Help please 🙏 I'm petrified

Hi everyone,
I have had UC for 36 years and have managed it over the years with Asacol tablets (and occasionally prednisone enema's), and Pentasa suppositories.
Yesterday I had a colonoscopy due to an ongoing stubborn flare-up. My GI says he has found about 10cm of ulcers in my rectum. He says he is surprised I'm managing to go out of my house. He says it was quite difficult to get biopsies of the area because it has become a bit tough from untreated ongoing inflammation.
I've always thought I managed it quite well.
Anyway, he has prescribed 40mg of oral Prednisone to be taken daily for 15 days! I'm petrified to be on oral prednisone for only 10cm of disease. I have never taken oral Prednisone. It sounds like a very high dose to me and from what I have read, the side effects are awful. He then went on to say that I need to go on Xeljanz therafter. This is a relatively new immune suppressant. I am so scared of this as well. How badly does this affect a person's immune system? I hope someone has experience of the above and can please shed some light on these therapies. I'm feeling incredibly depressed by all this news.
Many thanks in advance.

I hear you! I managed for a decade without meds and then had a huge flare a few years ago. I did some research and asked for Budesonide instead of Prednisone—it’s a gut specific steroid with fewer side effects but more expensive. It worked for me.

I also started Entyvio, which has worked well for two years now. I was terrified by steroids and biologics, but did some serious thinking about my priorities. If these risks are what I need to take to be well and live my life, it’s worth it. It took me a lot of processing to get there, but I’m glad I did.

Strength and courage to you!

Sorry that you got a nasty scope report that scares you. It happens to most of us at one time or another. I had to take a course of Pred in 1990s that started at 40 mg daily, then I began tapering after the 8th day. Main side effect was that I felt hungry 'round the clock so ate too much and gained more weight than I needed. Mid-taper I developed the dreaded "moonface" which took 3-4 weeks to get rid of. So my advice would be to counter hunger pangs with low calorie foods if you feel ravenous between meals, also watch salt intake to avoid fluid-buildup. Hopefully you'll heal the ulceration within 3 months and then transition to safer maintenance med(s). Toward the end of my Pred taper I was splitting the 5 mg tablets in half, then the 2.5 mg remains acted like bandaids while I increased mesalamine med. No annoying side effects from that type of taper in my case. Wishing you steady improvement of flare symptoms! Try to stay positive about your situation and let us know how you're doing. / Old Hat (40+ yrs with left-sided UC; in remission taking Colazal)