Side effect?

[ovenroutine]

I am taking budesonide in the morning right before I eat breakfast. Almost every day a few minutes later, I am getting cramps in my lower abdomen and joint pain in my hips and lower back. Is this a side effect of the budesonide? Should I be taking it differently? thank you.

[tex]

You didn't provide the most important information. How long have you been taking it, and how much are you taking? First thing in the morning is the proper time to take it. But if you've been taking it for a while, it can cause constipation if you need to step down the dose, which would cause those symptoms. If you've only been taking it for a few weeks, those symptoms may be signs of an allergic reaction to budesonide.

Tex

[ovenroutine]

Hm. I’ve been on it for about two months, but I definitely wouldn’t say I am constipated - some days when it works well I go 2-3 times in the evenings (and these are the days I get stomach cramps in the AM), but other days I still have regular diarrhea. I just saw my doctor and she said I need to stay on it longer since I’m not back to normal and didn’t seem concerned by the cramping - but she also told me that since it’s not working, I might need to see a “specialist” - which confused me because she is a gastroenterologist so I’m not sure what is more specializing than that. It was frustrating.

[tex]

The budesonide seems to be helping, but after two months of taking the full dose, you should be doing much better than you are. Have you removed gluten from your diet, or are you still eating gluten?

Tex

[ovenroutine]

I’ve been celiac since 2002, so no gluten ever for me! I’ve also removed dairy and nightshades since I discovered those were making me feel sick before my diagnosis (although I’ve haven’t done perfect elimination due to some life circumstances I’ve had to eat a few meals with dairy and nightshades - but still 100% gluten free). My doctor also thinks I should be doing better which is why she says I might need a specialist. Thanks for your insight!

[tex]

Is your thyroid function normal?

Tex

[ovenroutine]

Yup, been on levothyroxine for years and my levels are checked regularly

[tex]

There has to be a reason for the persistent inflammation. You might be sensitive to soy, most of us are. Or despite your best efforts, using diet might be somehow compromised. We tend to give a free pass to foods or drinks that we have been consuming for decades, so if any ingredient is changed without our knowledge, we rarely consider those items as suspect. If you're eating or drinking any commercially processed foods (or beverages) many of those, probably most of them, had ingredient changes because of the shortages that were common during the pandemic. And sometimes the manufacturer's suppliers change ingredients without notifying the manufacturer, or someone forgets to make a label change because of an ingredient change notification by their supplier.

Scrutinize the ingredient lists on your cosmetics and skin care products, including shampoos, and toothpaste. Have you been under any unusual stress lately? Chronic stress is a major cause of inflammation. When we're trying to track down reasons for less than perfect symptom control, we usually wind up having to analyze the finest details of virtually everything in our environment, including the air we breathe.

I hope this helps.

Tex