Cortico-steroids may increase appetite or cause fluid retention or other side effects. Follow directions for taking corticosteroids carefully. Do not stop taking corticosteroids without letting your doctor know. With the doctor's or nurse's guidance, cortico-steroids will be decreased over time until the dose is next to nothing. Then the medicine can be stopped.
Many people have pain from cancer that spreads to bone.
If only one area is involved, radiation therapy can take away the pain. A fairly new treatment for bone pain involves another form of radiation. The blood carries it to the area of bone that is damaged by the cancer. Relief of pain can last from a few weeks to several months. The oncologist will know if a person's bone pain can be treated with strontium.