Prednisone for first time before travelling?

Hi all,

This is my first time posting, though this forum has been a great resource. I've had UC for a while, but was only diagnosed in the past year after flares moved from once every 2-3 years and mild to once a year and more severe. I was put on Asacol and it worked like a charm after just a couple days, no side effects. 6 months later, though, I'm on a mild/moderate flare again (2-3 trips to the bathroom in the morning, 1-2 in the evening, well-ish formed, but some movements are just blood and mucus).

I'm currently about 6 weeks into it and the upped Asacol dose (2 pills of 800mg 3x/day) my gastro put me on is not doing the trick. Neither is fish oil and Culturelle. I'm going back to the gastro in a few days and I'm pretty certain he'll say prednisone is the next step, which I've never been on before. Here's the thing. I'm going to be traveling in europe for almost all of August. I'm afraid of dealing with the prednisone side effects (whatever they might be for me) while traveling.

Should I:

(1) Go on prednisone and hope for the best
(2) Stay on the upped Asacol/culturelle/fish oil and hope things stay manageable until I get back
(3) Try to convince my gastro to put me on something less drastic in the meantime (e.g. VSL3, nicotine, whatever)

Thoughts?

I would ask your doctor about both mesalamine enemas and VSL#3 DS. They both helped me when I was flaring.

These can sometimes take a while to work though so you might think about starting a quick taper of prednisone. I did not have any side effects when I took it but some people do such as bad temper, trouble sleeping, gaining wait, etc.

You might still think about trying the enemas. The thought is that your oral medicine might reach the upper part of your colon easier and the enema would reach the lower portion easier. The "treat from both ends" approach.

When I fly to Europe, I make sure I take immodium with me as well...especially for the plane ride if you are having any urgency issues.