People's Pharmacy: A Q&A about health matters

Q. I was a premenopausal breast-cancer patient two years ago. My tumor was estrogen positive, so I have to avoid any sort of estrogen compound. I take tamoxifen to prevent a cancer recurrence. This drug acts as an "anti-estrogen" in breast tissue.

I was thrown into chemical menopause after chemotherapy and have experienced symptoms such as hot flashes, night sweats, insomnia and bone and joint pain.

I just tried acupuncture (four sessions so far) and my daytime hot flashes have virtually disappeared. The night sweats still occur occasionally, but much less often than before.

Women should consider acupuncture to relieve their symptoms if they want to avoid taking drugs, hormones or supplements to treat menopausal symptoms.

A. Thanks for sharing your experience. Acupuncture has been used for a range of conditions. We were unaware that it might be helpful for hot flashes.

Q: I am in very good health except for recurrent sinus infections. Recently, my internist put me on a 12-day tapered course of prednisone.

Within days, I became extremely agitated and irritable. I didn't sleep for three days, even with sleeping pills. I couldn't concentrate. My blood pressure soared, and I became very fearful.

My doctor never warned me about any of this. Are these normal side effects?

A: Prednisone and other corticosteroids (Medrol and Deltasone Dosepaks) relieve symptoms from a variety of conditions: arthritis, asthma, severe skin reactions to poison ivy or sunburn, and others.

Many people experience severe psychological reactions to high doses of such drugs. Steroid psychosis can cause anxiety, agitation, euphoria, insomnia, personality changes and even serious depression. Some may experience memory problems or hallucinations.

Let your doctor know that you are susceptible to this kind of reaction. If you ever have to take more than 40 mg of prednisone at a time, you may need medication to counteract the psychiatric side effects.

In their column, Joe and Teresa Graedon answer letters from readers. Write to them c/o King Features Syndicate, 888 Seventh Ave., New York, NY 10019, or via their Web site: www.peoplespharmacy.org