Posted 1/18/2013 6:27 PM (GMT 0)
I am sorry you're stuck taking the evil prednisone. I was in your shoes about two years ago, I had been on pred and tapered way down (to 2.5mg) when my symptoms went haywire. I was back in a full flare up! I went up to 40mg and it took quite a while at that dose for me to see improvement. I was depressed and felt awful. the pred made me gain a ton of weight and I was an emotional wreck. I took mine all at once. I've seen a few people split the dose but I could hardly sleep while on pred so I didn't want to take it anywhere near bedtime. 12 weeks in my opinion is not longterm but you do have to consider that you've been on for 12 weeks and you have to taper down to 0. Even if things went perfectly, you're looking at another 2 months. By then, you're looking at longterm. I also think once your fail to taper off, you may need to consider other options. I wish I had been more open-minded to 6mp when I was unable to get off prednisone. I have been off pred for about 2 years with 6mp. Of course, not everyone has the same results but there are medications after mesalamine that can give you long term remission. If you need to get in touch with your GI and ask for direction, you should definitely give a call. How are your symptoms aside from the blood?