Diarrhea returns after 2 weeks of budesonide
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Megrusswin
- Posts: 3
- Joined: Tue Jan 01, 2019 5:55 pm
Diarrhea returns after 2 weeks of budesonide
I was recently diagnosed with LC and started taking 9mg of budesonide daily. For the first two weeks I have felt great! The best I have felt in years! My BMs have been normal, no bloating and joint pain is gone. The last three days have been awful! The diarrhea and bloating have returned worse than ever. Not sure if this is normal while taking budesonide? Should I stop taking it?
Hi,
Welcome to the group.
Budesonide shouldn't stop working, obviously. If it worked fine right off the bat, and your symptoms are worse than ever two weeks later, then you have almost surely developed an allergy to budesonide. So yes, I would stop taking it. I'm not a doctor, so I can't give you medical advice. I can only tell you what I would do in that situation.
Without budesonide, the only practical way to stop the symptoms is to change your diet to avoid the foods that are causing the inflammation. 8 or 9 Pepto-Bismol tablets per day should stop the diarrhea in less than 2 weeks (if you stop taking budesonide), but you will need diet changes if you want to achieve long-term remission because you can only take that much Pepto for about 8 weeks. Taking it longer can lead to problems.
Again, welcome aboard, and please feel free to ask anything.
Tex
Welcome to the group.
Budesonide shouldn't stop working, obviously. If it worked fine right off the bat, and your symptoms are worse than ever two weeks later, then you have almost surely developed an allergy to budesonide. So yes, I would stop taking it. I'm not a doctor, so I can't give you medical advice. I can only tell you what I would do in that situation.
Without budesonide, the only practical way to stop the symptoms is to change your diet to avoid the foods that are causing the inflammation. 8 or 9 Pepto-Bismol tablets per day should stop the diarrhea in less than 2 weeks (if you stop taking budesonide), but you will need diet changes if you want to achieve long-term remission because you can only take that much Pepto for about 8 weeks. Taking it longer can lead to problems.
Again, welcome aboard, and please feel free to ask anything.
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
I've been taking budesonide for 25 weeks and wouldn't stop because I got diarrhea for three days. Lots of things can cause episodes of diarrhea, in anyone including budesonide patients, such as various microorganisms from food or the environment. I've had three one-day episodes of diarrhea in the 25 weeks. One I attribute to some spoiled turkey that I ate; the other two episodes are mysteries.
I've never made the assumption that food or diet is the cause of my LC, and am not aware of any peer reviewed medical studies or gastronomical medical centers that subscribe to that view. Perhaps someone else is and could cite them. However, even if foods do not cause MC, some foods can aggravate the colon inflammation that accompanies MC. Virtually everyone agrees that high fiber foods should be avoided. Many also believe that potential diarrhea secretagoges such as caffeine and dairy should be avoided when inflamed.
Most importantly, I'd suggest you ask your question about continuing budesonide to your doctor. Pending that, if I were you, I'd probably take some loperamide (Imodium) in addition to the budesonide, since that controlled diarrhea for me before I started the budesonide. If that works, I'd quickly taper off the loperamide and continue the budesonide.
I've never made the assumption that food or diet is the cause of my LC, and am not aware of any peer reviewed medical studies or gastronomical medical centers that subscribe to that view. Perhaps someone else is and could cite them. However, even if foods do not cause MC, some foods can aggravate the colon inflammation that accompanies MC. Virtually everyone agrees that high fiber foods should be avoided. Many also believe that potential diarrhea secretagoges such as caffeine and dairy should be avoided when inflamed.
Most importantly, I'd suggest you ask your question about continuing budesonide to your doctor. Pending that, if I were you, I'd probably take some loperamide (Imodium) in addition to the budesonide, since that controlled diarrhea for me before I started the budesonide. If that works, I'd quickly taper off the loperamide and continue the budesonide.
40 week budesonide taper begun on 11 July 2018
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Megrusswin
- Posts: 3
- Joined: Tue Jan 01, 2019 5:55 pm
Hi Meg,
Welcome to the group! I was a 4.5 month budesonide user. Be aware that MC is an up and down (peaks and valleys) disease.
Again, like Kilt says if it worked and then it stopped I would hang on budesonide longer but obviously check with your doctor.
Diet will be very key to getting off of the budesonide and staying in remission.
Tex's book--upper right hand corner, is the only book written about our disease. It is worth the money.
Welcome to the group! I was a 4.5 month budesonide user. Be aware that MC is an up and down (peaks and valleys) disease.
Again, like Kilt says if it worked and then it stopped I would hang on budesonide longer but obviously check with your doctor.
Diet will be very key to getting off of the budesonide and staying in remission.
Tex's book--upper right hand corner, is the only book written about our disease. It is worth the money.