Budesonide???

[Danico85]

Hi there

Can someone explain to me what this is? is this a different avenue from pred steroids? because i get all the side effects from preds and i cant stomach going on them again. Can this stuff be used in its place and does it have less side effects?

by side effects i mean the weight gain and moon face!

Thanks

Nicky

 

[crohnie2]

I am on budesonide and have been for about a month. So far no moon face and no weight gain, and I have been eating more with the holidays. When I first started taking it, I felt the rapid heart beat and had some difficulty sleeping, but that went away after a couple days. Definitely better than Prednisone! Hope it works for you!

 

[Absentminded]

I've recently finished a six month course of budesonide. I really don't react well to prednisolone, so this was a bit of a trade off. I don't know that it did much for my crohn's (it was mainly to tide mr over until my surgery) but I didn't have any side effects from it! No moon face, no manic episodes, no weight gain, no facial hair!
It is a type of steroid specifically used for gastro problems (I believe). It has fewer side effects but also had less of an effect on symptoms than pred does. So it has it's pros and cons.

 

[sawdust]

The way it was explained to me (I know it as Entocort) was that it is formulated to release its capsule contents in your intestines, allowing the dosage to be less than you might have to take with prednisone. It made sense to me.

I have had good success taking it. And, where I used to be prescribed 80 or 60 mg or pred to taper, I think the highest I took for the budesonide was 9mg. I experienced many less side effects than I did on prednisone.

I seem to remember it taking a little longer than prednisone to "kick in," but it was great. My GI recommended it after a number of courses of pred over the years.

I don't care for the side effects of prednisone either, but I have been very willing to accept them at times. Everyone's side effect are different, but it has never been prescribed for me when those side effects didn't outweigh the good it did for me. I hope the budesonide works out really well for you and brings the side effect/outcome ratio back into balance for you.

 

[shamrock15]

It doesn't work for everyone - I was actually in the testing group for this, and was confirmed as actually on the med as it didn't help me. I know now that it doesn't work on skip lesions, which is what I had. Hope it works for you, as anything that doesn't have pred effects and helps you get better is worth pursuing.

 

[Danico85]

thanks alot for all your replies.

can i just ask... all my inflammation is in my rectum so its down as proctitis just now, would it benefit me or does it target another section of the colon??

Thanks

 

[Clash]

Danico, click here for detailed info about budesonide, it is a link to our wiki entry and also lists some threads that pertain to budesonide. It lists where the med is most effective.

 

[Jennifer]

thanks alot for all your replies.

can i just ask... all my inflammation is in my rectum so its down as proctitis just now, would it benefit me or does it target another section of the colon??

Thanks

No Entocort will not treat that area Danico85. It helps treat the upper portion of the colon and the TI etc (it helped my joint pain) but does not reach that far down. You may have to try a different medication entirely if the steroids aren't working out along with whichever other meds you're currently on.

 

[cheerfull]

I have found Encorte so much better than prednisone as some of the others have said as side effects minimal compared to prednisone - and so far along with the pentasa i seem to be doing really well