Steroids

[bobtheman]

steroids

hey guys. im 19 and have crohns and i have a long story as im sure you all do, but i dont have much time to post this becuase i need assistance asap. basically my main concern is with a medicine im taking now called entocort. ive been on it for about 8 days now(9mg), and i really havent noticed any improvement at all.

i went into the hospital becuase of extreme pain, seems it was from a bad fistula forming. when i was in the hospital for 11 days they put me on bowel rest and i was taking my two probiotic tabs daily(vsl3). i was also taking my daily dose of asacol(3.2grams, but im not sure if these things do anything for me to this day or if theyre just a waste of money). i was also on flaygl becuase i had a raging c.diff infection but i switched to vancomycin because the flaygl raised my lfts way to much. and they started me on 40mg of iv prednisone. after about 5-7 days i noticed a big improvement from the steroid, and althought it was still hell, i went home on the 11th day. i kept taking my prednisone asacol probiotics vanomycin, went through hell, noticed TONS of side effects, but i eventually went into remission.

now i am back into a flareup once again, and im still taking my asacol and probitoics and up until now i have been fine with this. at first i thought it was a c.diff infection so i got tested. came back negative got tested again, and again but still negative. i was hoping the c.diff was caused me to go into a flareup within a matter of a couple days and use the bathroom 10+ times a day, have urgency to run to the bathroom, have abdominal pain and bleeding with every stool, but i guess not.

so here is the real question. what the doctor put me on was entocort(9mg) and ive been on it for about 8 days. i havent noticed any real improvement at all. i thought this stuff would work fast like the prednisone. how long does this stuff take to start working? could the prednisone also have worked much quicker becuase of the bowel rest, and taking the prednsione through iv rather than orally? and why does entocort work for only some but not all, but prendisone will work for all? arent they essentially the same substance, corticosteroids?

also, all over the website i keep reading "ENTOCORT EC is approved to treat mild to moderate Crohn’s disease affecting part of the small intestine called the ileum and/or part of the large intestine called the ascending colon." in every paragraph. does this mean that if my disease is elsewhere (such as the descending colon) that entocort wont work for me?

i havent gone for a colonoscopy in awhile, but im planning to do an mri very soon. please help me becuase i want to go into remission before winter break is over so i can start school back up and not fall even further behind! i had to quit my part time job and dropout of a live away school and take lots of time off becuase of this stupid disease and i dont want to now have to take a medical leave from a community college! thank you so much

 

[bushydougie]

Hi Bob
I have been on Entocort for nearly 12 weeks now. I so started on 9mg and it took exactly a month for it to have an effect. I was worried that it took so long to have any effect but apparently that is quite normal. After a month I did really feel the benefit though so I was glad I persevered with it. When I was on pred it took 3 days to have a major effect so there is a big difference in how quickly they can work.
However if you are at all worried I'd get intouch with your gp or GI and get some advice.
Hope you're feeling some benefits soon
Sam

 

[bobtheman]

wow a whole month? i dont understand why it would take so much longer than other conventional steroids. and i hate putting any chemical into my body, thats why i was reluctant with any treatement(prednisone, asacol, endtocort) and havent taken 6mp or remicade yet. thankyou for your reply but more answers are appreciated

im thinking about switching to prednsione..should i just stick this entocort out?

 

[Cat-a-Tonic]

Hi Bob, welcome to the forum. I've been on Entocort for a few months now and it took about 9 days for me to feel like it was working. Conversely, when I took prednisone, I felt it kick in the same day I took my first pill. So yes, Entocort can take awhile to take effect, and it certainly takes longer than prednisone to kick in. But the benefits are that Entocort isn't a systemic steroid like pred is, so there are far fewer side effects and it's generally considered a safer med than prednisone. It is, however, also a bit milder than prednisone. If you have a bad flare, Entocort might not do a whole lot for you. If I were you, I'd give it a bit more time to let it begin working, and if you still feel no change in a few weeks, let your doc know. Good luck, let us know how you're doing.

 

[littlemissh]

It has been shown in many studies that prednisolone is more likely to induce remission than entocort (budesonide). I was put staaight onto prednisolone.
Hieracrchy is iv hydrocortisone-->prednisolone--->budesonide.
Budesonide is preferred where possible as it has fewer side effects/less likely to cause side effects.

 

[bobtheman]

hmm. well my mom swtiched me to a doctor that was closer by and more aviable, but he seems to not know what he is doing. he says if i want i can switch to the prednisone and i do not have to taper off of the entocort? is this true? and he wants me to start taking 40mg. thats the dose i was on, but i dont think i need that high. is 20mg a sufficent amount, or rather what is the average dose and how long is the average treatment and dose of prednisone before starting to taper?

also, i want to get this bleeding under control. im worried about scar tissue. ive been bleeding for about a month now, and the first time it was four about six months. how likely is scar tissue, and can scar tissue heal/go away over time?

 

[bobtheman]

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