Tapering off Entocort: Side effects

Lilja · Post by **Lilja** » Thu Apr 23, 2015 12:49 am

Hi all,

I have been on Entocort 3 mg since June 2014.

Started tapering off in December 2014, and I'm now down to 1 capsule every 6th day.

My stomach acts ok, aside from some accidents with obvious causes.

However, my joints have recently started aching, i.e. knees and hands, aching and swelling. I used to have arthritis pains some 30 years ago, but they went away after I had my kids. At that time I didn't have any digestion problems.

I have tried to search on the net if joint pains are known side effects from tapering off Entocort, but I cannot find any.

Do you know if this is common? How long does the corticosteroids "stay" in the body after weaning off?

I hope they will disappear completely, given time.

Would be glad to hear other people's experience

Lilia

jessica329 · Post by **jessica329** » Thu Apr 23, 2015 5:40 am

I had no joint pain. My mother has bad joint pain (and continues to) after stopping birth control. Her doctor said that joint pain is common for women after menopause due to the decrease in hormones.

nerdhume · Post by **nerdhume** » Thu Apr 23, 2015 6:09 am

I was on pain pills for joint & muscle pain before dx. After on a very restricted diet that all stopped and I got off the pills. Steroids will mask all symptoms including joint pain, so getting off Entocort may be the reason.

Post by **tex** » Thu Apr 23, 2015 10:35 am

Hi Lilia,

Withdrawal symptoms are not nearly as common with budesonide as with the other corticosteroids, but they can still happen, especially after long-term use. And the longer budesonide is used, the greater the chances that withdrawal symptoms might occur. Please read Sally's account of her withdrawal symptoms after long-term use of prednisone. This happened back when budesonide was finally approved by the FDA, and she tried to switch to Entocort. Before that approval, prednisone was the only potent option for treating MC. Sally posted this soon after this board was created, almost 10 years ago:

Prednisone Withdrawal

Tex

lisaw · Post by **lisaw** » Thu Apr 23, 2015 2:39 pm

I had bad joints in my hands, that was suppressed while on Entocort. It returned when I got off, but at a significantly lower, less bothersome level.

Lisa

Lilja · Post by **Lilja** » Sun Apr 26, 2015 1:55 am

Thank you all for your replies.

I will endure the pains, and when the day comes where I can take my last capsule... If D returns, I will focus even more on diet, because I will never take Entocort again.

Lilia