I have Crohns and had a flare up so I'm back on 40mg of Prednison...

Hi, I'd suggest that you take a look at the following website:

http://www.fibermenace.com/

It has lots of useful info about digestive diseases (including on Crohn's). Good luck, and if at all possible, stay away fr. corticosteroids as their side effects are many and far-reaching.

Like you, I wish the drug manufactures WOULD not COULD develop something better than Prednisone. I suppose they fear putting themselves out of a job. Nothing like job security!!!

If you have joint pain as a result of using Prednisone, demand an MRI (because x-ray will not detect necrosis in its early stages) because many people do not know that the joint pain that's described in the product monograph is a vague inference to "bone death" that should be a disclosed risk, but isn't. My daughter took it for 4 months for an acute attack of Ulc. Colitis, but ended up losing her colon anyway. Two years later, she was diagnosed with osteonecrosis in her right shoulder, both elbows, both wrists, both knees, and both ankles.

I too was diagnosed with Crohns when I was 17 years old. I am now 36 and have not been on prednisone for this condition for over 20 years. I recently was diagnosed with SNHL(Sensorineural hearing loss) and was put on prednisone again. I am now remembering all the terrible side effects of this medicine. I have headaches, night sweats, bloating, eating everything in sight and the weight gain is awful. It did help me with my Crohns as I have not had a flare up in over 15 years. It has also helped with my hearing and I am on my 3rd week of pred(started with 40mg for 4 days, then 30mg for 4 days, etc.) and will taper to 10mg daily for a month. Pred is a very strong drug and I too wish they had something that didn't do so much "harm" to our bodies. Good luck with your Crohns and I hope you feel better soon.

I'm sorry to hear of your troubles. Like you, I've been dealing with Crohn's for over ten years and have been put on varying dosages of Prednisone throughout those years. I'm currently on 30 mg and have been for about a month. However, before a trip to the hospital (which sparked the 30mg dosage), I had been on 20mg for a couple of months. My doctor thinks that my tapering off the prednisone is what sent me to the hospital. Nasty stuff.

Yet the alternatives are not so great. I'm now on 6 MP, which scares me to death, but seems to be a good way of getting me off of the prednisone. So I guess it's pick your poison. Crohn's is a hard disease to deal with, but there are many support systems out there for you.

I wish you luck and good health.

please try diet if your have crohns. you can control it with diet and not have to depend so much on harmful drugs

There are many natural products/alternatives for health issues . . .instead of taking drugs that cause side effects.