I'm sorry about the impact the steroids are having on your sleep and health Visgraat. 

As mentioned here, difficulty sleeping is a common side effect when taking steroids but I hope you've managed to see your doctor and they were able to offer you some workarounds. Hopefully some of our members will offer their advice and suggestions soon but you're more than welcome to give our cancer nurses a call about this as well. They're available on 0808 800 4040, Monday - Friday between 9a.m - 5p.m.

I hope you're able to get a decent nights sleep soon Visgraat and wish you well with your upcoming chemo.

Kind regards, 

Steph, Cancer Chat Moderator

thanks Steph - I've now taken a sleeping tablet for last two night - definitely helped get a longer night's sleep of 6-7 hours, but still don;t feel refreshed...thanks again, visgraat

Hi Sophie,

Sorry, but was so long ago I can no longer remember. They were prescribed by my doctor. I have brain tumour GBM4 diagnosed 19 months ago and since then I have gradually reduced daily dexamethasone dose (which I think was mostly to blame for last of sleep) from 16mg per day to 0.5mg per day. I now usually have a 1-2 hours sleep in the afternoon and then 6-7 hours at night.

I only used the sleeping pills to assist in getting back into a good habit. Sometimes I still wake up at 2:00am, but I try to relax and lie there until I get back to sleep. If I do get up, watch TV etc. I know I will do the same thing the next day and get into an unwanted habit.

Sorry can't be more helpful, take care, Steve

I'm on  4 day intensive course of Deethasone - am awaiting stem cell harvest do have to be clear of chemo for a few weeks but consultant has prescribed10 x 2 mg tablets for for days as maintenance.  Day 1 was yesterday - no sleep last night. Managed around 3 hours from 7/730am this morning so now feel useless!    Is it likely that sleep will not happen for all 4 nights?  I've had Dex before but just once a week and managed to cope with that after a while.  Just wondered if anybody else had experience of an intensive dose.  I have myeloma.  Tks. 

Hi,

Unfortunately you're not likely to sleep until you finish the steroids. Try taking them as early as you can. 

I'm never able to sleep whilst taking them so I just accept it. I do rest a lot during the course though and find it helps.

Good luck. Remember it won't last forever!

Thank you.  Have to catch up on my recorded tv programmes then!  And I have a good excuse for not doing much . Fingers crossed it will sort itself out by the end of the week.  Thank you

Hi

Contact your oncology team they may be able to prescribe something to help. 

I know when I started my chemo the nurse told me to call them even if I felt it was silly as there is something they can offer for the side effects etc 

Thank you.  

Hello Steph,

I'm currently taking Dexamethasone for 3 days, every 2 weeks following a palliative chemo treatment and have sleep deprivation issues for a few nights afterwards.

I've read elsewhere that corticosteroids affect the body's melatonin hormone, hence the sleep loss.

Do you know if it's acceptable to 'replace' this melatonin with an appropriate supplement (eg melatonin milk), or will that offset the purpose of taking the steroid?

I'd prefer not to take sleeping pills.