I am wondering with any of you faced problems with anti-epileptics and Decadron after the first Avastin infusion. My lawyer whose mother also suffered from GBM told me that many patients got problems with their anti-epileptics/decadron after the first infusion due to the severe and fast regression. In a matter of days the amount of drugs usually prescribed could became potentially higher than the real need. I addressed this issue to my neurologist and he told me that this is just a theory, but we can try to slowly tampering the anti-epileptic (Trileptal) and see if it helps somehow.
Personally I am not sure if this though is valid, once Trileptal side effects does not included most of the behavior abnormalities we are watching. For Decadron it could make more sense, once psychosis is a relatively common side-effect, and she is definitely in a high dose regime (16mg/daily).
For those not aware of our difficulties, in the same week we started Avastin my wife’s behavior became a mosaic of inappropriate talking, rage outbursts, screaming and physical attacks. Obviously she had a progression towards the left frontal lobe identified one week before, what could explain most of the changes.
Since it happened I have been trying a myriad of drugs (Seroquel, Trazodone, Rivotril) to calm her and enable a better degree of communication, but despite some improvement I believe the outcome is quite poor so far.
Thanks for any input!