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Starting prednisone

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Ulcerative Colitis
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Posted 8/10/2013 3:15 PM (GMT 0)
I don't know if anyone can help me with this but I could use advice!
I was diagnosed with UC/proctitis over 20 years ago and much of that time has thankfully been in remission. I started to flare last fall, but I've been in a full flare since February. I've been on asacol/delzicol but about a month ago went off of that and am only on canasa. I'm not in too bad shape but still not out of the flare so my doc wants me to start prednisone - 20g for one week then decrease by 5mg every week till down to none which will take a month. My problem is I have to take my son to college in a week - it's about a 5 hour drive or more with traffic and then we have to furnish his new apartment so it will be 4 days of being in the car and doing errands etc. I'm afraid if I start the prednisone now and have bad side effects I'll be worse than I am now, but today I'm not feeling well and if this was the day I had to drive 5 hours I'd be in trouble. I don't know if I should just bite the bullet and take the prednisone. There's no way to know in advance if I'll handle it well, but I've read on this site people who have felt better almost immediately while on it which sounds really tempting.
I don't know what to do! Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
Posted 8/10/2013 3:27 PM (GMT 0)
Now is the perfect time to take it because it'll knock your exhaustion on the head and give you enough drive to get everything done!

20mg is a low starting dose but I've used it successfully (I'm a small thin woman). It improves symptoms within hours for me and many other people.
Just be warned that whilst your body gets used to it you might be slightly aggressive and/or moody. So drive extra carefully. I'm madly productive on it and hopefullyy you'll find the same. Good luck!
Posted 8/10/2013 3:32 PM (GMT 0)
As many bad things as you can say about prednisone I don't believe you have to worry about any bad side effects causing problems with your trip. Prednisone is great at what it does. It may actually help you by winding you up and giving you relentless energy. Just make sure you don't fall asleep at the wheel due to lack of sleep. It will also make you irritable and you will be hungry and eat more than usual. I like your dosage and tapering plan. How did you attain remission in the past?
Posted 8/10/2013 5:15 PM (GMT 0)
Thank you both for the great advice! I just took my first dose and am very hopeful.

I've warned my family that my behavior may be unpleasant for the next month - does that give me a pass to be cranky even if it's not a symptom????

garylouisville - I'd like to answer your question about how I've attained remission in the past. I'm almost afraid to say this because I think it may go against convention UC wisdom, but I've found if I go on a carb loaded diet for about a week my flareups die down. I drink water and 1 or 2 cups of caffeine free tea, no milk or sugar and white toast with jelly (no jam's or preserves) or a little butter. Pasta with a little butter. Slowly adding peanut butter or yogurt. It's always worked for me but this time it did nothing for me. I'm always super careful with what i eat and do yoga and try to get solid 8 hours of sleep but I guess when your body wants to flare it's hard to stop it. I'm convinced that my flareups are tied to my hormones which I guess doesn't help you! I haven't had much luck with the meds I've been given over the years or I would be happy to be on them forever!
Thanks again!
Posted 8/10/2013 7:01 PM (GMT 0)
UC is a very complicated disease but I believe it has been proven that all UC patients experience a bacterial imbalance as a result of the disease. Even though in most cases I don't believe much in the theory that diet causes this imbalance and is the cause of the disease, it is very possible that if you had a comprehensive list of the structure of your imbalance during your disease that a specific individualized diet plan could very well be extremely beneficial to you. In your case a carb loaded diet may bring your gut microbial back into balance while others may find benefit from one of the other miriads of diets available. I'm not much on following a specific diet as I believe they all have their flaws and are not individualized enough to a particular patient. Have a good trip.
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