Blood in stool

Get on rectal meds?
Are mesalamine OK?...if not, try steroid.
q

When you were on Pred did you start at 20mg and then taper? If so, I have never heard of anyone getting relief when starting at that low of a dose. The usual pred dosage for a UC flare is 40 mg for 2 weeks and then taper 5 mg/week. My last flare I had to go up to 60mg to get relief.

Entyvio can take a while to work so you have to be patient. Also, your sig says you started Entyvio in April. You should have had a lot more than 2 infusions if that was when you started. When did you actually start Entyvio? There are 3 loading doses so if you only have had 2 you still have another loading dose.

I disagree about the blood....the inflammation doesn't spontaneously disappear at that point.
q

But you are still flaring...maybe visual symptom, but I would assume you still have some symptoms of flaring and know treatment should continue?

My point...that statement would be confusing in its meaning, and the repeated adage just ads to an untruth of facts regarding the process of a flare.

q

OK...I've never had a FCP test, and from what I read and as per my GI, mild rectal inflammation isnt really registered on that test.
Ive not bled in at least 15 years with a flare, but I do have symptoms that register that I am starting to flaring, albeit probably passed off by others as not. The clincher for me is the rectal spasming during a bm, and the process is pretty much the same.

So...my point is that if you need to wait for the bleeding to indicate it is for sure a flare, the process to get there is still inflammation. It will heal the opposite process. Cessation of bleeding does not indicate the flare is over.

I, personally, have learned to not wait. In saying all of the above, there are some who do not have symptoms that match the amount of inflammation on both sides of the coin. Maybe those are who need to be more dependent on the FCP.

q

I've found FCP really sensitive to my flares- well because I'm a nerd i made a chart of fcp through time versus number of BMs and they tracked each other. That being said, it took me years to figure out that my first/last symptom is abdominal pain, mostly because it took 4 years to have my first full remission; before that I assumed that daily pain was just part of having colitis....
Mind you, I also don't go sticking my head down the toilet after every BM so it's possible that there was blood and i didn't see it...

not sure i'd go along with 'just in case' flagyl - but that's just me -

maybe try a cortenema or 2 ?



TT

How are you on mesalamine if you're allergic to it?

What dosage of enemas?

q

I would use the enemas for sure, they will reach all of your inflammation if it is up to 25 cm. Pred will work, and likely quickly, but the side effects are brutal. You could do both or try something like cortenema, which is a steroid and works much faster than rowasa and skip the pred. The side effects are much less systemic than prednisone.