4 years with MM--Taking Dexamethasome

Immediately after being diagnosed with MM in March of 2009, I started on program of 10 mg/wk of dex. This continued into the Fall of 2011, when I increased dosage to 10 mg/2 times a week. I had gone off chemo in the summer of 2010; and dex was the only medicine I was taking. The rationale for increasing the dex dosage was try and keep Igg, M-spike, and kappa light chains at relatively low levels. Today is dex day. It starts with 10 mg taken orally between 8-9 in the morning. I quickly begin to feel good and energetic; this lasts for about 5 hours at which time I feel somewhat sleepy and I take a nap. After the nap, I feel wide awake and I know I will be up all night in which I watch movies on TV or on the Internet. About 5 am, I start feeling sleepy again and sometimes I can fall asleep for 1-2 hours. I feel sleepy most of the day; sometimes I can nap, but mostly I don't. That evening I take a single Advil PM and I will fall asleep about 9:00 and sleep like a rock until the next morning. After 3 nights of good sleep, it is dex time again. Basically it is dex day, 3 nights of sleep, and then dex day again. Staying up all night is not ideal; however, I just try and make the best of it. At this point I'm used to taking the dex and just regard it as something I can do indefinitely. Overall taking dex is not a significant issue in my life.