Tapering off Budesonide and Pain?

[nclarkramirez]

Hello!
Weaning off Budesonide question related to pain--
Quick summary - was on Budesonide for awhile and reached remission and very slowly weaned off and was completely off for a year before I had a flare. (Stress induced big move and new job). I've been on it again about 5 months and starting to wean off because it feels like my BM are not complete now. I have gone from 9mg to 6mg over the past week (last time I went much slower) because I felt like I was getting constipated. Now I only took 3mg yesterday and today and am having horrible intestinal pain and bloating. Part of me thinks I am constipated but not sure. I'm having 1 solid BM a day but it's not complete. Tend to have a snake and then small bits and don't feel finished even after being on toliet for awhile (Opposite prob of what I used to happen). Trying to figure out if I need to go back up to 6mg -- if the pain could be from tapering or if it's just more likely that the pain is from constipation. I have had a lot of stress this past week and my digestion had not been awesome so I know that's a factor. Last night I was so bloated and in bad pain - I think I had too much fat and body couldn't digest. Anyway , just seeing if anyone usually experiences intestinal pain and bloating from weaning off or if it is more likely constipation. Thanks for any insight! (Also partially afraid to go back up on Budesonide and cause more constipation and more pain!)

[tex]

You didn't mention your diet, but I'm assuming that you're on a gluten-free diet. If so, your symptoms suggest that your diet might be getting cross contaminated by gluten (or some other food sensitivity) and that's causing increased inflammation. Some of us develop a histamine intolerance that can cause the symptoms you describe. Are you eating any high histamine foods? If so, you might try avoiding all high histamine foods for a few days to see if that helps.

That said, yes, budesonide can cause abdominal pain, but bloating would be a rare symptom, that's not likely due to budesonide.

Tex

[nclarkramirez]

Thank you, Tex. Yes, I've been GF for 15 years, long before my MC diagnosis. And also DF. I have histamine issues on occasion but take "D-Hist" which takes care of it. I had Filet mignon cooked at home with only salt and pepper along with baked zucchini and baby potatoes cooked well, both with jsut salt pepper and avocado oil. The pain last night that led into this morning was quite bad -- haven't had that happen in a long time. So going back to simpler lower fat foods right now.

I just wasn't sure if reducing the budesonide dosage -- since it reduces inflammation -- was causing me to have bloating and gas pain and overall intestinal pain. No diarrhea. Just major bloating and pain. Doing better today but being cautious and still have sore intestines.

Thanks for the response!!

[tex]

Beef is beginning to look suspicious. I'm personally sensitive to beef. I used to raise hundreds of beef cattle every year, and for most of my life, I loved to eat certain beef steaks, but one day (after I developed MC, and reached remission) it dawned on me that every time I ate beef, three or four hours later, I would have abdominal bloating. It never caused me to have diarrhea, but the next morning I would have a back ache with a nagging pain between my shoulders, and usually a headache. I switched from beef to pork, and I've never had the problem since.

We're all different of course, but reactions to beef sensitivity seem to be different from virtually all other food sensitivities (at least they are for me).

Tex

[nclarkramirez]

Hmmm..... that is very interesting! Thanks for the input! I will take note of this!!!