NEed help on medication

Currently i am in remission with prednisone for two months. Before that i was on generic mesalamine which make my flare up worse than ever. Now im in remission doc said use 6mp drugs for maintenance drug. I am afraid of the side effect. Can i try and go back to mesalamine? Or it will lead to flare up again? Thanks.

Technically, a true remission excludes use of steroids like prednisone.

Are you on only prednisone at this time?

You can try generic mesalamine oral at 4,800mgs a day, and a nightly 4,000mg mesalamine enema and see if you can sustain on those without prednisone. It's possible you might be able to. However it is equally possible that you cannot and will flare up again. The only way is to know for certain is to try those medications and slowly reduce the prednisone to findout if your flare returns or not.

You could go on both the oral mesalamine and 6mp, as combination therapy seems to be the best approach to treating UC. I've been on 6mp since 2012 and have yet to have a side effect from 6mp. Side effects are rare. The Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of America has a good risks versus benefits read/watch on medications like 6mp. I found it helpful when initially deciding to go on 6mp:
Webcast: programs.rmei.com/CCFA139VL/presentation/player.html
Transcript: http://www.ccfa.org/assets/pdfs/risk-and-benefits-transcript.pdf

Just know that 6mp takes a full 3-months to work, so delaying it can potentionally extend your time on prednisone out for additional months. You'd concurrently be on pred and 6mp until the 6mp has an affect. Afterwards, you would taper down the pred.

Did you already start the 6mp or is that next? If you're able to get off prednisone without taking 6mp in addition to the mesalamine, then it's possible you will stay in remission. I had a situation where I really didn't want to start 6mp, so I tried to get off pred without adding it, then when i got nearly off pred, my flare up came back with a vengeance. At that point, I had to start 6mp, and as iPoop said, it takes a long time to kick in. I ended up on prednisone for so long.. It was a nightmare. I did eventually get into remission with the 6mp though, so that was positive. Everyone's situation is unique... I feel like if you're already taking the 6mp and you're not having side effects, and you've gotten into remission, I'd probably keep taking it. If you haven't started it, I would probably see how it goes without it, but you have to do what you're comfortable with and follow your doctor's recommendation.

there really is only one way to know - we certainly are not able to predict the outcome if you decide to give the mesalamine another go -


what are your symptoms at their worse ?

I want to add that if one is on just oral mesalamine and not rectal, a flare will continue.....giving the perception of being worse than ever.

Yes, worth a try, both oral and rectal.. not suppositories...enemas 4g.

q