please tell me why a steroid Decradon along with the chemo

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abarrett
abarrett Member Posts: 3
edited June 2014 in Chemotherapy - Before, During, and After

Ifeel like crap from it anxiety ridden and like i dropped off the planet

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  • Melrosemelrose
    Melrosemelrose Member Posts: 3,018
    edited May 2013

    Decadron is used as an anti-nausea medication.  It does have the tendency to get one wired and may make falling asleep at night difficult.  You may want to talk to your onco to see if you can reduce the dosage or get an alternative anti-nausea medicationif you are having problems with this medication.  Here is the link to chemocare.com  which describes in further detail about Decadron:  http://www.chemocare.com/chemotherapy/drug-info/decadron.aspx

    You can call your onco tomorrow and let him/her know you are having issues.  Don't hesistate to contact your onco when you have problems with the chemo side effects or medications.  You aren't bothering his office; it is part of your onco's job to help you deal with side effects.  Wishing you the best.......

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  • Annie54
    Annie54 Member Posts: 247
    edited May 2013

    Hi all,

    During my treatment today, the nurse told me the steroid was also to help counter act the fluid retention caused by the taxotere.

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  • indenial
    indenial Member Posts: 504
    edited May 2013

    The steroid can help with several side effects like the others mentioned but also can help prevent allergic reaction to chemo. Allergic reaction can be life-threatening so that's kind of important! But my onc did say if I handled the first 2 rounds OK we could reduce the dose for the rest (unfortunately I had a reaction to something else after round 2 so we did not end up reducing the dose). You may be able to get by on a smaller dose or at least get something to relax/help you sleep if you do stay on the higher dose.

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  • LW0919
    LW0919 Member Posts: 196
    edited June 2013

    The first round of chemo I had, they gave me decadron in an IV and had no problems. Second treatment, they didn't give the decadron and when I asked why, I was told since I take steroids orally the day before, day of and day after that they were no longer giving it by IV. About 10-15 minutes into the chemo, I had red blotches all over my chest, neck and face, I had no idea but luckily my husband noticed. I did however notice my throat getting scratchy. I was having an allergic reaction to the chemo. It was stopped, I was given Benadryl, then the decadron before starting he chemo back up and had no problems from then on out. For all the following treatments, they didnt skip on the decadron.



    I balance out the steroid rush with Klonopin. It seems to help me.

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