Any luck upping VSL#3?

I'm in the midst of a mild flare--some blood and urgency, no D, go 2-3 times/day. Dr. has me on canasa suppositories and my usual colazal. He told me that I can up the colazal to 12 but that it may be enough to keep it at 9 and just do the canasa.

Three questions:

1. I currently take VSL#3 and have for about a year. I take two of the regular OTC ones. I'm wondering if it may be helpful to up the dose to 4/day, since that's the minimum dosage for UC (indicated in the directions)?

2. How long does it usually take for the canasa to help if it's going to? I think it IS helping--the amount of blood hasn't been large w/ this flare and I'm not waking up at night to go. With my first flare, I KNEW the canasa was working b/c the blood was significantly reduced after a few days and I stopped having to go at night. I'm thinking I'm going to have to give this a few weeks?

3. Should I go up to 12 colazal? Like I said, my GI was o.k. with me doing that, but I'd like to avoid getting too much of the meds if possible. Can you develop a tolerance? I've only ever used canasa and colazal. He doesn't want me on any kind of steroids b/c I also have had diverticulitis and the two don't mix.

Thanks for any input-
Chinamom