This is a chronic, life-long condition/disease that needs life-long treatment. Certainly, you can choose to stop taking your meds. But if you are feeling fine, you are not having any side effects from the meds, I think you are playing with fire.
You may never have another flare, taking your meds or quitting them, but I submit that you are likely increasing your chances of having one by not taking your meds.
For some folks, after stopping their meds and experiencing a flare, those same meds did not work for them when they attempted to bring it under control again.
I understand how difficult it is to deal with the idea that this is a chronic, life-long condition that will not go away. I have two of them. I've had some compliance issues with my depression medication in the past, as I have been dealing with that for two decades now. Maybe I've mellowed with age. I know that I learned a lot about
acceptance in therapy, and I think that has made a huge difference in my attitude about
my depression and my colitis. I understand it is not pleasant to take a medication every day. But I also understand that I am increasing the likelihood that I will keep my colitis and depression under control by taking my meds faithfully, as prescribed, and I take them each morning and forget about
it. Not gonna fight it anymore; I lose that battle every time, sooner or later.
Good luck.
Mitz
Sporadic proctitis since about
1985. Mother had UC, then J-pouch surgery 1983.
DX'd with clostridium difficile in 2000. Prednisone, two courses of Flagyl, then Vancomycin finally got rid of it. Symptomatic with UC after that.
Colonoscopy in 2001 dx'd left-sided UC. Was pretty darn ill at that time. Treated with prednisone, Rowasa, Asacol. Asacol not working so switched to Imuran. Three small flares since in 2002, 2005, and 2007.
Gall bladder attack 6/13; ultrasound showed stones; surgery before end of 2007.
100 mg Azathioprine and 225 mg Effexor XR (for chronic, longstanding depression) daily.
Post Edited (MitzMN) : 9/20/2007 12:49:09 PM (GMT-6)