I have never been on prednisolone, but I have taken prednisone and it's very good at getting a flare under control. The main side effects for me were a very good appetite and puffy face but it's usually worth it. What does he take normally? What do you mean by consultant? It's not a Dr? Just curious!
I wish him the best of luck!

It's a very common course of short term treatment. It can affect moods and sleep. The doctor should monitor him while on them and taper him off of them when he's ready to stop taking them. Like Jean said, what has he been taking. It may be he would find some relief bumping him up to a different class of maintenance medication. I've had some success with that. Of course, what works for one person doesn't necessarily work for another. That's the hard part about managing UC and Crohn's.

Hi both,

Thank you for your responses!

He was on Asacol (and has been told to still take with steroids, so we are up to 14 tablets a day!) as that was suitable for the area in his colon that is affected by UC.

We have just hit day 6 on the steroids. Its made some difference, but not that much really. He is now getting up 1-2 times a night, and still in the morning too. Oddly he is now able to 'hold it' a little longer than before, but the frequency has not decreased.

Has anyone tried any natural remedies or changes to their lifestyle??

Doctor just advised to take them and come back in 2 weeks for a check up. Other than that, we don't get that much support which is frustrating!

Have you looked up anything about diet? All my doc told me was to not eat anything that's hard to digest such as red meat, corn and nuts but I googled and found quite a few other things that I no longer eat but everyone is different. Right now I'm on 3 dif meds for my UC, it's not and easy disease to get under control. Even after 6 years now on meds I still go at least 4 times a day, all in the morning mostly and still not much control over it but compared to the 15 times a day when in a flare I think I'm doing good. Just watch what he eats too. Best of luck!!

Asacol is kind of one of those drugs they start you on. I was on a similar drug in that drug class at first, and it worked for several years. Then things flared up so we moved to a different class of drug. I've been in remission for the most part ever since, for about 9 years. I think his doctor telling him to come back in 2 weeks reasonable.

Some people have success with changing their diet, but some people try that and still have problems. It's kind of trial and error, just like the meds. As a person who has this disease, it rubs me the wrong way when my husband or family members try to recommend things, so I would try to learn as much as you can, but let him decide how he wants to move forward and approach the disease.

You may want to check out Crohn's & Colitis Foundation of America (CCFA). It has a lot of good resources on line. If you're not in the US, it's still useful in just explaining the disease, diet, different treatment approaches, types of studies happening, etc.

Hope he can get back into remission soon!

You definitely should look up natural remedies and changes in lifestyle. Maybe try Humira too, that stuff wasn't around when I had ulcerative colitis. Also you'll get more responses over at jpouch.org than this place.