• 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.

A diagnosis of sorts

Saw my specialist today. He's diagnosed me woth ulcerative colitis at this stage, though he says it could be still crohns but that at this beginning stage of treatment it doesn't matter as treatment is the same.

He's put me on pentasa and prednisone and will do a small bowel mri to check for strictures once I've been on the pred for a while. Follow up colonoscopy in a few months and he will see me again in 3 weeks.

So...what are people's experience with pentasa and how quickly can I expect the pred to work?
 
It only touches the surface of the problem. My doctor had me on it for a short amount of time and then switched me to Lialda.
 

my little penguin

Moderator
Staff member
Pentasa works well for UC dice UC only affects the top layer of the intestines he
It takes up to a month to work

Pentasa is not recommended as a monotherapy for Crohns
Since Crohns affects all layers (through the thickness ) of the intestine and pentasa does fix that

Pred can work typically within a few days to a few weeks depending on how bad things are

Not understanding waiting for pred to work to get rid of inflammation in your small bowel prior to having an MRE
UC typically does not extend past the terminal ileum
Inflammation found in the small intestine tends to occur with Crohns
 

my little penguin

Moderator
Staff member
Pentasa takes a month if your good after a month off pred it's works
Immunosuppressants (aza 6-mp) takes 3-5 months to become effective
Mtx takes 8 weeks

Biologics
Remicade takes 6-8 weeks typically
Humira takes 3-5 months
 
It helped me for a bit but then I got killer headaches and had to go off of it and onto 6-mp I think. I am pretty susceptible to side effects I think I'm the 1 and 100,000 person my luck being "special" lol. Got medically induced Lupus from my Remicade which was a shame as it was working awesome for me at the time.

Take a huge and honest look at your diet as I've done a lot that way for quite awhile. I do smoothies to rest my gut tons of online books out there and through amazon. I got good intel from "Patient Heal Thyself", "Breaking the Vicious Cycle: Intestinal Health Through Diet", "Foods That Fight Pain", "Nourishing Traditions".

I reread them a lot because I get a little better than cheat with my eating so need to constantly tell myself the tips in these books. It doesn't cure the underlying cause of the inflammation and issues but it has calmed it down for me and has helped me to avoid surgery for 13 years....my luck is running out though but afterwards it will be important too.....oh just saw they have "Crohn's and Colitis For Dummies" now that's up my alley.:ylol:
 

cmack

Moderator
Staff member
GI Jane,

I'm sure I should read that one too. ;)


Thanks for sharing your reading material. I, for one, very much appreciate it.



Hope you are feeling better soon,

cmack
 
Last edited:
Thanks everyone. I appreciate your input. I am vegetarian and have coeliacs so a lot of the time I mainly eat while foods. Admittedly lately my eating hasn't been great because of the pain. I am worried about potentially having to cut out nuts / pulses / grains as they are my main protein source!
 

cmack

Moderator
Staff member
Thanks everyone. I appreciate your input. I am vegetarian and have coeliacs so a lot of the time I mainly eat while foods. Admittedly lately my eating hasn't been great because of the pain. I am worried about potentially having to cut out nuts / pulses / grains as they are my main protein source!
I eat a lot of chickpeas, I'm vegetarian as well. That's my main source of protein besides organic soy milk and tofu.

wishing you well,

cmack
 
Top