Hi there,
I have had crohns since 1997 had a resection surgery and was just released from hospital today for an obstruction. Everything the specialist has tried has not worked forever and i think that is what this disease is all about. you go into remission just like cancer with it and no matter how long you are on a certain drug it will always come back. I have done some extensive research with this disease and feel that it is a lifestyle that people live that makes it come back and when it does it usually comes back ten fold. i have been put on pentasa back in 03 when i had my surgery and again since i have been released from hospital but without predisone it really wont do much for too long. As any crohns patient knows you cant take a steroid forever due to complications with bones and stomach lining so the best advised i can give would be that when you feel the symptoms flare up make sure you have 5 days of predisone on hand and also a month worth of pentasa on hand so u dont end up in emergency room with your stomach half open having you intestines ripped out. flare ups are for more than 7 days up to a month if not longer if treated. if you have thes2 meds on hand and it has been more than a week with a flare up take perscribed amount which is usually 40mg of predisone for the first week and decrease by 5mg weekly after the first and pentasa is usually 1000mg 4 times a day. Stay on soft diet low fibre while in flare up. hope this helps
Lee
(canada)
Aug 29, 2009
i <3 entocort by: Anonymous
When I was first diagnosed, I was given entocort for 3 months, before my azathioprine had a chance to kick in. It was amazing. It really reduced my pain, and as far as I could tell, there were no side effects. I was sad when I was supposed to go off it. Nothing else is as consistently awesome (but I also don't want to be taking steroids forever).
Aug 17, 2009
Entocort vs. Pentasa by: Vanisha, NZ
Well, I can't say much about Entocort so for that my advice may very well be useless.
However, I do have some advice on Pentasa. I have been taking Pentasa now for around 8 years non-stop and during that time I have had 2 flare-ups - one of which lasted 4 years.
I recently got put on Azathioprine and still I felt sick. One day I decided to stop taking the Pentasa as it always made me feel nauseas afterwards. It's been more than 2 months and I now feel free of my earlier symptoms and I have a healthy appetite in which I can eat anything I crave - including spicy food.
So I'm not saying that Pentasa is bad for you but I listened to my body in terms of nausea and I now feel on top of the world.
