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Withdrawing Dexamethasone

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User
Posted 28 Oct 2017 at 06:25

My husband has been on steroids since January.  Despite the weight gain the treatment has been a life changer as it has given him more energy and improved his concentration and outlook amazingly.  His PSA is on the rise again and his onco has said that now the steroids have stopped working he should come off them.  I really worried.  Neil is 50, is still in full time employment and has had PC for six years.  Before  the steroids he would come home from work and just go to bed.  He was plagued with migraines that would last for days and he had trouble keeping more than one thought in his head at any one time.  This made him so depressed and we really don't want to go back there - I got my husband back when he began the steroids.  Does anyone have any suggestions?  We are waiting for scans and don't know yet what the next course of treatment will be.  Scans at the beginning of the year showed no spread but the onco said he's sure it has spread somewhere.    

User
Posted 28 Oct 2017 at 13:33

There are several treatment options for your husband, so don't despair.

Dexamethasone is usually given (as it has been to me) as a holding operation to last several months. One possibility is perhaps to double the dose of the steroid. This will still be at a low level but just might be more effective than the standard dose. Worth raising with the Oncologist?

AC

User
Posted 01 Feb 2018 at 18:57

Neil has just been to see the Onco who has told him to stop the steroids and has replaced them with 1mg Diethylstilbestrol. Neil is going back tomorrow but I wondered if anyone has remained on the steroids after increasing PSA?

User
Posted 02 Feb 2018 at 18:16

The lower dose of Dexamethasone (0.5 mg) did nothing for me. PSA steadily rose month by month. I'm now on up to ten cycles of cabazitaxel. One of our posters on here had success with double the standard dose of Dexamethasone, but my oncologist wouldn't countenance this. I have the further option of rechallenging the PCa with docetaxel at a later date if necessary, so you can bear in mind these other treatment options.

AC

 
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