Thinking about going back on prednisone

[artteacher]

I took prednisone for over a year, 20 Mg a day, didn't help the D or food intolerance symptoms at all - no change.

My only other comment is that vitamins can definitely be aggrevating your intestinal problems. Even the gell caps that they come in give me D. Ingredients that give me diarrhea or upset are whey, lactose, Yellow #5, iron, B vitamins, malitol/sorbitol, vit. C derived from corn (which is 99.9% of all vit C), and of course anything in a gel cap.

I would so recommend a basic 3 ingredient diet (with only water to drink)for a short while, to see if you feel better.

Beth, I feel so bad for you. I really empathize . .

Marsha

[bobh]

I took prednisone for over a year, 20 Mg a day, didn't help the D or food intolerance symptoms at all - no change... Marsha

Yikes, that is discouraging. Because about a month after my flair was halted, I went to see my MD about how wonderful I felt on the brief 12 days of Prednisone (60 mg tapering down rapidly to zero). All inflammation in the body was GONE, no brain fog, etc.

He agreed to try 15 mg Pred a day, in order to get a better quality of life Here & Now. He said that if I did that protocol, I wouldn't need to also take the Entocort, because I would be getting that much and more of the cortico steroid from the 15 mg Pred than I would from 6 to 9 mg Entocort.

I tried it briefly, the colitis stayed in remission, but I felt too spaced out on it, and went back to the Entocort which has no side effects for me.

Sorry to hear that 20 mg didn't snuff out the colitis... Darn.

[Beth]

I would so recommend a basic 3 ingredient diet (with only water to drink)for a short while, to see if you feel better.

Hi Marsha,

Thanks for the advice. Actually, I'm eating about a five-ingredient diet right now: fish, potatoes, carrots, boiled eggs, avocado and tea w/a little honey. And I keep losing weight. Hmmm. Can't wait until this thing is under control. I had to make cookies for my Saturday students, and it was near torture catching the scent of chocolate chip cookie dough baking in the oven.

As far as the whole pred/entocort thing goes, I think I'm going to wait to go on the pred until I see a doctor. I just feel a little nervous doing this without a doctor's guidance. And I'm probably metabolizing things differently now since I've lost so much weight. Thanks, everyone, for your input. I'll keep you posted.

Best,
Beth

[bobh]

As far as the whole pred/entocort thing goes, I think I'm going to wait to go on the pred until I see a doctor.

Gotcha. Until then, are you maintaining some Entocort - or are you going to wind down on it?

[Beth]

Hey Bob - I'm still on 9 mg entocort/day. Figured I might as while stick with what I've got for now until I can get in to see a doctor.

Heading to the store to buy more fish. Ugh.

[bobh]

- I'm still on 9 mg entocort/day.

Gotcha. I had the flair from hell and have faith that yours will also become history.
If you get too sick of the fish... C'mon over for some steak with us cave-people. I know it's not your way - but if your getting burned out on the same old stuff...

[artteacher]

Hey Beth -

Eggs give me D. What are you using to cook them in? If it's a margerine, think about switching to bacon fat or olive oil . .

And I read you post about Caltrate . . I'm crossing my fingers for you. You might find that it makes you constipated . . drink a lot of water. Sometimes I take a pill before breakfast and dinner, sometimes 1/2 a pill, sometimes 1/2 only at breakfast. It's a little bit of an art, guaging your metabolism, the potential irritation factor of the foods you're eating, etc. You should not take more than 3-4 a day, and it should be taken as the first bite of a meal, not during, or after the meal.

Marsha