Me and Dexamethasone

/ SueBC

We’ve all heard by now that the steroid, dexamethasone, is useful in severe COVID-19 cases, including a current high-profile one. Well, it’s also used sometimes after dental surgery, to help keep inflammation in check and promote healing. And what they say about the possible side effects in susceptible people is true!

Around six years ago, I had some dental work done. Knowing that I often have a hard time recovering, my dentist prescribed three days of dexamethasone. It really helped keep the pain and swelling down — but, boy, did it make me hyper! I was almost manic and the drug swept aside my usually-present inhibitions around decision-making considerations.

“Would you please, please just stop talking for a minute”, my family would say. I didn’t tweet 13 times in 45 minutes, all in caps, but then I am not on Twitter. I probably would have if I could have!

What I did do was go house hunting online, convince my husband to go to several open houses, and then (together) make an offer on a (wonderful) new house — all in three days! Now, I had been thinking of possibly house hunting at some point so that I could get my son into the school catchment we wanted for him. But we were not actively in buying mode until… the drug! I’ve told my dentist that he should now be responsible for my larger mortgage!

What you need to understand is that I am a “muller”. That is, I mull over decisions and almost never take such a quick and decisive one. But from now on? Just give me steroids, and I’ll get on with it!

39 thoughts on “Me and Dexamethasone”

  1. They can’t make you do anything you don’t already want to do? Maybe I need some, too!

    Seriously, though, when I heard that, I was confused, b/c they said he was getting better, but from what I’ve heard they only give steroids in really severe cases.

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    • I kind of think it just makes you more (or at least faster) of what you already are. I really hated the hyper, buzzy feeling though. I guess it doesn’t happen to everyone.

      I have this idea that they’re just throwing everything they’ve got into it. If his oxygen levels had dropped twice, maybe they were using them proactively. Seems like the combination is working? Time will tell.

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      • Or someone on his staff ordered them to do it — it’s a military hospital, he’s the commander in chief. Hopefully he recovers. I just read that exposure to Covid-19 makes the actuarial risk of death to anyone over 70 estimated to be 12x the normal in any given month. Honestly if you told me that as a senior citizen, I’d definitely be self-isolating. But I doubt DJT understands probability.

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        • Do you really believe this story?
          A very fast recovery, for a man who has undergone treatments generally reserved for severe cases, I thought. So strange, that it’s happening during the election campaign.To boost his immunity by antibodies with a short hospital supervision is credible.But…
          Who knows from who the “Fake news” are coming: me or….?

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          • I think it’s true that Trump is infected (it’s just too big of a hoax to maintain otherwise — are all these people who were in contact with him also pretending to be sick? Are all the people at the hospital also perpetuating it?) and I think it’s likely true (90% probability) that he was having breathing problems on Friday and decided that it would be better to walk to the hospital then as opposed to being carried there on a stretcher if things got worse. As far as the treatments, I have no idea. I do think his doctor’s statements are highly suspect.

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          • I think he had it and I think he had a milder version of it. When they get stuff in you at the onset or early, you get over it faster. It was obvious after he went in that it was wearing at him. Wish I had gotten stuff in me earlier than I did. Maybe my outcome would have been different.

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  2. i’ve just seen his WH video and that is probably the most animated I’ve ever seen him. He normally talks quite slowly with lots of gaps. I’m interested to see how he genuinely gets on, one of my good friends was hospitalised for 3 months on ventilators and the day before she was in hospital she was messaging me saying how much better she felt

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    • I think it can create a sense of euphoria and they say no symptoms today. We’ll see. I do hope he doesn’t have a major set back, though. It would be better if the democratic process has a chance to run its course.

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      • i certainly would never wish ill on anyone-even if they’re a genuinely terrible person like him, but i think it’s crazy that he’s trying to give the impression he’s fine and doing better already. But then again, he criticised Hilary before the last election over getting pneumonia so i think he’s trying to save face partly (as well as encourage people to go back to normal-cause he’s a psychopath)

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      • yeah, that’s the thing. If we’re going to get rid of him, we need to vote him out. In a way, his insistence that nothing’s wrong is working against him — he’d gain more sympathy if his symptoms were more severe or he turned out to be a long-hauler.

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          • I may be wrong but I don’t think this is a good look for him right now. Admittedly there aren’t a lot of undecided voters left — but at least if he showed a little “okay, I get this and I will act more aggressively to help” he might gain a little ground. Or maybe not. I saw today that the polls in Wisconsin have moved exactly 1 percent (in Biden’s direction) since April.

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              • I also think it really risks angering people. I got a postcard yesterday from the Trump campaign asking me to get out to vote, b/c President Trump needs my help. This is also a popular thing — postcard writing campaigns. Less intrusive but no less offensive. This card was signed by “Howie.” I strongly wanted to write back to “Howie” and tell him to get bent but I was too busy.

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    • There are good days and bad days. Some people get over it quickly. My son had a super mild case of it. If you get treatment quickly, you get over it faster. I went down pretty quick. Maybe not. Started exhibiting symptoms on Tuesday (coughing, draggy, no appetite, felt like someone was sitting on my chest!) and was in the hospital 1 week later. I was there for 9 days. I TRIED to go back to work yesterday and thought I was going to have to call an Uber to take me home. Every time I go out in public, it takes me 3 days to recuperate. I wouldn’t wish this on my worst enemy. Really.

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      • one of my good friends was hospitalised for 3 months from end of March and in a coma on a ventilator-kidney dialysis and genuinely almost died. Day before she was hospitalised she messaged me to say she was feeling much better and was going to have a bath. My experience so far seems to be that many people feel better before they take a turn for the worse-you can’t trust this virus. And yeah, she’s suffering post viral effects like you-she’s knackered all the time. Doctors said it’ll take 6-9 months before she’s back to normal.

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        • I’m going to talk with my admin on Friday about starting back half days. I habitually wake up in the mornings hacking a lung and my son hunting my flonaise and inhaler.

          I’ll be praying for your friend. I wouldn’t wish this thing on my worst enemy!

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  5. The problem is, it s not real strength. It s a steroid. It s a drug. And, judging by my personal experience, dexamethasone may be giving him the same false feeling of stability and empowerment that it gave me.

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