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Can I take steroid enemas 'as needed'?

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Ulcerative Colitis
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Posted 8/29/2014 10:02 PM (GMT 0)
Or is it the kind of thing where you have to ensure you take the full course everyday, like the oral pred? I've been prescribed these but just hate the idea of steroids again. I'd like to take it for a few days then stop, then take one whenever I feel I need it again. I don't know if this is possible? As I am planning on travelling this next month, I don't want to be tied down to taking these every night.

I'm basically just buying time. My maintenance plan isn't working and I don't know what to do.

Sorry if this is a stupid question, I couldn't find any proper answers in the search. I asked a while back before my last course but it was embedded in lots of other questions and probably got overlooked.
Posted 8/29/2014 10:04 PM (GMT 0)
I think you can. The systemic absorption in the rectum is pretty small, of course everyone's different. And a few days of steroids is no big deal. I've taken 5 day burst doses of oral pred and stopped cold turkey - this is a standard approach for quieting down asthma, for example.
Posted 8/29/2014 11:16 PM (GMT 0)
My Gi has told me I could do that in the past. My periods always messed with my UC so he told me to use the steroid enemas for a few days before I start and then stop. But I agree short spurts here or there shouldn't cause harm. Only about 5-8mgs of steroid actually enters the blood stream.
Posted 8/30/2014 10:26 AM (GMT 0)
when I was going through a flare my doctor told me to take the steriod enemas for 5 days and stop and see if the bleeding subsided. The bleeding did go away but then maybe 2 days later it came back and I started taking them again for two more weeks. I didn't know if I should just stop after two weeks so I started to rotate them every other night with the mesalamine enemas and it helped. I think I had too much inflammation for the 5 day thing.
Posted 8/30/2014 11:41 AM (GMT 0)
Okay that's great news, thanks for the advice! I started last night, but unfortunately couldn't hold it in. I'll take it for five days and see, but likewise, I think I have too much inflammation for five days to do the world of good.
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