there are very few people with UC. I sometimes have a really hard time finding the Pentasa.

There are no good probiotics here either, and I don't want to bring in the VSL3, as I'm afraid it'll get damaged during the shipping.

The only rectal meds I've tried are the proctofoam (foam steroid), and it was so painful, I think I rather have the UC!

I was diagnosed last April, tried going the Pentasas route, but got so bad I started the Prednisone in August. I can't believe I've been on it for 7 months!! It's affecting my sight, my face, I'm growing hair in funky places, etc. etc. All that and no results :(

Thanks for your feedback.

Treating uc in countries where it is not considered common can be very challenging but it can also be very successful. My longest remission was in northern China. We used a combination of diet, drugs and herbs. I used a doctor that was certified as a gi in the US and the equivalent of a general practitioner in China. I miss him very much. I hope you can find someone to help as well. I found him through an ex-pat journalist.
I am concerned about your upping your dosage without a doctor's supervision. I had a nasty liver reaction to Pentasa when the dosage was increased.
The prescription was for 1g (4 x 250 mg capsules or 2 x 500 mg capsules) 4 times a day for a total daily dosage of 4g. I became very weak, couldn't walk, my liver was swollen and hurt. Luckily, there was no long term damage. This was in the US.
The only drugs I haven't tried are the biologics. I have had a reaction to all of the rest except for Prednisone. I agree that it is a horrible drug. I have never tapered the dosage until I reached remission. The worst flare I ever had was toxic pan colitis. It was six months before I felt truly in remission. It took another two years before I had my life and muscles back.
I had the extra hair waxed off weekly until I learned to do it myself. It disappears a few weeks after I finish the steroids.
I take calcium, vitamin D, folic acid and a daily vitamin to help keep my bone density and immune system working. Calcium and vitamin D help the joint pain. Vicodan and sleeping pills help when the pain is overwhelming.
Avoiding salty foods helped fight swelling and drink as many safe liquids as you can. Cold or hot lemon ginger tea helps me a lot.
You haven't mentioned any problems with steroid rage or irritability which is great. I do have a problem with it during the early tapering doses of 50 mg to about 20 mg. I take Xanax as needed, not more than twice a day. It has been a life saver at work.
Keeping a food journal to find out which foods are "triggers" was and still is extremely helpful. I travel a lot and this helped me figure out which spices as well as foods can be triggers. My worst triggers are wheat, anything from a cow (doesn't matter what country I am in), almonds and red wine.
Every taper has been a little different from the others. This time there is very little joint pain but a lot of muscle cramping and temporary eyesight problems.
I am sorry this post is so long....
Hang in there! You will get through this and get your life back.
Many hugs,
SZm

Hang in there, Guategirl! This is such a frustrating disease. Feel free to vent here when you need to - we sure do understand!

Ugh Just Ugh:

I see you're on Remicade. Can you tell me what your experience has been? Did you do it before or after the Prednisone? Did you achieve the remission because of it?

Thanks

Is it possible for you to order rectal meds from Canada? I know a lot of US citizens on here order meds from Canada. Your doctor would have to write a prescription, but if you have that, do you think it might work?

Editing to add:

Ok, so I'm a (bored) dork, and decided to see if I could figure out if a Canadian pharmacy would ship to Guatemala.  I was looking around on one site, and couldn't find any info, but they did have a live chat customer support, and the guy I chatted with said that they will ship mesalamine enemas to Guatemala.  It may be a hassle, but you might want to look into it!

Well, I'd start with mesalamine, but I would also research costs. There are a lot of different types out there, even under the "mesalamine enema" category. If the mesalamine are too expensive to use daily, then maybe you could try steroid enemas, and use the mesalamine once or twice weekly once you're in remission to keep things under control.

What might really help you figure out costs is to create a thread titled "Cost for enemas from Canadian pharmacies" and see what other people are paying for the different types of enemas.

And thanks for not saying "thank you for being a dork"!