Sister has MS Question

[CrystalChick]

Hey everybody Does anybody know why a person would have a salty after taste with the following steroid Dexamethasone.
Annnnnd how can bloating be reduced?

Thanks CC

 

[spatts]

Adrenal supression?

Does she take it regularly or as needed?

Wasn't this stuff going to be banned several years ago?

 

[BigEasy]

Not sure if you are saying your sis has MS, or this question is for MS? If its the latter, pardon my butt-in.

My sister used to take dexamethasone for Crohn's disease. It is WILL cause sodium retention, so she needs to really watch her overall sodium intake. It will probably also cause her to really lose potassium via urine, so electrolyte balance is problematic. Usually the doc will advise extra potassium rich foods or supplementation. We found that a lot of the salt-substitutes were high in potassium, cheap, tasted good, and made other supplementation unnecessary.

I am a little curious though, have they already tried her on methylprednisolone or interferons? Dexametasone has soooo many negative sides it is rough to use. Watch out for depression, my sis really had it bad, and she is usually the eternal optimist!

Best wishes to your sister!

 

[CrystalChick]

Wow Thank's for the replies soooo quickly,
My Sister has MS annnn has Optic-nuritis S/P as a result of a flare up in the optic nerve the Dr. perscribed a Dexamethasone Intervenious drip for 3 day's followed up by a Dexamethasone tablet to reduce the inflamation in her eye.
Currently she takes betaseron S/P injections E/O/D.

 

[CrystalChick]

Oh BigEasy she was on methylprednisolone but the Dr. could not locate it anywhere Dexamethasone is supposed to be the substitute for it.

 

[spatts]

Couldn't find it anywhere?!?

*In my best Cartman voice* "That does not make sense!"

 

[MS]

Yeah, not only can dexamethasone cause fluid/sodium/potassium imbalances, but it can also alter the perception of tastes. In other words, stuff may TASTE more salty without actually BEING more salty. On top of that, dexa also makes your body ABSORB more sodium from the gut. However it is considered to be the mildest synthetic corticosteroid in terms of fluid/sodium retention so that even though she may be absorbing more sodium, she will probably also be excreting more. Her best bet would be to add in some Slow-K (under her docs supervision of course) and drink lots of water.

 

[CrystalChick]

Thank's for the Response MS. What is Slow-K?

CC

 

[MS]

Slow-K is just a time released potassium supplement. Her doc will know what it is, although she shouldn't need a prescripton to get it. It's still a good idea to avoid taking any extra meds that her doc doesn't know about or condone. It's easy to check sodium and potassium with a blood test to determine if she's outta whack or not. How long will she be taking the dexa???

 

[THeMaCHinE]

This is completely an aside -- just thought I'd pass it on in case it is helpful ... You may want to check into pharmeceutical grade, high omega-3 yield fish oils as well. Dr. Sears was talking about success with MS patients in the 10 gr/day omega-3 range.

 

[wilson6]

Has she tried any of the HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors yet? That would be one suggestion as they seem to be very helpful with MS (turns down gamma-interferon).

Use fish oil, not omega-3 (alpha-linolenic), the conversion in humans isn't good at all.

W6

 

[THeMaCHinE]

Has she tried any of the HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors yet? That would be one suggestion as they seem to be very helpful with MS (turns down gamma-interferon).

Use fish oil, not omega-3 (linolenic), the conversion in humans isn't good at all.

W6

Fish oil does contain omega-3s. It's the omega-3 content of the fish oil (DHA/EPA) that works the magic. Fish oil omega-3s (DHA/EPA and just a little ALA) are long chain which is what the body utilizes well; omega-3s from plant sources (i.e. linolenic) are short chain, which have a conversion rate of about 1 to 5 percent.

 

[CrystalChick]

What is HMG-CoA reductase?
And Thank's sooooo much for the responces

 

[wilson6]

I meant to say alpha-linolenic (edited), I was thinking omega-3 and writing omega-6.

When I write on the boards, I define fish oil as fish oil even though it is omega-3. Many think of omega-3 as flax oil or alpha-linolenic vs fish oil 20:5n-3 or 22:6n-3 and think that omega-3 is omega-3.

As stated, the conversion of ALA via delta-6 desaturase is not good, thus fish oil has to be taken directly vs flax for example.

HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors are common cholesterol lowering agents such as Lipitor. The neurologist should be aware of this treatment.

W6

 

[THeMaCHinE]

I thought you probably had a reason for it. I like people to know that fish oil has a large omega-3 component to it (and that there are indeed different omega-3 fats), so they can talk about the subject in an informed manner. Especially since all of the successful omega-3 studies have been performed with fish oil, not flax, etc.

 

[CrystalChick]

MS she was on the Drip for three day's and started 80mg ED of Prednisone yesterday for 14 days.

 

[CrystalChick]

Bump

 

[fawnmarie]

Totally dumb, but anecdotal -

I ALWAYS get a salty taste in my mouth when receiving injections or getting blood drawn. Don't know why - always happens, always has happened. It is during the actual shots and for a little while afterwards.

Maybe it's a symptom or sideline of that subset of autoimmune diseases - I have fibromyalgia.

Fawn

 

[thebabydoc]

Oh BigEasy she was on methylprednisolone but the Dr. could not locate it anywhere Dexamethasone is supposed to be the substitute for it.

The dex(amethasone) is an acute treatment, like solu-medrol. And yes, there has been a shortage of methyprednisolone lately; it IS better but there are standard conversions between different types of steroids.