WE'RE SO HAPPY TO BE DONE WITH DEX!
May 29, 2017 @ 9:55am
For the first few months, Jaxon's dexamethasone was given as an oral liquid. Later on we switched to pills because the volume of the liquid he had to take in (med plus flavour to mask the taste) became unbearable for him (and me - the one making him do it). The pills were really tiny and he said they didn't taste like much of anything. As he wasn't able to swallow pills, we had to get creative. We started cutting a slit in jelly beans and giving them that way (with a chaser bean), but eventually switched to Swedish Berries. They were a much softer vessel, (straight, no chaser). Pic below shows how I would prepare the 5 days of double doses.
First dose was always taken the evening of his clinic appointment, 2 daily doses for 4 days, then final dose the morning of Day 6.
Dosage for Dex varied through the first few months of treatment according to protocol, and increased gradually through long-term maintenance according to his BSA (body surface area).
3mg/m2 daily for the first 4 weeks. (April 12 - May 7, 2014)
(Don't recall the actual dose he had.)
7.5mg total daily (in 2 doses) August 8-14/14
7.75mg total daily (in 2) August 25-31/14
5mg total daily x 5 days monthly Dec/14-Aug/15
5.25mg total daily x 5 days monthly Sep-Oct/15
5.5mg total daily x 5 days monthly Nov/15-Apr/16
5.75mg total daily x 5 days monthly May-Jul/16
6mg total daily x 5 days monthly Aug/16-Jan/17
6.25mg total daily x 5 days monthly Feb-Apr/17
6.5mg total daily x 5 days monthly May-June 2017
and no more!
I've posted before about how troublesome steroids are for kids in treatment. No joke. The stuff is horrid.
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