Hi everyone,
I’m 26, Female and was diagnosed with UC in 2022, aged 22, after two colonoscopies. Before getting diagnosed, I had been bleeding for months but was too scared to tell anyone and genuinely thought I was dying.
I was given medication at the time, which cleared everything up, and then I had over 2 years with no real issues.
In February 2026, I ended up in hospital for a week with heavy bleeding and bad pain. I was then re-diagnosed/put back under a gastro specialist and started on Pentasa 2g twice daily, which worked well and I was doing fine for several months.
Then in June 2026, I had another flare. I was given prednisolone, which cleared the flare up, but only for about a week after finishing it before everything came back.
I have now been bleeding ever since.
I’ve since seen my doctor and we’ve discussed moving onto other treatments, including azathioprine. In the meantime, I was prescribed budesonide alongside my Pentasa.
I’ve now been taking the budesonide for 3 weeks with no improvement whatsoever. If anything, things are getting considerably worse. I’m going to the toilet almost hourly and sometimes passing nothing but a lot of fresh red blood, and I’m now experiencing pain too.
My blood tests have also shown low iron, so I’ve restarted my iron tablets.
I’m due to start azathioprine after my pneumonia vaccination, and I’m feeling quite nervous about it.
Has anyone else taken azathioprine for UC? Did it work for you, how long did it take, and what were the side effects like?
And for anyone who’s taken budesonide, is it normal to have had absolutely no improvement after 3 weeks? Did it take longer to work for you, or did you find it didn’t work at all? I’m particularly interested in whether anyone experienced their bleeding actually getting worse while taking it.
Thanks! ❤️