Med Question - Hydrocort Enema

Any advice would be truly appreciated. I am currently in a mild flare - small amount of mucous and blood, no D normally, go once or twice a day and used the hydrocort enemas for 2 weeks with great improvement, stopped for 2 days, mucous and blood are back - in small amounts and no D. How long should I continue to use the enemas to heal the flare? Should I wait for a week without symptoms? BTW, I cannot tolerate mesalamine as I was diagnosed with SLE and the med makes the lupus symptoms unbearable. Thanks!

No two uc flares are the same. Corticosteroids only mask your uc symptoms, and give you time to heal. You would need a uc maintenance treatment/medication to get by without steroidsm Do you have a uc maintenance treatment/medication? If you're intolerant of mesalamines, then there's immunomodulators (Imuran, 6mp, aza).

I would see your gastroenterologist and get on some maintenance medications. Uc is an autoimmune disorder where your immune system attacks the lining of your large intestine. There is no cure. Maintenance medications treat the symptoms of uc, and without them your symptoms will return. Corticosteroids are meant to be used as infrequently as possible (uceris, prednisone, and Hydrocort Enemas) as they can cause irreversible damage to our bodies.

I'm sorry you experienced lupus like symptoms from mesalamine, it's a rare side effect that clears up once that medication is discontinued. For the record, immunomodulators are very different medication with a very different method of action then mesalamines are. So, you shouldn't anticipate the same thing to happen again.

Steroids can cause osteoporosis, type ii diabetes, glaucoma and other irreversible things. Because of that, corticosteroids are far more dangerous than any other uc medication. So, I advise caution with their long-term use.