He will likely need more than a week to see if the meds are helping. It can take a while for medications to really take affect.

I assume he has a follow up visit with his GI doc within the next month or so, right? Usually, they will do a follow up in the office, several weeks after the colonoscopy to see how you're doing, what your bowel movements are like, if you're still bleeding, etc.

So, I'd say unless he takes a serious turn for the worse, he should give it a little time and then see what the doctor says at his follow up visit. However,if he can't afford his medication and is not taking them as prescribed, including the canasa, he needs to call his GI and let him know that. There may be a patient discount programs or something like that on those

It can take time, like weeks at the least, before the bleeding slows or stops.

It can take different medication attempts before finding the right mix of drugs to work for a person. This is not something that always gets fixed right away nor stays fixed after the drugs are given.

The meds are often expensive and there are usually more than one medication. One thing to do is to look up the manufacturer of the medications to see if they provide any rebate cards to use at the pharmacy with insurance. The rebate card was and is a life saver for me.

I will be important for your son to work closely with his GI in the coming months. Letting the GI know how the meds are working or not working in order to get things under control.

Wishing your Son luck in this. He will depend on your love and support. My Mother was a huge help to me when I was first diagnosed....what am I saying :) She is still a huge help to me.

Good luck and keep us posted.
Rachel

thanks so much for the supportive help. He has taken 24 tablets so far - I guess I am not much of a patient waiter. I just want to see him get better. This site is so helpful - thanks again and I will keep everyone updated. God bless.

The Canasa suppositories really helped me, you should really look into getting help to pay for them but yes it will take some time to heal no matter what meds he takes and make sure you keep his Dr. informed. If he doesn't see any improvement in a couple of weeks make sure the DR. knows, he may be able to help him get them.
Will keep him in my prayers!

I don't think you can have both Crohns and Colitis. You have either look at this link http://www.inflamed-and-untamed.com/post/20903022852/can-you-have-both-crohns-disease-and-ulcerative

I believe your son has Crohns Disease because all the layers of his intestine were affected. Let me know what you think. This woman is an expert about the subject and has done a ton of research. Talk to the folks at the Mayo Clinic or the Cleveland Clinic and see what they say too.

I'm not clear if he has ulcerative colitis, or colitis, since they're two different things. If it's just colitis, he can have that with Crohns. Anyone can get colitis.

The list of different types are located here. Wonder what the doctor told their family what the don had. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colitis

Meant to say son. Small phone keyboard and you can't edit your postings on an IPhone with this site.

Right. I mean colitis itself is inflammation of the colon. Non-ulcerative colitis can be caused by Chron's but it can be caused by other things too like an infection. My brother had a bout of colitis last year, unrelated to IBD. Was given antibiotics and it went away.

I have UC and the bleeding comes from the ulcers. If its colitis then it's just inflammation. Mine was so bad in the beginning that I was required to have my periods stop and needed iron infusions from all the blood loss, I am well controlled now with Asacol 800mg three times per day and when I do have a flare I must also use the enemas daily. My vitamin and mineral levels were checked with a blood test and some of them were extremely low. My GI doctor is very good and finally after having it for five years it's mostly controlled. There are many things I cannot eat as ive discovered over time it causes it to flare up again. Hope this is helpful and im so glad it's me and not one of my kid's. It must be hard seeing your son go through this, I'm sorry.

Another thought to throw into the mix....he may also have a bleeding hemorrhoid. That was the case with me...I had UC and a hemorrhoid.

Since going almost gluten free and limiting the night shade veggies (tomatoes, potatoes, peppers and eggplant) I in remission. I have found that it is more the peels on potatoes, tomatoes and peppers that bother me. Another food that irritates is yellow cheeses. Everyone has different foods that trigger a flare.

I am glad to see more people speaking out about diet change. I know with the big pharma groupies this is not a popular stance. The fact that you can better control your condition by learning which foods effect or trigger you will only help a person. It's a nice fantasy to think you can just eat whatever you want, whenever you want, and rely on pharmacueticals. Many do that. But if you want to take back some of your own power and lessen possible pharma side effects, it is good to learn the which foods effect your body negatively.

I have to step in here and reply to a comment made earlier in the thread. You CAN have Crohn's and Ulcerative Colitis at the same time. I DO! This has been diagnosed by first a team of doctors and confirmed independently by two others. They involve different parts of the intestine.

When I was first diagnosed the entire team of the group I was seeing had to make the diagnoses because at the time it was rare. The last time I saw a gastro doctor I asked about it. It is no longer rare but it is uncommon.