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Ulcerative Colitis
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Posted 3/27/2013 5:22 AM (GMT 0)
Hello All -

Diagnosed TODAY w/UC and the firstdose of prednisone has me bouncing off the walls.

I have UC confined to the rectum (15cm). From reading the posts of others, I actuallly feel rather fortunate. I started having mucus in Nov, but ignored it. In Feb I started bleeding and decided to get evaluated.

My GI suggested Rowasa today, but after some discussion he changed his mind and went with with Prednisone 40mg/Lialda 4.8g perscription. I will taper the pred over 6 weeks and go to 2.4 of Lialda in two weeks.

The decision to go with pred was mine, as I have found it to be a miricle drug in the past with other ailments. When I mentioned that, my GI was very confident in the Pred over Rowasa.

Questions I have:

1. Has anyone been in a similar situation regarding my diagnosis?
2. If so, what worked/didnt work?

Thanks a million.
Posted 3/27/2013 7:44 AM (GMT 0)
Sorry to hear about your diagnosis. People here will tell you the best thing for rectal inflammation is to treat topically with an enema or suppository. If you don't have side effects from prednisone than it can be a miracle drug. The only thing you have to watch for is sometimes as the disease worsens flares become harder to treat so using prednisone without trying the enemas first it could come back later that your flares are harder to treat. Good luck.
Posted 3/27/2013 10:29 AM (GMT 0)
Welcome aboard. Your diagnosis sounds not too disimilar to mine. The most effective treatment for me so far has been Asacol suppositories. I also take Asacol tablets, on their own though, they do very little.

I've also been on Prednisolone foam enemas, which I have not had positive effects from, as I've detailed in another post. Is your Prednisone in that form or is it tablets?
Posted 3/27/2013 12:30 PM (GMT 0)
Tablets. Im doing nothing topical at this point.
Posted 3/27/2013 12:43 PM (GMT 0)
Oral mesalamine (lialda) will do nothing to treat your rectum. Save your money and get the Rowasa. Use it in conjunction with the prednisone so that when you taper off the steroid you'll be using the right maintenance medicine. Maybe you'll be able to taper faster. If you're already bouncing off the walls from one day on 40 mg of pred, you are not going to enjoy the 6 week ride.
Posted 3/27/2013 1:00 PM (GMT 0)
Interesting. I'm just trying to glean from other's experiences and comparing it against what my GI is telling me. He seems to view oral steroids as an absolute last resort, and as Kazbern rightly pointed out, oral mesalamine does nothing to relieve my symptons, and my GI expressed surprise at this. The suppositories are the only thing that has done me any good so far.
Posted 3/27/2013 1:02 PM (GMT 0)
Welcome to the forum.
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