Decadron Make Hulk Mad

Round 4 yesterday. Part of my Rx arsenal includes a steroid called decadron. Its intention is to prevent an allergic reaction to the chemo. I have to take 4 pills a day starting the day before chemo through the day after, 12 pills total for each round. Side effects for me= mood swings and sleeplessness. I find myself irritated at meaningless things and having to take ativan to try and counteract the Hulk-outs. My poor BFF who drives me to chemo confessed a few weeks after round 3 that she thought I might hit her and kindly asked me to take an ativan before the next treatment. A new side effect from the chemo in general is hot flashes. So now I'm a bald, pale sweaty, angry useless crank. On the plus side I only have 2 more treatments to go. At my checkup on Monday I complained about the sleeplessness so I was prescribed ambien. It works good at getting me to sleep, but wears off during the night.


So now my Rx drug list has climbed to:

Decadron (anti chemo allergy)
Zofran (anti nausea)
Compazine (anti nausea)
Ativan (anti anxiety/ anti nausea)
Ambien (sleeplessness)
Neulasta (prevention of WBC crashes)

Percoset (pain relief from Neulasta)

Norco (pain relief from Neulasta)

Magic Mouthwash (treatment of mucuscitis)
Famvir (as needed for shingles flare ups)

My own OTC regiments to help aid with side effects are:

Peroxide mouthwash (alternate with magic mouthwash for mucuscitis)
Glutamate powder (anti-neuropathy)
Vitamin B (anti-neuropathy)
Probiotics (partial relief from constipation & diarrhea)
Stool softeners
Loratadine (antihistamine for Neulasta pain)
Zantac (antacid)
Advil (pain relief from headaches and Neulasta)
Immodium (anti diarrhea)

I'm feeling ok today. Tonight I'll get my Neulasta shot and the bone pain usually kicks in about 24 hours later. It hurts so bad I can barely move and can't bear to be touched or even shower. My face hurts! As soon as that lets up around Saturday afternoon, the headaches and diarrhea kick in along with mucoscitis. My Mom is so great and takes Olivia for the weekend so I can have quality time with Judge Judy and my toilet. *Side effects compliments of Cytoxan & Taxotere

I really hope to feel a little better by Monday so I can take my little cheeseburger trick-or-treating. In the theme of mood swings, I thought it would be appropriate to post this video of my 21 month old torn between laughing and crying. The terrible twos are showing themselves more and more.