Budesonide MMX 9 mg / Cortiment
Content date: 15 November 2026
A corticosteroid released in the colon to settle mild-to-moderate active ulcerative colitis. Some products are also prescribed for microscopic colitis, according to their approved use and your clinician’s plan.
Your next step
Check your written prescription and monitoring plan. If anything is unclear, ask your care team before changing a dose.
Get urgent help: Breathing difficulty or facial swelling, or fainting and profound weakness with repeated vomiting: seek urgent care.
How do I use it?
- The usual prescribed adult course is one 9-mg tablet in the morning, with or without food, generally for up to eight weeks. Swallow whole with water: do not split, crush or chew. Follow your leaflet for missed doses; never double. Your clinician decides when and how to stop, particularly when changing from another steroid.
How do I store it?
- Follow your own pack’s temperature limit; the referenced Cortiment leaflet specifies below 30°C. Keep away from children, heat and moisture. Do not leave it in a car.
What tests do I need?
- Symptoms, blood pressure, glucose, infections and mood are reviewed as appropriate. Other tests may be needed for new symptoms or longer steroid exposure. Disclose liver disease, diabetes or eye problems.
Possible side effects: what to expect
- Not everyone experiences side effects. Headache, nausea, bloating, abdominal pain or sleep difficulties may occur. Report persistent or troublesome symptoms. It acts mainly in the bowel and generally has fewer whole-body steroid effects than prednisolone, but these are not absent.
- The body’s cortisol production may be suppressed, and steroid effects such as glucose or mood changes and increased infection susceptibility can occur. Duration, liver disease and other medicines affect risk. Interaction checks, monitoring and a planned stopping schedule help reduce it.
Important points
- MMX tablets are not automatically interchangeable with 3-mg budesonide capsules or rectal foam: their release site and uses differ. This is not usual long-term maintenance treatment for ulcerative colitis. Avoid grapefruit and check new medicines, particularly clarithromycin or some antifungals, with the pharmacist. If you have a soya or peanut allergy, do not start Cortiment until your pharmacist or doctor checks it; the referenced formulation contains a soya-derived ingredient. Tell the team about pregnancy or breastfeeding.
My prescribed plan - complete with the team
Brand / device: ........................ | Dose and how I take or use the medicine: ........................
Next dose: ........................ | Next blood tests: ........................
Team contact: ........................
Brand / device: ........................ | Dose and how I take or use the medicine: ........................
Next dose: ........................ | Next blood tests: ........................
Team contact: ........................
Budesonide products: the release site matters
| Product | Intended site / use | How it differs |
|---|---|---|
| Entocort 3 mg modified-release capsules | End of small bowel / start of colon; selected Crohn’s disease. Certain products also treat microscopic colitis. | Usually taken in the morning. Follow your pack and prescribed capsule count; do not crush or chew. |
| Cortiment MMX 9 mg prolonged-release tablet | Colon; selected ulcerative colitis. The referenced product also has a microscopic-colitis indication. | Swallow whole in the morning; do not split, crush or chew. |
| Jorveza orodispersible tablet | Esophagus; eosinophilic esophagitis in adults for this formulation. | Dissolves in the mouth after a meal; swallowed saliva carries the medicine. Follow its instructions, including the 30-minute gap before food, drink or oral hygiene. |
The same ingredient does not make these products interchangeable. Three 3-mg capsules are not an automatic replacement for one MMX 9-mg tablet. Uses, local licences and instructions differ; use the exact prescribed formulation.
When to get help
Breathing difficulty or facial swelling, or fainting and profound weakness with repeated vomiting: seek urgent care.
Contact the team promptly for fever or infection, chickenpox exposure, blurred vision or significant mood changes. Review the plan if symptoms do not improve.