xrayzerase in my experince nothing is a good drug to put it into remission... I'm taking Pentasa 500mg pills x2 four times a day... Thats 4000mg of pentasa... I'm also on 60 mg of predinsone a day (30 mg every 12 hours), I also get Remicade infusions every 2 months... All of that is holding the crohn's at bay for now...
When I reach 40mg or lower of prednsione then I might start flaring again.. Or I might not... Their is no set drug out their that works for putting you in remission... It is just trial and error... Sometimes people go into remission on thier own without changing anything.. It's just the gamble you have to take..
BUT be sure to tell your doctor to taper you off of the entocort when your 8 weeks is up... In my personal experince any sudden change in anything may cause you to have a flare up...
I would tell your doc at the 8 week mark when they want you to come off of it to go down to 6mg for two weeks and then 3mg for two weeks... Just to play it safe...
But remember things could always get better or worse at anytime...
So my advice to you is take the pills as directed, exercise (if your body is up to it), eat right, and take the right supplements...
As far as supplements go you generally want to get the time released ones...
Big huge calcium carbonate tablets may cause you to get an obstruction if they don't dissolve... Same with the multivitamens... Get time released on all mineral based pills... That way they will break apart so much better in your stomach and plus they will absorb a lot better... Softgels, capsules, chewables, and liquids are fine too... Some non timed released mineral pills are ok too so long as they have a very low elemental content in them or if they are designed to break apart quickly... DO NOT confuse vitamens with minerals... They absorb differently and break apart differently than minerals...
Also you said
i am getting the omega 3's and take a multi vitamin and calcium/magnesium pill.
If you are having any active crohn's then make sure that calcium is Calcium Citrate it can also be called Calcium Citrate Malate... It is desinged to break up in low acid content stomachs and is very very absorbable... BUT you have to take a lot more of them... Also make sure you are getting plenty of Vitamen D as well... You can take all the calcium and magnesium you want but if your body isn't processing the vitamen D then it is just going to be nice calcium poop...
Corticosteriods (budesnide, solumedral, prednsione) all are procesed in the liver... That is also where a lot of other things are processed such as converting Vitamen D2 to Vitamen D3....
WATCH OUT ON VITAMIN D...
It more than likely will not tell you on the front part of the bottle what kind of Vitamen D you are getting in in your supplements...
Their are only 2 real kinds of Vitamen D a human needs... The first one is D3 (Cholecalciferol)... This is generally added to milk and other food based things... Your body can more or less go ahead and start using D3 for the stuff it needs to do... You will not over dose on Vitamen D3 from food... You can over dose on Vitamin D3 (Cholecalciferol) from supplements though...
Vitamen D2 (ergocalciferol or calciferol) is more or less the natural verison of Vitmen D... This what your body proccess in the liver and basicly converts it over into D3 on its own.. Provided you expose yourself to 15 minutes of sun light everyday... Vitamen D2 that doesn't get converted in the liver is basicly like the calcium/magnesium that doesn't get absorbed... It is nice happy vitamen/mineral rich pooop and pee...
Anyway...
So you should buy a vitamen D supplement that says on the back of the bottle (Vitamin D (as Ergocalciferol))... I take 2 400 IU (Vitamin D (as Ergocalciferol)) tablets a day... But I also have osteopenia and I am on a lot more corticosteriods than you are on...
Ok time for round 2 of valium based sleeping pills. FIGHT!
I have to go to sleep soon or else I'm going to have to stay up... Next prednsione dose is in about 5 hours... But I want to be awake in the day and alseep at night... Ughhhhhh....
Ok gives me more time to post my vitamen babble until hopefully I get drugged up enough to where I can sleep and then wake up and take my prednsione then go back to sleep LOL...
Ohhh yeah today is wednesday... Time for fosamax Yahhhhhh!!!!!