Steroid therapy

[akaltz]

Hi..My husband got a prescription of 12 mg of steroids to help relief his headaches. His dr thinks the headaches are getting worse due to swelling after ck In may 2011. Did anyone take a lower dosage of steroids and was it helpfull? Do you have any tips on how to deal with unpleasant side effects of steroids: insomnia, increased appetite? Thanks! Anna

[Cindyswart]

I did, they gave me Prednisone, 30mg a day. and the headaches did go away. There are some unpleasant side effects, mainly bloating, from taking them. I had my surgery to remove my AN on Aug 23d and they gave me the same thing during surgery and right after to keep the swelling down. I am completely off them now and no headaches!!   

[mk]

Steroids can be nasty and everyone responds differently. Even though they didn't bother me too much, I did have insomnia. I didn't have bloating, or water retention as most do, on the contrary I was completely dehydrated and sweated a lot.
One thing that I discovered accidentally, and was subsequently confirmed by the pharmacist, is that steroids should be taken in the morning. That way you get to spend all the energy during the day, and hopefully not have too much insomnia problems at night. It did work for me.

Marianna

[akaltz]

Thanks for all your feedback.  the dr prescribed lower dosage but Jason hasn't start taking it yet. Trying to postpone it for as long as he can.

[mattsmum]

i took prednisolone, starting at 60mg for swelling and fever after radiation - and had no side effects at all! did not actually get rid of the swelling, but did help my fever which did make me feel better.

[Cindyswart]

hello to all, as i sit here at work, 22 days after surgery, it really seems to have gone quickly. I have not taken and pain relievers since day 6 and am working 3/4 of a day before i feel like all the wind has been sucked out of me. I am sleeping all night with only an occasional restless time if i lay on my incision in a way that is uncomfortable. I still have a little tongue numbness and my face seems to be almost at pre-AN status. My balance only seems to get wobbly when I get really tired and by that time I am looking for a place to nap. My only advise in this whole trek is listen to your body! I was told that my tumor was the slow growing kind and that i had plenty of time to make decisions. While that is probably a good rule of thumb, my tumor grew to three time it's original size in 5 months. this was something that they only found out when they did my surgery. My symptoms got rapidly worse within two month of diagnosis and I could really tell. So I pushed, and a lot!