“Your disease is likely to progress if you don’t take your medications,” says Twan Phanijphand, DO, a gastroenterologist with St. Anthony’s Medical Center in St. Louis. And this can increase your risk of more serious problems, including colon cancer. A review published in 2019 in Gastroenterology Research and Practice found that the risk of colon cancer increased dramatically every decade a person has ulcerative colitis. Staying in remission with medication may reduce this risk. Stopping UC medication can also cause a relapse of symptoms, and relapse usually results in patients being put on prednisone and other steroids to get them back into remission. But steroids come with many side effects, especially when used long term, such as:
Weight gainHigh blood pressureIncreased appetiteMood fluctuationsBone lossCataractsDifficulty sleeping
“One reason to avoid frequent flares is so you can avoid steroid exposure,” Dr. Phanijphand says. Another reason to keep up with treatment is that to start and stop a medication like a biologic, which targets a specific protein that causes inflammation in the colon, may make the drug less effective the second time around. “It’s less effective because your body may form antibodies to it,” Phanijphand says. You may be able to switch to a different drug, but the options are limited.
Why Patients Stop UC Treatment
People stop taking their ulcerative colitis medications for a number of reasons, says Phanijphand. One of the leading reasons is the steep cost of the drugs. The out-of-pocket cost for prescription medicines can run over $2,000 per year, while the cost of UC care in general can run from roughly $15,000 to $25,000 per year, according to a study published in Inflammatory Bowel Diseases in January 2020. The study also found that patients using biologics had the highest costs. Treating UC with corticosteroids had higher costs than with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, but the latter group’s costs rose more over time. Also, when a person feels better, they may decide they no longer need UC medicine. “Some patients think that once their symptoms are gone, they can stop taking their meds,” Phanijphand says. “They believe they’re cured or that they may have been misdiagnosed.”
Tips and Tricks for Sticking With Treatment
It’s important to build a healthy UC medicine habit. If you’re having trouble with your medication, try these three tips to help you stay on track. Additional reporting by Jordan M. Davidson.
