Mondays (that's yesterday), Wednesdays, and Fridays are my diuretic pill days, aimed at avoiding the ankle and foot oedema that gave me problems during first line chemo. I've found that 20mg Furosemide has little effect at all but 40mg is much better and three of them a week has kept the oedema (fluid retention is a side-effect of dex) away splendidly. I no longer need the two long-handled shoehorns I bought from Amazon when I couldn't get shoes on any other way. Obviously the pills increase both frequency and quantity of urination, so planning diuretic days has to take account of that. If, for instance, I'm expecting to go out in the morning I'll shift the Furosemide from breakfast to lunch or even later.
Yesterday was ridiculous. Took the pill after breakfast and in and out of the loo all day long, I've never known anything like it (except perhaps in the long-ago days of four or five pints in a session). Just managed to fit a short walk to the post box and back in, but it was a close-run thing. The strange bit is that when it gets to 23:30 or so and the midnight shower, the effect just switches off no matter whether I took the pill early or late. I know there's a hormonal mechanism that reduces urine production at night / while asleep and I suppose that must over-ride any lingering effect of the Furosemide. Remarkable things, bodies.
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