Colazal and Abdominal Pain

Hi all.

Do you have pancolitis? What is your doctor's strategy for getting you off Prednisone? Ideally, you should taper off Pred & onto 5-ASA med, such as Colazal. Colazal recently entered Phase 3 (of 4) clinical trials by NIH study participants. When it was 1st prescribed for me in 2003, the recommended dose was 3 X 3 capsules daily-- this was during Phase 2 of NIH clinical trials. I believe that the recommended daily dosage has since been decreased to 6 capsules daily; however, there are members writing to this site who take higher doses for long periods & seem to tolerate Colazal well. I myself cannot take Colazal at 6 or more capsules daily for more than 10 weeks w/o experiencing some u.t. problems, but did well on 1-3 capsules daily during a 20 month-remission period that ended with slight flare this past July. Hope this info helps you; I never had abdominal pain due to UC meds. / Old Hat (nearly 30 yrs with left-sided UC; currently on 3 Colazal daily; seem to have regained remission)

Thanks for all the info. I'm on prednisone for another auto-immune disorder called Churg Strauss. I *think* the Ulcerative Colitis is a result of the CSS (systemic over-inflammation of blood vessels). I've been on Colazal since I was dx with UC in May. I was told it was for maintenance and probably needed to take it indefinitely. I will be on prednisone for a while, unfortunately. The hardest part of all of this is deciphering symptoms from side effects. I'm on a lot of medication. I guess until whatever it is declares itself a little more obviously, I'll wait it out. I haven't lost much weight, so I'll try not to worry! Thanks again.