I start on it tuesday the 21st. We will see how it goes. I have done the asacol, imuran, apriso, and I would be in remission for a while, but I am out of it and Doc put me on remicade. Praying that it works well to put me back in remission.

I wish I had tips but I spent so long just eating bland stuff like pasta & cheese (and I put a LOT of cheese on my pasta!) and I'm just getting the weight off now. I have a coworker with UC, also on prednisone, and she says walking helps her a lot. Right now I'm still trying to find a balance - I'm not eating enough right now I think.

Can you fool your stomach with more vegetables/fruits without causing yourself problems? That didn't work for me before but it seems to be working now.

Susan - definitely take a book or something! And I'm always tired after the infusion, which is apparently very common. I'm OK by the next day though.

Well, I have had two infusions of the remicade. I am doing SO much better now. I have been so busy that I haven't had time to sit down much at the computer. HA I actually worked a full day yesterday, which is a big deal because I am a substitute teacher.

I was really suprised at how well I did. I didn't have to run to the bathroom or anything. I sure slept well last night also. HA

I go see my gi doc on thursday. I am hoping he will take me off of the immuran and the asacol. That will take 15 pills out of my daily pill box.

I have felt tired, of course, I was doing it during the lunch time for me, so I felt bad anyway afterward until I was able to eat. Even eating snacks during the infusion helped a little. My next appointment is after lunch this time and later in the day.

Rivka-I hadn't thought about juicing my veggies. Does that work for you? I know that I need to eat better, I am anemic, and I know that part of the reason is that I am not eating the proper food to get my nutrients, Yes, I am on vitamins, etc. but I think it would be best to get them through the right food.

I'm glad you're doing better! (I wonder if that's why my place has snacks - I hadn't thought about it!)

I hadn't mean juicing, actually, I meant eating lots of veggies to fool my stomach into thinking it's had a huge meal. I can only really do that since I'm in remission though. Juicing seems like a really good idea if you can't handle the fiber. You can still get all the other good stuff. I'll have to think about that if my stomach starts reacting badly to fiber again.

I was never on Imuran but my doc took me off everything else once it was clear the Remicade was working. I was scared to wean off the prednisone to be honest. Every time my tummy rumbled I'd worry I was going to flare again. But I was OK.

Hey guys, so far I've been on prednisone for 2 months, and have actually lost 2 lbs. Now I know everyone’s different, but I think there are definite ways to avoid gaining weight while on the dreaded pred. For one it makes you super hungry, the key to dealing with this is to have good self control. Everyone I've talked to that gained a lot of weight on the stuff, seemed to just eat so bad. Like eating everything in sight. Even e few of you stated you ate micky d's everyday, or pasta with cheese, I think that has more to do with weight gain then the actual pred. Sure it made you hungry, but it didn't make you make poor food choices.

Second usually when your put on pred, your going through a bad flare, so you may not have the energy to workout, add in the food cravings, and if you give into not doing any workouts or eating bad, then of course you will gain weight, regardless if you’re on pred or not.

Finally, the water retention it causes. There really isn't a way to avoid this side effect. I just drank lots of water, hoping that it would flush out of my system quickly. I also worked out and tried to sweat as much as I could.

Again, if you gained weight I'm not here trying to bash you of course. I know everyone is different, and I'm sure it does cause tons of weight gain in some people. But I also think some use it as an excuse on why they gained the weight, instead of looking at what they may of been putting into their body while on it. I know I made an effort to eat even better while on it, and tried my best to eat less calories. I had my days where I would just be snacking all day, or would breakdown and eat something pretty bad, but most days were good, and I really haven't seen much negative in the weight department. Now the other side effects that's a different story.