Steroid therapy for acute myeloid leukaemia

Men and women discussing acute myeloid leukaemia

This page tells you about steroid therapy for acute myeloid leukaemia. There are sections about

A quick guide to what's on this page
What steroids are
Taking steroids
Side effects of steroids
A rare side effect

Steroid therapy for acute myeloid leukaemia

Steroids are substances made naturally in the body. They can also be made artificially and used as drugs. Steroids are occasionally used with chemotherapy to treat AML. Steroids can be tablets or injections. It is important for any doctor treating you for any reason to know that you are taking steroids. So your nurse or doctor will give you a card to carry to say that you are taking them.

Side effects of steroids

Because you will not be taking the steroids for very long without a break, you are not likely to have bad side effects from them. But there are quite a few side effects you may notice. These can include increased appetite, increased energy and wakefulness, and indigestion. When you have been taking steroids for some time you may notice some swelling in your hands, feet or eyelids. You may also put on weight. These symptoms are due to water retention caused by the steroids.

Taking steroids

Steroids are irritating to the lining of your stomach. You should not take them on a completely empty stomach. Try to have at least a slice of bread, or a glass of milk with them. If you can’t manage food, your doctor may give you another tablet to stop the steroids damaging your stomach. You must tell your doctor or nurse if you get stomach pains after taking steroids. Your treatment team will look out for other side effects such as raised blood pressure, sugar in your urine, or raised sugar in your blood.

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Steroids are substances made naturally in the body. They can also be made artificially and used as drugs. Steroids are occasionally used with chemotherapy to treat AML.

Steroids can be tablets or injections. Prednisolone and dexamethasone are the steroid drugs most commonly used.

It is important for any doctor treating you for any reason to know that you are taking steroids. So, in case of emergencies your nurse or pharmacist will give you a card to carry to say that you are taking them. You need to carry the card with you at all times.

Steroids are irritating to the lining of your stomach. You should not take steroid tablets on a completely empty stomach. Try to have at least a slice of bread, or a glass of milk with them. Preferably, you should take them with a meal. But when you are having chemotherapy, you can’t always manage food. So, your doctor may give you another tablet to stop the steroids damaging your stomach. This may be ranitidine (Zantac), cimetidine (Tagomet) or lansoprazole (Zoton). You must tell your doctor or nurse if you get stomach pains after taking steroids.

Increased appetite
Increased energy and wakefulness
Indigestion

When you have been taking steroids for some time you may notice some swelling in your hands, feet or eyelids. You may also put on weight. These symptoms are caused by the extra fluid in your body. Steroids can cause water retention.

Your treatment team will look out for other side effects of your steroids. These are

Raised blood pressure
Sugar in your urine or raised sugar in your blood

Steroids can temporarily raise your blood sugar level or make sugar appear in your urine. Doctors call this steroid induced diabetes. This doesn’t mean you will be diabetic. Your sugar levels usually go back to normal shortly after you stop taking steroids. You may be asked to test your urine for sugar. Or to take samples to the hospital for testing.

Because your resistance to infection is lowered it is best to avoid people with colds and flu while you are taking steroids or having chemotherapy.

These side effects are unlikely to happen unless you have been taking steroids for some time and they are temporary. They will go away when you stop taking the steroids.

Very rarely, steroids can cause a strange reaction. The person affected can become excitable and confused and may imagine things. This is called steroid induced psychosis. It goes away when the steroids are stopped.