Covid-19 & Dexamethasone

[pjoshea13]

Article in the NY Times today [1].

Seems that if dexy is given before the body goes into mutual destruction mode - i.e. the cytokine storm - it can increase mortality risk. Makes perfect sense. We want to stimulate the immune system until the last moment & dampen it thereafter. (This was discussed in an earlier thread.) But how to recognize that moment.

"The primary symptoms of a cytokine storm are high fever, swelling and redness, extreme fatigue and nausea." [2]

Dexy cannot be used to protect against infection or progression (au contraire mon frère). It should be used when the above symptoms occur. For those without Covid-19 lung issues who are isolating at home, the switch can happen fast. It's an emergency situation.

-Patrick

[1] nytimes.com/2020/06/24/heal...

[2] sinobiological.com/resource...

[LearnAll]

Absolutely Right..Patrick. In my last post i did caution our fellow members of this knowledge forum ..not to start taking dexamethasone.....only if you develop serious covid19 symptoms your treating doctors will use dexamethasone to quickly suppress immunity to stop cytokine storm,

[tango65]

Nobody should take dexamethasone unless indicated by and under the supervision of a physician. It is a powerful corticosteroid. It decreases resistance to infections. Some of the side effects:

rxlist.com/dexamethasone-dr...

[garyi]

By the time anyone is really in need of dexamethasone, it will be knowledgeable physicians making the call, not the very ill patient.