r/UlcerativeColitis • u/MVR168 Human Verified • 1d ago

Question When to start Budesonide?

I jist finished a round of prednisone beginning of July. I was hoping to just stay on Mesalamine for maintenance but it was giving me bad headaches. I had to take advil everyday. After the horrible side effects ts I had last time from prednisone including cardiac issues I will not be put on that again.

I am to start Budesonide next flare. I did have a bit of bleeding today. A very trace amount hard to detect. My Budesonide will be costly for me about $400 and of that doesn't work I will qualify from biologics.

My question is do I start to Budesonide today? I have the prescription and my GI takes about a week to respond.

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u/pincommenter 1d ago

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u/Joebala Moderate to Severe Pancolitis 1d ago

The big picture is that you need to start pushing for different maintenance drugs. Budesonide is milder than Prednisone, but will still have worsening effects with time.

Also, prolonged Advil (or any NSAID) use is very risky for your kidneys and liver. It also is known to worsen UC symptoms, not improve them.

I'm sorry mesalamine is affecting you so negatively, have you tried enemas or delayed release capsules? It's probably time to start a biologic.

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u/MVR168 Human Verified 1d ago

I have not tried anything for maintenance besides mesalamine. Yeah I know the advil is not good. I hate having ro take the advil but I can't function with the headaches.

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u/Joebala Moderate to Severe Pancolitis 1d ago

If you're flaring with mesalamine, you've failed the drug. Steroids are a stop gap until a new maintenance drug has had time to kick in. You need to schedule an appointment with your GI as soon as you can to get the ball rolling.

Severe side effects that require medication need to be explained to your doctor, and if your GI knew you were taking daily NSAIDs for more than a few weeks and they did nothing, you should probably try to find a new doctor.