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Budesonide EC Dosing

The budesonide EC dosing guidelines your healthcare provider will follow will be based on several factors, such as the severity of your Crohn's disease. In general, the recommended budesonide EC dosage for treating active Crohn's disease is 9 mg once a day in the morning. After eight weeks on this dosage, your budesonide EC dose may be decreased to 6 mg once a day, for approximately three months.

 

Budesonide Dosing: An Introduction

The dose of budesonide EC (Entocort® EC) your healthcare provider recommends will vary depending on a number of factors, including:
 
  • The severity of your Crohn's disease
  • Other medical conditions you have
  • Other medications you are taking.
     
As always, do not adjust your budesonide EC dose unless your healthcare provider specifically instructs you to do so.
 

Budesonide Dosing for Active Crohn's Disease

The recommended budesonide EC dose for treating active Crohn's disease is budesonide EC 9 mg (three capsules) taken once daily in the morning, for up to eight weeks. After eight weeks, you may be switched to a "maintenance dose," which helps to keep the symptoms of Crohn's disease under control. If you have more flares at later dates, you can take additional eight-week courses of budesonide EC at the active Crohn's disease dose.
 

Maintenance Budesonide Dosing

After an eight-week course of budesonide EC at the full dose, you should be switched to a lower, "maintenance dose" for three more months. This helps keep the symptoms under control. The dose for this period is budesonide EC 6 mg (two capsules) once daily in the morning. After three months, your healthcare provider will usually recommend slowly stopping budesonide EC.
 
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Written by/reviewed by: Kristi Monson, PharmD; Arthur Schoenstadt, MD
Last reviewed by: Kristi Monson, PharmD;