how long before suppositories/enemas work?

Neither of these meds will work immediately. You need to give them at least a couple of weeks, I think, to properly judge success or failure.

You should never just stop taking any type of prescription medicine on your own you should always consult with a Dr first. I've taken these meds before and the Dr specifically told me to give them time because you may not see any results for the first week or so. If you decide to stop im your own and then let your Dr know they tend to get a bit annoyed and frustrated knowing a lot of different medicines take some time to show results. Unfortunately when you consult the Dr he might have to start the meds all over again because he was never told to stop by the Dr. I would call whoever prescribed the meds and let them know that you did not see results from however long you took them and be honest with them by telling them you made the decision to stop. Good Luck hope everything works out for you and your son.

I'm on Canasa in the evening and hydrocortizone suppositories in the morning indefinitely until I am symptom free and that can be weeks or in my case months. I've never had the enemas. I'm being treated for cuffitis. They aren't like antibiotics that work right away. Tell your son that he'll get use to using them. He might not want to use them because they can be uncomfortable when inserting, due to the inflammation, but in the long run they won't be. It works best if you use vasoline or lubricant to help with inserting the medication. I hope he's feeling better soon.

You often need to continue at least one of these meds (canasa usually) even after your symptoms improve and it can take several weeks for you to see an improvement taking them daily. Canasa is like a maintenance medication for chronic cuffitis and my GI indicates it is the most benign of medications to take so you can take this long term without worrying about significant side effects.

My surgeon was more concerned abnout long term anucort use due to skin thinning issues (esp at the connection), but Bo Shen indicated you can also take this medication 'forever' for cuffitis. I just would try and get periods of time where you are off the anucort and using canasa in between as I am still very leary about taking anucort for longer than a couple of weeks at a time.

Yes what jeane said. The Anucort by it's self doesn't rid me of cuffitis but Canasa has so the Anucort is just to boost the Canasa into action. Canasa is the main one, and also the most expensive.

Thanks - (I made a mistake when I wrote "enema". Does anyone take canasa 2x a day? How long do you make sure it is in before you go to the bathroom? Thank you!

Ideally, you want to retain the Canasa for 3 hours, or a minimum of 1 hour. Make sure to administer after emptying the pouch. Usually, dosing is once a day at bedtime, but twice a day is not unusual for severe or stubborn cases.

Once things begin to calm down, he should be able to retain them longer.

If he can't retain them at all, ask about oral meds, like Pentasa or Azulfidine.

Jan

Thank you. Would it make sense to take the oral meds AND the rectal suppositories for more of a chance to work?