A good laugh and a long sleep

There is an Irish proverb that says,"A good laugh and a long sleep are the best cures in the doctor's bag."  I have been laughing plenty but sleep has been hard to come by.  One of the most effective medications at helping to reduce brain swelling is the steroid decadron.  It seems that all brain cancer survivors spend some amount of time on decadron.  Unfortunately, decadron comes with a litany of unpleasant side effects - anxiety, irritability, elevated blood pressure, weight gain, and worst of all in my case, insomnia.
 Oh yes, and it is not a muscle building steroid but rather a muscle wasting one - it actually attacks muscle tissue (especially in one's arms and legs).  I went to my first brain cancer support group the week before Christmas and I was a bit surprised that much more time time was taken up discussing decadron side effects than actual cancer.  I was initially prescribed decadron while I was still in Australia.  My first month back in California after being diagnosed, I was barely sleeping three to four hours a night but I wasn't sure what to attribute it to.  As soon as tapered down and finally went completely off of the steroid in November,  I started sleeping great and the connection was obvious.
I had to go back on it after a relapse of symptoms at Thanksgiving and again, inescapable insomnia became my daily reality.  Thankfully, the dam finally broke again last week when my steroid dose went low enough - I slept for twelve hours, took a three hour nap, and then slept nine hours through the night.  I never thought I could feel so accomplished about sleeping.  Pleasant dreams....