Rectal Meds

So, I have noticed a disturbing trend with my medication.
I get these moderate-severe flares, and the doctor will give me meds to control them. Sometimes if the normal meds don't work, they recommend rectal meds (so far I have tried Pentasa and Cortifoam).

Yet, they never seem to work.

When I did the Pentasa enemas, they were once a day and I did them for three weeks with no improvement (and actually some backsliding). Right now I have upped my Cortifoam to 2x daily and have been doing that for 3 days... and I am getting MORE blood than I was before.

Do rectal meds just, not work for some people?

I would say that rectal medications help most people with uc. Nearly everyone responds to steroids (in your case Cortifoam), with a slight few being steroid refractory (meaning they don't work for them). The meslamine based rectal medications (enemas and suppositories) work for many, with the exception of those who have allergic reactions, and those who have more severe/advanced disease (e.g., often doctors discontinue meslamine-based medications once a patient is on biologic medications such as remi, humira, etc.).

Flare ups can be very stubborn and take quite a while to get back under control. Depending on the damage you have from this uc flareup it could take months. So keep up with the rectal meds, they certainly are doing no harm and they might need more time. If things aren't improving fast enough for you, contact your GI and he/she might have some more tricks up his/her sleeve to get this thing under control.