Decadron is stronger - supposed to be about 6x stronger than prednisone. I don't know why they do the dex at a pulse and prednisone as a continuous though.
Personally for me (I've tried both) the difference was decadron (dexamethasone) was much more tolerable w the side effects. Even at a 4 day pulse, I feel really good on it. The "speedy" feeling is more, uuummmmm, liveable? It's a nice speedy rather than a scattered "I gotta do something or clean for an hour" feeling like with prednisone. I have a friend who has cancer and one of the many things he's been on is dexamethasone, and he also has really good mental effects and feels good on it. Of course, I'm on a pulse right now and it's 2:38 am and I'm writing this rather than sleeping, but eh - what are ya gonna do?
Another really, really pleasant side effect of the dex? All my acne disappeared in about 24 hours. Like, GONE. I called my dermatologist friend after this, and he said it was the anti-inflammatory effects of such a high dose for such a short time. Additionally, my sciatic pain went away! Once again, anti-inflammatory.
Also, for me it takes about 4 days after completion to feel "ok" again. The first day was fine, second and third I feel like I'm walking in jelly and I'm really dizzy. Day 4 begins to get normal. So, all in all. It's not so bad: 4 days of feeling good, 4 days of feeling bad, then done. I got about 10 days of good numbers, then they went right back down by the two week mark. I've read on these boards that happens to some people - sounded like about 1/2 who did the pulse. Maybe more.
None of this is a clinical statement - just my own experiences of how the drugs are different. good luck to your son!
