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Hospital steroids dosage mistake (already contacted a doctor too)

My grandpa has undergone a brain tumor removal surgery 3 weeks ago and we got the histopathology results reading that they're not 100% sure and it is either a grade 3 anaplastic oligodendroglioma or glioblastoma and further genetic testing is needed. In the meantime however, they told him that after being discharged from the hospital, he's supposed to take 2mg Dexamethasone for three days, then 1mg for three days and then stop taking it. Grandpa used Dexamethasone they prescribed him during his previous hospital stay (at the neurology ward) which turned out to be... wrong.

So they mistakenly prescribed him 20mg tablets instead of 2mg ones which resulted in him taking 80mg a day instead of 8 for the 5 days between his neurology and neurosurgery hospital stays (which isn't that concerning cause he was at the neurosurgical ward for 11 days after that and they ran all the tests because he was there for his surgery so I guess no harm done) but it also resulted in grandpa taking _20_ mg for three days, then _10_ mg and then off instead of 2mg and 1mg respectively _after_ his last hospital stay. He's off the steroids his third day today and nothing bad happened apart from more tiredness, joint pain on the first day and slightly more problematic walking than when he was taking it so nothing drastic (problems with left side of the body was the reason he was being operated in the first place so it's not like it's something new) - but it still freaked me out that he was taking 10 times more than needed before going off the meds.

I called a neurosurgeon on duty in the hospital and they told me that while it certainly isn't ideal that he took those doses, if it's already his third day and these are the only symptoms he's experiencing than nothing bad should happen anymore and there's no need to take him anywhere or to give any medications. It reassured me of course but I'm still pretty panicked and it'd be good to get a second opinion - is it true that in that case, nothing bad should happen anymore since he's already on his third day off and nothing bad happened? Even though he went 20-20-20-10-10-10-0 instead of 2-2-2-1-1-1-0? No late symptoms or anything?
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1081992 tn?1389903637
Cześć, Yoddleman. Are you sure he waas given dexamethasone and not prednisone? Dex does not come in 20mg tablets, unless somehow it's different there in Poland. 80mg of pred is not a dangerous amount, and I have seen 80mg/day given to accomplish deliberate immune suppression. However, those types of steroids need to be tapered downward, weaned off so to speak, in order to avoid an immediate bad reaction. But that didn't happen, even though your grandpa accidentally had a very fast taper.

You asked about late symptoms. Immune suppression from 80mg/day can lead to infections. But when he was on only 20mg/day? Immune suppression is said to occur when *greater* than 20mg. So that's borderline, but you can be wary of any rise in temperature, etc. Sometimes, infections can be hidden.

1mg of dex is equivalent to around 7mg pred.
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363281 tn?1643235611
COMMUNITY LEADER
Hello~I would keep watching him for any adverse reactions, but I doubt if there will be any, but I am not a doctor. For peace of mind, I would also seek a second opinion.
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