prednisone question

I have been battling a flare now for a few months, starting using hydrocortisone enemas which helped but can't take them for long (doc said), seems to get better with corifoam enemas then bam back again. I have switched out the balsalazide for brand name colazal to see if it makes a difference which cost me $201.00 for 270 pills through my insurance, but if it works I will pay it. Anyway, still seeing blood in toilet bowl no diarrhea though and only going like 2 times a day. I have tried all supplements that I think could help, am using wheat grass juice, vsl #3ds, align, L-glutamine powder, psylium seed powder, tried eating just bland, no wheat etc. etc.,
I have even resorted to smoking 3 cigarettes a day, but nothing still bleeding. I wouldn't say its a lot of blood, but it is very concerning to me. I have also alternated with canasa and mesalamine enemas when I stopped the cortifoam ones. It seems my medicine regimen is all over the place, as I am frantic to get this under control.

I have emailed my doctor to ask for a course of prednisone, although when i last say him a month ago he said the prednisone would have to be taken for 2 months.

My question is is this the usual timeframe for prednisone or is there a shorter course that can be taken?

I was thinking last night of when I was originally on asacol 400 mg. and things were so much better. I should sue that company for discontinuing it. lol

There really is no standard way to take prednisone, other than when on high doses for longer periods, it must be tapered. You can take it for just one to a few days or for a few months. It really shouldn't be taken longer than a few months. The only real question is how much and how long does a particular person have to take it in order to achieve meaningful results. Your doctor believes that that is two months. Maybe he's right, maybe he's wrong. If it is going to be effective you don't want to take it for too short of a period, get worse, and then have to increase the dosage and start all over again, which is what your doctor is trying to avoid. That happens a lot. It's important to note that prednisone, if it works, only works while you take it and does not work after you get off. So, you need an effective maintenance plan that will work once the pred is removed. If you don't have one then, in a way, it doesn't really matter if you take it one day, two months, or two years. If it isn't going to work then it isn't going to work. It's also important to note that prednisone sometimes doesn't work at all to put you into remission. In those cases your maintenance meds don't even have a chance.

Why not use a mesalamine enema along with (alternating) the hydrocort enema or cortifoam?

I know sometimes for me it just takes the bleeding a little while to stop. Generally for me as long as my bm's seem to be improving that the blood will subside but just takes time to heal. If it's not getting worse then maybe just keep doing what your doing and give it a little time. It's hard to see blood constantly though, I understand. Good luck