Decadron side effects

Janissi1
Janissi1 Member Posts: 34
in Ovarian Cancer #1

I have been given decadron steroids before chemo and was concerned about the side effects such as the sleeplessness, "moon face" and weight gain. Have any of you experienced such side effects? I talked to my doctor about it, and they agreed to reduce the dosage, but I'm still concerned. Any advice?

Comments

  • NoTimeForCancer
    NoTimeForCancer Member Posts: 3,360 Member
    #2
    Hi Janissi, I'm a visitor

    Hi Janissi, I'm a visitor from the Uterine board.  I believe I was given dexamethasone - but the thing about steroids is not to just stop taking them.  I was stepped down over 4 or 5 days. I had to go find the thread on the Uterine board (link below) where we had a good discussion about this and I pulled out the part where I mentioned my schedule.  If you did not get a schedule I would call the office and ask.

    https://csn.cancer.org/node/308416

    I was given a calendar with what to take every day starting with the steroids the night before (20 mg), the day of (20 mg), the following day (8 mg in the am and 8 mg at noon), the day after that (8 mg in the am and 8 mg at noon), the day after that (4 mg in the am and 4 mg at noon) and FINALLY the next day (4 mg in the am and 4 mg at noon) - so I had total of 6 days starting at 20 mg and stepping down.  (Each pill was 4 mg) 

  • Janissi1
    Janissi1 Member Posts: 34
    #3
    NoTimeForCancer said:

    Hi Janissi, I'm a visitor

    Hi Janissi, I'm a visitor from the Uterine board.  I believe I was given dexamethasone - but the thing about steroids is not to just stop taking them.  I was stepped down over 4 or 5 days. I had to go find the thread on the Uterine board (link below) where we had a good discussion about this and I pulled out the part where I mentioned my schedule.  If you did not get a schedule I would call the office and ask.

    https://csn.cancer.org/node/308416

    I was given a calendar with what to take every day starting with the steroids the night before (20 mg), the day of (20 mg), the following day (8 mg in the am and 8 mg at noon), the day after that (8 mg in the am and 8 mg at noon), the day after that (4 mg in the am and 4 mg at noon) and FINALLY the next day (4 mg in the am and 4 mg at noon) - so I had total of 6 days starting at 20 mg and stepping down.  (Each pill was 4 mg) 

    Hi NoTimeForCancer

    Thank you for your reply. I'm glad you visited this board. I'm going to visit the uterine board because I recently found out, after surgery, that I had two different types of cancer: one ovarian and another uterine.

    I'm only administered steroid right before chemo to reduce possible reaction from one of the chemo drugs. They don't have me scheduled for it on a regular basis.

    Did you experience the "moon face" or weight gain?

     

  • NoTimeForCancer
    NoTimeForCancer Member Posts: 3,360 Member
    #4
    Janissi, what kind of chemo

    Janissi, what kind of chemo are you getting and how often?  When do you start your first treatment?  

    While everyone is different I would think the more steroids you take the more likely of those kind of side effects you are asking about.  I did not experience either, but I worked with a woman who had triple negative breast cancer and she did get the weight gain because I think she got more chemo than me.  I understand your concern, I was wondering if I would gain weight.  I will say all of us have been told to try to keep our weight up - not to lose. 

    Many of us had taxol and carboplatin for our chemo.  Pretty powerful drugs, and some of the ladies have experienced neuropathy - numbness and tingling in their fingers and toes.  Some of the women have put ice packs on their extremeties.  I was fortunate not to experience this - again - everyone is different.  

     

  • Soup52
    Soup52 Member Posts: 908 Member
    #5
    Hi, I'm from the uterine

    Hi, I'm from the uterine board also. I only had steroids the night before and day of chemo and had the same chemo as no time. I didn't have the weight gain or moon face. I felt fine the day of and day after chemo maybe due to the steroids.

  • Janissi1
    Janissi1 Member Posts: 34
    #6
    Soup52 said:

    Hi, I'm from the uterine

    Hi, I'm from the uterine board also. I only had steroids the night before and day of chemo and had the same chemo as no time. I didn't have the weight gain or moon face. I felt fine the day of and day after chemo maybe due to the steroids.

    Hi Soup52

    Thank you for your input. It was very encouraging. I goingto visit the uterine board. I'm glad to hear from those of you who frequent there.

  • Janissi1
    Janissi1 Member Posts: 34
    #7
    abrub said:

    I had decade on just with chemo, too

    Moon face is more common with long - term steroid use, not the single doses you get with chemo.  I always took sleeping pills during chemo, so I wasn't as affected by the decadron buzz.  My chemo (as a colorectal cancer found on my ovary) included a 3 day hookup to a chemo pump, so I needed sleeping meds. 

    Abrub

    Whew! Although I feel for those who experience that side effect, I'm glad I'm not on them long-term. Yes, indeed, you definitely needed sleeping meds. I hope you are doing better.

  • Janissi1
    Janissi1 Member Posts: 34
    edited June 2017 #8
    NoTimeForCancer said:

    Janissi, what kind of chemo

    Janissi, what kind of chemo are you getting and how often?  When do you start your first treatment?  

    While everyone is different I would think the more steroids you take the more likely of those kind of side effects you are asking about.  I did not experience either, but I worked with a woman who had triple negative breast cancer and she did get the weight gain because I think she got more chemo than me.  I understand your concern, I was wondering if I would gain weight.  I will say all of us have been told to try to keep our weight up - not to lose. 

    Many of us had taxol and carboplatin for our chemo.  Pretty powerful drugs, and some of the ladies have experienced neuropathy - numbness and tingling in their fingers and toes.  Some of the women have put ice packs on their extremeties.  I was fortunate not to experience this - again - everyone is different.  

     

    Hi NoTimeForCancer

    I got my 4th does today. I've been getting chemo ever three weeks. They want to give me a total of 6 rounds. They were giving me Taxol and Carboplantin, but because I have two types of cancer (ovarian and uterine), they got me off Taxol and put me on Palonosetron for my uterine cancer. They also put me on Neulastra.

    My first treatment was in February when I was first diagnosed. They gave me the first chemo right before they sent me home from being admitted.

    It's funny because my relative, who is a doctor, told me the same thing about not losing too much weight. Since February, I've lost about 30 lbs. My goal was to lose more weight, but my relative told me no. She, and apparently, the doctor, nurse, etc. think I look fine...but still. So, I decided to continue to eat right and not worry about it.

    You are bringing up so many things I talked about today! The lady across from me has neuropathy and was wearing these mitts on her hands and socks on her feet (both cold) to help with the symptoms. I have experienced tingling in my fingers, but maining numbness on my toes. It's not that bad though.

    It's great you didn't experience those negative side effects. Thank you so much for answering and comforting me. I feel better now in that sense, but very thoughtful of another serious issue I will discuss in the uterine board.

  • abrub
    abrub Member Posts: 2,174 Member
    #9
    I had decade on just with chemo, too

    Moon face is more common with long - term steroid use, not the single doses you get with chemo.  I always took sleeping pills during chemo, so I wasn't as affected by the decadron buzz.  My chemo (as a colorectal cancer found on my ovary) included a 3 day hookup to a chemo pump, so I needed sleeping meds. 

  • abrub
    abrub Member Posts: 2,174 Member
    edited June 2017 #10
    Been done with chemo for years now

    And apologies for all the weird spellings (autocorrects) on my initial post.  I'm away from my computer and my tablet has a mind of its own, and has been misbehaving badly! 

    Side note: I've been on steroids for several weeks at a time due to noncancer issues and never had issues worn moon face.  That's pay of long term steroid use. 

    Alice 

  • Janissi1
    Janissi1 Member Posts: 34
    edited June 2017 #11
    abrub said:

    Been done with chemo for years now

    And apologies for all the weird spellings (autocorrects) on my initial post.  I'm away from my computer and my tablet has a mind of its own, and has been misbehaving badly! 

    Side note: I've been on steroids for several weeks at a time due to noncancer issues and never had issues worn moon face.  That's pay of long term steroid use. 

    Alice 

    I hate autocorrect. Lol

    Hi Alice, autocorrect is a necessary pain. That's okay because I deal with it all the time.

    Anyway, thank you for your input. I guess everyone is different. I had my dosage yesterday (chemo #4 of 6) and so far, so good. Like someone else said, the moon face for them was based on a longer term dosage. Thankfully, mine is only the day I have chemo.

    I appreciate your feedback.

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