Dexamethasone

It is now 5 days since my neurosurgery to remove a 1cm cerebellar secondary tumour, and I am lying awake at 2am in my hospital bed. The unfortunate side effect of Dexamethasone is all too common, as many of you may have experienced. I have experienced ravenous hunger, burning stomach pains, racing heartbeat and palpitations, feeling hot, and the ever present sleeplessness and overwhelming creative thinking. I just can't switch the brain off! This wonderful steroid is controlling the inflammation of my brain and tempering the symptoms of nausea and vomiting. I have managed to control some of the side effects by ensuring I take my first dose early at 7am with a bowl of instant oats and a glass of milk to coat the stomach lining. In fact milk, yoghurt and custard top my list of desirable food at present. I also make sure to have my second dose no later than 2pm, although that does not happen in hospital as the doctors like it to be spaced out evenly and insist it be given at 8 pm! Sayonara sleep! Yay, they are reducing my Dex dose from 16mg daily down now to just 4mg daily. For 3 weeks now I have had very little sleep, but tonight for the first time I have managed to catch a few zzzzz's in my butterfly net! I am in heaven!