Good experience with Entocort
I started taking Entocort starting on September 30, 2012, and I stopped taking it on February 18, 2013 (almost five months in total). I had already been taking Imuran when I started, but I was still going to the bathroom more often than I wanted to be.
Taking the pills
I took three pills a day. They are red and white capsules. Since I can’t swallow pills, I opened the capsules, emptied the tiny white balls inside the capsules into my mouth, and then washed them down with some juice and something to eat. I couldn’t put the balls in the juice, because the balls would stick to the bottom of the cup. The balls didn’t have much of a taste, but the sensation of swallowing them was kind of weird.
Side effects
The pills didn’t really seem to do anything for quite a while; I was still going to the bathroom about as much as I did before.
Around December, my face got really big. Consequently, my driver’s license picture and university graduation pictures look horrible. Other than that, I didn’t experience any side effects.
I don’t recall exactly when the pills started working, but by my next appointment with my gastroenterologist on January 8, I had been going to the bathroom normally, and everything was well.
Blood tests
When I started taking Imuran in June 2012, I had to have a blood test every month. I’m not entirely clear whether the blood test was also needed for the Entocort, but since I was still taking Imuran, I still had monthly blood tests. At my appointment, my gastroenterologist told me my blood levels were great.
Tapering off
After my appointment, I started tapering off, taking two pills for three weeks, then one pill for two weeks, then one pill every other day until I had no more pills left. I didn’t experience any side effects from tapering off.
A month later
Now, my Crohn’s seems to still be under control. Quite soon after I stopped taking the Entocort, my face started going back to normal. I have an appointment with my gastroenterologist next month, so we’ll see where we want to go from there.