What's Next?

Happy 2016!
Although I'm a newish member to this forum, I have been relying on the valuable information here for about 6 years. This forum is extremely helpful and encouraging, and I love how honest everyone is when they post about their experiences, so thank you all for that.
Currently I'm flaring with bloody diarrhea and about 10-12 visits to the toilet per day. The only reason this flare hasn't gotten as bad as it has in the past is because this time I have medical insurance, and was able to afford to see the GI a lot sooner. I started flaring in May, and after a colonoscopy, and finding lots of pseudopolyps Dr. put me on a 40mg Prednisone taper along with the Colocort enema & Lialda. While I was there he sent me for what I think was called the "Prometheus" blood test to determine if my body could properly metabolize Imuran as a possible next step drug to try. After hearing what he had to say about 6MP drugs, and doing research of my own, I had become nervous about taking it, but did submit to the blood test anyway. A couple of days later, my GI called to inform me that the TB portion of that test showed that I tested positive for Tuberculosis. That floored me, because I had never shown symptoms, and had never tested positive in the skin tests I've had to have for my job. He referred me to an infectious disease specialist to determine whether or not it was a false positive, and that specialist determined that I did indeed have latent TB without any further testing. The specialist then prescribed a 9 month antibiotic regiment to treat the TB. When I told him my fear of taking the antibiotic because of the effect it could have on my UC, he basically told me I would probably be fine without taking the antibiotic because of the low likelihood that the TB would ever become active. I chose not to take the antibiotic due to the fact that I probably wouldn't choose to take the Imuran anyways, and it wasn't worth the risk of making my flare worse. Besides, my hope was that the Prednisone would do the trick as it had in the past. Has anyone else had a similar experience? I haven't seen my GI since seeing the infectious disease specialist, but I'm a little nervous about what he'll say about my decisions regarding the antibiotics and the Imuran plan.
In the meantime, the Pred was working, but after about 2 weeks after tapering off, the bleeding was back. Because my GI is booked out so far (I won't be able to see him until Feb 1), when I called the office the nurse told me to start another Prednisone taper, and to keep using the enemas in the meantime. I've been taking the Prednisone for a week now, and the bleeding and urgency only seem to be getting worse. I will admit that I haven't been as diligent about my diet due to the holidays, but I'm buckling down now. I plan to get serious about a gluten-free diet for the first time in hopes that just completely heals my colon. I'm feeling a bit stupid now about not following through with the antibiotics for TB, in order to be able to safely take the Imuran (even though I still feel nervous about taking it), and if the Prednisone and diet changes don't work, I'm wondering what my next plan of attack will even be? All things I will be discussing with my GI when I see him next month.
Any helpful info or similar experience to share would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for listening!

"Most likely gluten free isn't going to change your condition unless you have a gluten intolerance."

only one way to find out - and going gluten free is cheap, and it won't hurt you - if you do it, be diligent and try to stick with it for 30 days - that should be enough time to say one way or the other if you have an intolerance -

good luck -

Thank you, juststud. I started my gluten-free journey yesterday, and plan to stick it out this time!

Thanks so much for your knowledgeable input! I've been researching some of these, but was really needing to hear that they actually did work for someone struggling with what I do. I'll definite consider trying a regiment like this in addition to diet modifications. I wondered about increasing the Prednisone slightly to decrease inflammation, so that info is helpful as well. When I asked my GI why he only started me off at 40mg this time rather than 60mg, he basically said the side effects would increase with a higher dose, but not the benefits... interesting because my last GI prescribed 60mg to start, and that seemed to do the trick. Might need to consider a different GI.

To be completely honest- I've always been a worrier. My mother was shot and killed by my stepfather who then turned the gun on himself when I was six years old, and even though after therapy my childhood was relatively normal and stable (my two siblings and I were blessed enough to be adopted and raised by our Mom's sister), I believe that I still hold onto some residual effects of that trauma- obviously. I feel like I function emotionally well in my day to day life, and stressful situations. I have a great husband & two easy kids, so no extreme stress there. I do sometimes wonder though if I just don't recognize if something that might seem like minor stress might be affecting my health. I do know about stress and the effects it has on a person's health, specifically with a UC diagnosis, so I always try to stay on top of meditation, prayer, excersize, etc.

I really appreciate you sharing about your journey. Like I said in the beginning- I glean a lot from everyone's honesty and this forum has brought away from the edge of a break down many times! It's so nice to just know that I'm not alone, and you've shared things that I didn't already know.
You're right about the Lialda. My tablets are 1.2 grams = 1200 mg, and I take 4/day. Not sure what I was thinking. I know that the Lialda is what helped keep me in remission before, and I am really hoping that if I can get the Prednisone dosage right, with the help of the Lialda and enemas, I can get rid of the inflammation. Here's to waiting! Thanks again.