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rentrac · 07-25-2007, 08:45 PM

A light at the end of the tunnel when the radiation is done - time for a toast! I have special empathy for your husband - I was on alot of decadron because of my brain mets... the munchies drove my weight up 15 pounds in 2 weeks, but I certainly enjoyed every bite! Unfortunately, a predictable side effect of decadron is insomnia. Has your husband asked his docs about something to help him sleep so he doesn't have to lie awake worrying? Another effect it can have is similar to a bipolar patient's hypomania - thinking faster than normal, being unually focused in one's own mind (but not necessarily to anybody else). being very task oriented, feeling that one doesn't need much sleep. It wears off as the decadron is tapered off. But as I'm still learning a month after getting off the stuff, it takes a lot longer to get rid of those pounds. Please know my thoughts and decadron fogged brain are with y'all. I hope he hasn't gotten the acne like rash it can give - I was a bit embarrassed feeling likethe Clearasil Queen of the Silver-hair-set!
Fondly, Rentrac

07-25-2007, 08:45 PM	#6
rentrac Senior Member Join Date: May 2007 Location: Eastern NC Posts: 65	A light at the end of the tunnel when the radiation is done - time for a toast! I have special empathy for your husband - I was on alot of decadron because of my brain mets... the munchies drove my weight up 15 pounds in 2 weeks, but I certainly enjoyed every bite! Unfortunately, a predictable side effect of decadron is insomnia. Has your husband asked his docs about something to help him sleep so he doesn't have to lie awake worrying? Another effect it can have is similar to a bipolar patient's hypomania - thinking faster than normal, being unually focused in one's own mind (but not necessarily to anybody else). being very task oriented, feeling that one doesn't need much sleep. It wears off as the decadron is tapered off. But as I'm still learning a month after getting off the stuff, it takes a lot longer to get rid of those pounds. Please know my thoughts and decadron fogged brain are with y'all. I hope he hasn't gotten the acne like rash it can give - I was a bit embarrassed feeling likethe Clearasil Queen of the Silver-hair-set! Fondly, Rentrac __________________ Oct. 2003: Dx age 48, Stage IIIA Ductal Ca. dense dose neoadjuvent AC. BrCa 1&2 -, ER+, PR-, Her2+. 2004: R mastectomy, 3+ nodes, dense doseTaxotere ( allergic), total hysterectomy, radiationx36 . Tamoxifen x6 mo., Arimidex x9 mo. Jan. '06: Multi left metastatic nodes left neck. Stage IV. Taxol, Carboplatin (allergic to both), Herceptin, radiationx27. Herceptin cont'd. 1 mediastinal met in old rad field. April: 2 brain mets - Rcerebellar, Ltemporal lobe. Gammaknife. Stop Herceptin, Start Tykerb. May: CyberKnife-mediastinal node, Zometa restart. July: New RLung mets. Xeloda add. Jan. 2008: CT: Lung mets shrinking. Fatty liver w/increased liver function panel. Feb '08: MRI: brain mets back, 2nd GammaKnife. June: Migraine headaches from cerebellar tumor. Team for WBR - Choose Craniotomy on Cerebellum only. Aug: Crainiotomy successful. Sept: PET -right lung apex clean; left internal mammary artery appears malignant. Herceptin in future. Left mastectomy?