Steroids are drugs which are often given with chemotherapy to help treat lymphomas. They also help you to feel better and can reduce feelings of sickness due to chemotherapy.

Side effects

Steroids as part of lymphoma treatment are usually only given for short periods of time and usually have few side effects. The side effects you may notice are:

• indigestion
• an increased appetite
• feeling very restless
• difficulty getting to sleep.

If you have to take steroids for some time, you may have some other temporary side effects, which can include:

• puffiness of the eyelids, hands, fingers and feet
• higher blood pressure
• a slightly higher risk of getting infections.

You may also have a higher level of sugar in the blood. If this happens to you, your doctor will prescribe medicines that you will need to take daily to bring your blood sugar level back to normal. You may have to do a simple daily test to check for sugar in your urine. The nurses will show you how to do this.

It is important to remember that all these side effects are temporary and will gradually disappear as the steroid dose is reduced.