Cortenema Question

[KathyWI]

Saw the doc this A.M. he gave me Cortenema. I haven't had it before. I had a colonoscopy a few weeks ago and he found that I have inflamation and ulcers in the rectum and lower tract with some bleeding so he wants me to give this a try for a month.

He tells me that I will not have urgency after doing it, from what I read it says to try to keep the medication in for 30 minutes...does that mean like with other enemas I'm gonna be running to the bathroom. He tells me no, that it's soothing.....hmmm

Has anyone done these? Whats been your experience? I'm gonna try it tonight for the first time.

Thanks!

(Diag. with crohns 1997, symptoms since age 15; I'm 41 now)

 

[Kev]

Hi Kathy

Welll, I don't know if we are comparing apples and oranges here or not, but I was on steroidal enemas (which sound like what your doctor is talking about, but I 'could' be wrong... and even if I'm right, they may have improved them or changed them)... many years ago... (nearly 2 decades)

Anyway, at the time I had an 'undiagnosed, indeterminate' type/form of bowel disorder (My GI's now, in retrospect/hindsight.. tell me it was my 1st outbreak of IBD. but my GP back then didn't/couldn't diagnose it right, OK?)
Essentially, I had bleeding/ulceration in the lower bowel/large colon, around the ailmentary tract/rectum, and the bottom of the colon. The treatment was a course of pre-mixed enemas containing a very hi dosage of steroids.

Maybe it was the ulceration, maybe it was the hi dose of steroids, but it was NOT a pleasant experience. Not a soothing one either by any stretch of the imagination. Each treatment, last thing at nite before bedtime, hurt worse than any other sign/symptom of my disease. First off, one pretty much has to be as limber as an olympic gymnast to get these enemas in the right spot... not just the entrance, but you need to contort so it does flow to cover the lower portion of the colon.. And, it does cause the 'urge' (which one has to fight... it won't work unless you keep it in, and that is a real problem... AND it does cause (at least for me at that time) cramping and pain.. I literally dreaded the approach of bedtime, and enduring that painfull 90 minutes - 2 hour process.. The 1/2 hour of inserting N keeping the med in place, the next 1 hour/ 90 minutes of waiting for the pains to subside so I could literally curl up in a ball and cry myself to sleep. Sorry if my experience scares you... Bear in mind that we may be talking about two totally different things, meds, methods... and that perhaps the dosage or strength of yours is different than mine, or my case back then worse than yours today... Not trying to backpeddle here, just don't want to scare you off this TILL you've tried/seen for yourself, OK? WHY??? Cause tho I hated each N every one of them, they knocked my IBD into remission that lasted for nearly a decade... AND if they would do it again, I'd be first in line to get them again (Sadly, not possible, my IBD is now everywheres)

all the best. hope you don't have a similar experience; but mostly.. hoping whatever treatment you take works, puts you into remission or whatever.

 

[BWS1982]

oh boy. 110% with Kev on this one. Hurt like a mother. Worse than pretty much anything I've gone through IBD-wise....Some of them I couldn't even keep in more than 30 seconds, others stung for about 20 minutes before it calmed down. It stung BADLY, and I hated bedtime. The thing is that it depended on how bad I was though. When I took them in the first flare, they were just very uncomfortable, when I did them around the winter this past flare a few months ago, they were hell.

I think Kev, that your issue about being 2 decades ago isn't one of importance, because I went through just what you did 3 months ago.

Soothing. HA!

Kathy, like Kev I hope not to scare you, as you may have different substances in yours/different symptoms or reactions to them. Only way unfortunately is to try them (which you should do regardless). Best of luck.

 

[michels1]

Yeah, I have to agree with Kev and Benson on this! When I had my first GI bleed which was diagnosed as ulcerative colitis I had a 6 cm bleeding ulcer in my colon. As if that wasn't painful enough. This was several years ago and I can still remember the Dr. telling me that it would definitely make me feel better! NOT! I'm sorry but I don't think there is anything that is inserted to the bum that does not cause the urge to get rid of it. I'm sure because of the steroids it aided in the healing, but I think someone should offer the suggestion of adding some lidocaned! LOL Sorry Kathy, no intention of scaring you. I do wish you the best!

 

[Guest]

aw i bet kathy is sorry she asked now, lol.

hi kathy, & welcome . i do wonder if the enema your doc gave you is the same as what people here have experienced, as like everyone else, i would agree that the predsol one i have used was pretty horrific for me, and was an experience i refuse to ever put myself through again. but everyone is different, we all have different grades of sensitivity depending where and how bad our flares are, and we all have different pain thresholds too.

i would say, try it & see if its bearable. if it is at all, then it is worth persevering with - it certainly seemed to help kev. if its excruciatingly painful or uncomfortable, you could maybe ask for it in suppository form - this is what i have been given as i couldnt cope with the enemas.

best of luck with it, kathy, and let us know how you get on.

 

[KathyWI]

Okay all in all is wasn't bad........no pain no cramping no burning! But, as soon as I inserted and squeezed the prefilled bottle it felt like I had to go and couldn't hold it. So off to the potty I went.

Luckily I had only managed to squeeze in half of the liquid so I laid back down in bed, waited a few minutes to try to relax and gave it a go a with the remainder. I managed to keep that in and had no other problems.

So I'll give it another try tonight with the hopes that every night will get easier and easier.

Thanks for your replys they didn't scare me. I've learned over the many years that this darn disease is so different for many of us and so unpredictable that I really do just try to stay informed and take it day by day.

Thanks!!

 

[Kev]

Hope it stays mild... One thing I didn't mention is that I used to take these in the bathroom.. I'd lay an old beach towel on the floor, assume the position, and hope for the best. The problem partly is successfully fighting the urge to go... holding it in so that it is effective, and dealing with any cramping that it causes. If it would work on me now, I wouldn't hesitate to go thru it again. Having said that, I'm thankful that a simple pill at bedtime seems to be doing the trick... no pains, no side effects, take it N forget it.

 

[BWS1982]

Awesome you don't have it like others have. Hope it stays that way!

 

[gerdo26]

A question for ulcerative cholitis

Hi:
I wonder if anyone can help me find the hydrocortisone, or also called Cortenema for a person who currently suffer from ulcerative colitis and SITC is to a degree because of dysplasia?
If anyone knows about someone who can get in direct contact with any supplier or even that can get me the medicine I would really appreciate it.
I currently reside in Mexico City and you can contact me through my email which is: [email protected]


Thanks!!!