Update - No More Remission

As many of you "regulars" may recall, I stopped my Remicade treatments after 2 1/2 years of treatments and full remission. My hope was that maintenance drugs (in this case Lialda) could/would keep me in remission for a while. My last Remicade infusion was in February and I started the Lialda in March. Since I have stopped the Remicade treatments my energy level has increased substantialy. I have felt great and have been doing so much more than I have been able to do in the past. Then, this week I noticed blood in my stool, had increased number of trips to the bathroom (from 1 per day to about 4 per day) and lots of gurgling down there. So, I called my GI. (after some prompting from Sherry/Red). He put me on a low residue diet for at least a week and prescribed Rowasa enema. I had no problem with the enema last night, no cramping or discomfort, of which I am relieved! So, this might just be a Blip and I don't know what to expect or think. I do not regret my decision to get off of the Remicade, as I did not want to be taking treatments indefinetly if it was not really necessary. I worry about the long term effects of the drug in my system overall. The only way that I could know if I could survive without the drug was to stop using it.