A friend of mine with ulcerative colitits has had great success with a drug called Asacol. Maybe ask your doctor about it. She was on prednisone for a year before starting Asacol and HATED it ... she said the side effects were worse than the disease.

the effects from the asacol were worse, or the effects from the prednisone? i will ask about asacol, i am so desperate....i DO NOT ever want to use prednisone again, but i feel like i have no choice :(

I meant the side effects from the prednisone were bad. She has had no problems with the asacol.

ugh dont i know it...is asacol only available in the states, my doc has never mentioned it to me..im in canada

Hi,
I have suffered from ulcerative colitis that never went into remission.
I am ok now because I had surgery. I understand what you are feeling.
I lost 3 jobs in my life due to that illness. People don't understand. I would like
to help you if I can. One medication that helped me get off prednisone for
a while was Rowasa. Have you heard of it? Also, Dipentum. Asacol had horrible side effects. But nothing was worse than the side effects of 40-60
mg of Prednisone everyday!! Colleen

brandy,

don't lose hope. i suffer from uc also, but have not taken prednisone (my specialist believes it is a medication of last resort, thank goodness.) asacol is available here in canada, but under the brand name salofalk -- i use the suppositories and have never suffered any side effects. it has put my uc in remission every time i've had a flare. if your doctor won't consider anything other than prednisone, i'd really try to find another doctor.

good luck!

daisy

Hi Brandy,

Asacol is available in Canada...my doc prescribed it and it has worked fantastic for me. Depending on where your uc is he might prescribe Pentasa instead. The only difference is where the medication gets distributed through the bowel. Please ask your doc about it and give it a try.

Willow

thank you so much your replies mean alot to me, i feel so alone and i pretty much cry everyday cause i cant imagine that i have to live like this for the rest of my life...i am in so much pain...and i have a full time job which it is starting to effect. i had no idea that asacol was salofalk..i am currently taking salofalk right now and have been for the past 2 yrs. has anyone heard of sedacrohn? and does it work? also has anyone experienced a weird tingly sensation in the forehead ??? i get it all the time after an increase of meds./.

This is just in response to the messages posted about Asacol and Salofalk. These drugs are not one and the same. Asacol is Asacol (little red/orangish pill), and Salofalk is Salofalk (oval-shaped yellow pill). I was on Asacol several years ago, and it was not effective for me. In fact, I was literally unable to digest it, and it was appearing in my stool as whole (completely undigested). I was then put on Salofalk, which worked for some time. These drugs are similar in that they come from the same class of drugs - they are both what are called "Delayed-Release Mesalamine drugs". This is perhaps why it was said that they are the same thing. As in my case, people may find that one works, while the other isn't overly effective. I suppose some doctors might believe that if one hasn't worked, the other isn't likely to be effective. But, it's worth asking. Finally, for the record, I am from Canada, so I know that both are available here. Best wishes.

Brandy,

Sorry to hear about the flare up, I know they are not fun and so embarrassing to talk about! I'm just getting on the other side of a flare up (I think/hope) so I do understand. BTW I am a 36 yr old female.

I was diagnosed with Crohn's last year and put on three drugs; asacol, entocort ec and cipro. It went into remission pretty quickly. I'm now on week 2 of the same three drugs and the pain is much less, although I am having some side effects from the Entocort. I'll take my side effects to the pain I was having two weeks ago! Please search entocort on the internet and read about it. I really think it's working for me.

From the web
"Entocort EC is a nonsystemic corticosteroid that is released into the intestine and works to reduce inflammation. Because 90% of the drug is released in the intestine and not into the bloodstream, it causes fewer side effects than other corticosteroids (i.e., prednisone)."

The Entocort is very expensive. I am in the states with good health insurance and I still had to pay $125 out of pocket (the script was over $400).

I hope this post was helpful, I do understand your pain and frustration and I hope you are well soon.