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Prednisone

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Ulcerative Colitis
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sevodreams
Regular Member
Joined : Jan 2020
Posts : 73
Posted 2/16/2020 3:23 PM (GMT -7)
Started 40mg prednisone today for flare producing bloody diarrhea about ten times per day for over a month. Was on uceris oral and foam which seemed to do nothing. I’ve used steroid enemas before which did nothing either. This is my first time on pred, should I be worried about not responding if the topical stuff never worked for me? I can’t take mesalamine anything. Follow-up with GI next week to see how pred is doing and talk about bio. Looking through the posts here, remicade seems like a great choice although I’d love the convenience of at home dosing with something like humira or stelara. Thoughts on that? Thank you!!
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Sara14
Veteran Member
Joined : Mar 2007
Posts : 7217
Posted 2/16/2020 5:20 PM (GMT -7)
It will probably work. Give it a week or two (it may work much faster than that). Hope you improve soon!
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iPoop
Forum Moderator
Joined : Aug 2012
Posts : 16381
Posted 2/17/2020 6:52 AM (GMT -7)
Prednisone is a much, much stronger medication and has good odds of helping you feel better. Yes, pred often works when lesser and weaker steroids fail.

I'm on remicade, have been for 7+ years now, it's been great giving me a long remission without side effects. I know others on Humira and stelara, success stories on pretty much all of the above. Most of us do try a tnf-alpha-blocker as their first biologic, that is remicade/humira/simponi as they've been around the longest and are the least expensive. Often stelara/entyvio/xeljanz are 2nd choice biologics.

If you have not been on pred before, know we all have a love/hate relationship with the dreaded pred. Love it works rocket ship fast, making us feel better. Hate the temporary side effects which are almost guaranteed. Stuff like insomnia, night-sweats, wild mood swings, and moonface. It's colloquially known as "the devil's tic tacs" for a good reason.

Pred can work within days, a week, or several weeks time. It depends how bad your flare is, how severe, and how extensive in how fast you feel better on it. The less severe the flare, the quicker the response, the more severe a flare the longer for a response.
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sevodreams
Regular Member
Joined : Jan 2020
Posts : 73
Posted 2/18/2020 10:46 AM (GMT -7)
On day 3 with no noticeable changes. The pills did get stuck to my palate as I was trying to swallow them, they taste horrible!!!
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Sara14
Veteran Member
Joined : Mar 2007
Posts : 7217
Posted 2/18/2020 10:51 AM (GMT -7)
You could try swallowing them with some yogurt, applesauce or pudding if the taste is bothering you. Sorry they aren't helping yet.
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sevodreams
Regular Member
Joined : Jan 2020
Posts : 73
Posted 2/18/2020 10:57 AM (GMT -7)
Yeah I know I just need to be patient, was just hoping they’d start working more quickly so I can start to feel somewhat normal again. Maybe get some time to build my blood levels back up :P
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Sara14
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Joined : Mar 2007
Posts : 7217
Posted 2/18/2020 11:04 AM (GMT -7)
I completely understand!
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sevodreams
Regular Member
Joined : Jan 2020
Posts : 73
Posted 2/18/2020 2:10 PM (GMT -7)
What kind of improvements should I look out for? I’ve had maybe just some slight reduction in frequency today.
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gateway43
Regular Member
Joined : Feb 2017
Posts : 53
Posted 2/18/2020 2:33 PM (GMT -7)
I recently was placed on prednisone and the urgency and frequency decreased within 4 days.
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sevodreams
Regular Member
Joined : Jan 2020
Posts : 73
Posted 2/18/2020 2:41 PM (GMT -7)
Bleeding too?
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gateway43
Regular Member
Joined : Feb 2017
Posts : 53
Posted 2/18/2020 2:53 PM (GMT -7)
Yep, bleeding too. I'm tapering now
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Sara14
Veteran Member
Joined : Mar 2007
Posts : 7217
Posted 2/18/2020 4:18 PM (GMT -7)
It used to make me feel pretty much completely back to normal within just a few days. The last two times I had to go up to 50 mg because 40 mg wasn't helping (maybe I wasn't patient enough, I don't know), and it took a week or two to work. When it works though, you will typically feel completely normal. No UC symptoms. It's extremely fast-acting compared to any other UC meds. I kind of loved prednisone. I can't take it anymore though since it gave me osteoporosis. Lol. I recommend taking a calcium and Vit. D supplement while on it or eat enough in your diet.
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jazzgtrl4
Regular Member
Joined : Aug 2009
Posts : 325
Posted 2/18/2020 6:02 PM (GMT -7)

Sara14 said...
It used to make me feel pretty much completely back to normal within just a few days. The last two times I had to go up to 50 mg because 40 mg wasn't helping (maybe I wasn't patient enough, I don't know), and it took a week or two to work. When it works though, you will typically feel completely normal. No UC symptoms. It's extremely fast-acting compared to any other UC meds. I kind of loved prednisone. I can't take it anymore though since it gave me osteoporosis. Lol. I recommend taking a calcium and Vit. D supplement while on it or eat enough in your diet.

Ya im about to throw in the towel and start pred. been flaring for 6 months, on a roller coaster thinking im headed to remission then back down the drain...Funny thing is it sucks but i kinda like it too..lol. i don't really have to many side effects. one thing is im a musician and it makes me practice all day..so that's the positive thing hahah.

thing is i cant take any calcium, i get kidney stones as well. sad
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Sara14
Veteran Member
Joined : Mar 2007
Posts : 7217
Posted 2/18/2020 6:42 PM (GMT -7)
Can you eat calcium in your diet or does that result in kidney stones as well? I don't know much about that. Sorry to hear about the flare. Yeah, the added energy was always kind of nice, lol. I just loved how fast it usually worked. I didn't love the weight gain and moon face though...ha.
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Eph
Regular Member
Joined : Nov 2010
Posts : 369
Posted 2/19/2020 5:42 AM (GMT -7)
My doc is REALLY hesitant to let me try Pred. All the mesalamine products are failing, as is Uceris. With a $6K high deductible plan, the bio's are not a financial option for me.

He said it would be an 8 week Rx. Does that sound right?
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Sara14
Veteran Member
Joined : Mar 2007
Posts : 7217
Posted 2/19/2020 7:00 AM (GMT -7)
Not always. It was usually 5-6 weeks for me -- 2 weeks at 40 mg and then drop by 10 mg every week. That always worked for me until recently. One doctor had me at 40 mg for 3 weeks. That felt too long back then, gave me side effects. It depends on the doctor, I guess. I had one who tapered me by 5 mg once after I got down to 30 mg. It's not really a long-term solution though. Would the copay assistance programs for the biologics help you at all? I'm not really sure how that works for you since my deductible doesn't apply to medications.
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Eph
Regular Member
Joined : Nov 2010
Posts : 369
Posted 2/19/2020 7:09 AM (GMT -7)
@Sara14, thanks.
Do you know which biologics come out cheapest with the copay assistance?
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Sara14
Veteran Member
Joined : Mar 2007
Posts : 7217
Posted 2/19/2020 8:41 AM (GMT -7)
Both Humira and Remicade are $5 copays. I haven't tried others but they all seem to be about $5 from what I've seen. Also, I think the generic Imuran is pretty cheap if you wanted to try that.
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sevodreams
Regular Member
Joined : Jan 2020
Posts : 73
Posted 2/19/2020 9:15 AM (GMT -7)
Did you guys have better luck with single dose in am or split doses? Had D 3 times within 3 hours at 0400, wondering if it’s because the previous morning dose wore off.
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Sara14
Veteran Member
Joined : Mar 2007
Posts : 7217
Posted 2/19/2020 9:20 AM (GMT -7)
I always took mine in the a.m., but I've read about some people here splitting their dose. Sorry you're still not better!
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sevodreams
Regular Member
Joined : Jan 2020
Posts : 73
Posted 2/19/2020 9:49 AM (GMT -7)
Yeah I’m hoping day 4 will be the magic day smile
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FlowersGal
Veteran Member
Joined : Feb 2017
Posts : 1405
Posted 2/19/2020 9:58 AM (GMT -7)
Taking prednisone at night can result in no sleep if it affects you that way.
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jazzgtrl4
Regular Member
Joined : Aug 2009
Posts : 325
Posted 2/19/2020 10:25 AM (GMT -7)

Sara14 said...
Can you eat calcium in your diet or does that result in kidney stones as well? I don't know much about that. Sorry to hear about the flare. Yeah, the added energy was always kind of nice, lol. I just loved how fast it usually worked. I didn't love the weight gain and moon face though...ha.

Ya, dont want to eat it...probably would add to the calcium stones, that is the most common type of stone. Ya when i take pred, it knocks out the flare in a day.
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sevodreams
Regular Member
Joined : Jan 2020
Posts : 73
Posted 2/19/2020 10:32 AM (GMT -7)
Glad it works so quickly for some of you guys. Just makes me angry when I’ve surpassed that timeframe with no relief.
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Sara14
Veteran Member
Joined : Mar 2007
Posts : 7217
Posted 2/19/2020 6:21 PM (GMT -7)
I have a feeling day 4 is going to be your day. Keep us posted. smile
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