• Welcome to Crohn's Forum, a support group for people with all forms of IBD. While this community is not a substitute for doctor's advice and we cannot treat or diagnose, we find being able to communicate with others who have IBD is invaluable as we navigate our struggles and celebrate our successes. We invite you to join us.

Colonoscopy with prednisone?

My Butt Hurts

Squeals-a-lot!
colonoscopy with prednisone?

Will prednisone mask the results of a colonoscopy??

So - I'm scheduled to have another exciting and enjoyable colonoscopy.
I'm on pentasa right now, and I've had the same symptoms since my last appointment (frequent BMs, urgency, can't gain weight). My GI doctor wants to do a colonoscopy to see how best to treat my Crohn's, since th pentasa doesn't sem to be working. He just put me on prednisone to calm my bowels down, but then won't the colonoscopy results show my insides differently? Won't it make it look better than they really are?
 

Kev

Senior Member
Good question. The pentasa (anti-inflamatory) would moderate the inflamed parts of the colon... somewhat. No one I know on here swears by any of the 5ASA drugs as a 'cure'. As for the pred, it lessens the immune response, so again 'less' inflamation... Of the two, the pred would definitely alleviate more symptoms than the pentasa. course, I'm assuming all this. Just as I'm assuming neither will make the ulcerations completely disappear. In 2001, way before my current bout with IBD went haywire, one of the top ranked GI's in the area did a sigmoidoscopic exam on me (he and a roomfull of his students; he was also professor of GI medicine, and it was done at a teaching hospital). Anyway, he took a peek... then invited all of the students to take a look also. Reason? Nearly decade prior (which in retrospect was probably my 1st outbreak) I had an 'undiagnosable' bout of bleeding from the colon. He said I had really old colitis scars... This is after a decade of being totally symptom and problem free. My long winded point? Figure that no matter what meds you are taking, a GI should be able to determine your current condition, and allow for improvements due to meds... factor that in. Even get a 1st hand look at how those meds are doing in the battle. But don't take my word for it, what do I know. Ask the Dr.!
 
Last edited:
S

Shane

Guest
When I had my last colonoscopy it showed severe inflammation and ulceration around the whole of my colon. This was after I'd been on Prednisolone for several months. So, in my case at least, all the Pred masked was my symptoms.

Just my experience though.

Shane
 
Last edited:
Top