Well that wasn't too successful. It seems that going from 1mg of dexamethasone (half a tablet) to nothing was too big a step for my body. I awoke with a mild headache and terrible balance problems. Olga took my blood pressure using our Omron blood pressure monitor and it was quite low, which is unusual for me.
Olga thought we should speak to a doctor but when we phoned the GP surgery we could not get an appointment until next Tuesday. We could go to the surgery at 5.30pm and wait to be seen as an emergency (!). Then I remembered the nurses at the radiotherapy and oncology department in Carlisle had given us a number we could call for advice if needed. Eventually we were phoned back by the consultant who advised us to increase the steroid dose to 0.5mg (a quarter of a tablet). But we were still advised to see a doctor.
About an hour later the phone rang. It was the GP surgery. Carlisle had been on the phone to them and a doctor was going to come out and visit us. Any of my readers familiar with the NHS will know that winning the lottery is easier than getting GPs to make house calls. The doctor's verdict was that the patient was OK but reducing the dosage of steroids can be tricky. We would carry on taking a quarter of a tablet a day and make an appointment at the surgery next week for a blood test.
Because the piece of dexamethasone tablet seemed so small I thought I could still give up the lansoprazole capsules which protect my stomach from the steroid. That was a mistake. I felt that quarter tablet on its entire journey through my system! So it looks like I'll have to carry on taking lansoprazole and dexamethasone for the time being.
A minor and hopefully short-lived setback Julian. Your body has been through the chemical wringer so I guess it's going to take some time to re-adjust. Eat a lot of live-culture yoghurt!
ReplyDeleteWe make our own yogurt - well, Olga makes it - so I normally eat a couple of jars a day.
ReplyDeleteHi Julian
ReplyDeleteIt is kagnog, I am coming down off the steroids since saturday and I can honestly say it feels like the back of my legs have been hit with a cricket bat, doesn;t help that I am on day 3 of chemo pills, kept them down tho!! I have to take 500mg of dexamethasone and omeprazole for 2 weeks then go down to every other day until I go back in on 1st june for cat scan.
Ps. Just read through all your blogs and it is like reading my life since June 2011, had the op on July 26th and apart from December Christmas was a total blur) we are on the same rollercoaster of life!!! My son (19) is due home today from Uni he is studying marine engineering, he his going into the Navy as a submarinal engineering officer (they are paying for uni also) I am going to show him your blogs. I am determined to see him graduate and pass out in the navy in 4 years time and to see my daughter who is nearly 10 in her prom dress!! I admire your wife Olga for all her support, i am doing this on my own as a single parent but I do have good friends and family.
DeleteHi kagnog, thanks for writing. I hope we can both manage to beat this thing!
ReplyDelete