PSA Still Undetectable and Diet Having Positive Effect

Just had my latest check-up and I am delighted to say PSA is still undetectable. I have indeed decided to do something about the weight gain associated with the hormone treatment and have joined Slimming World. Their programme and my willpower have meant that I have managed to shed two stone since I started on January 1^st. I am pleased to say that my back is feeling a lot better due to this and visits to a chiropractor. I am left with a painful right hip which I hope will eventually ease as I shed more weight. There is still a way to go as I put on three stone in the period of the hormone treatment. I still get the occasional hot flush so I don’t think I have got my body back to normal yet. I read somewhere that it might take up to a year or even longer in some cases for the hormones to leave my body.

My next check up will be in four months and while the concern about the cancer never really leaves me I do feel in a better place than last year.

Still Having Hot Flushes

The effects of my final Prostap hormone injection in July should have started to wane but I have not really noticed any difference so far with hot flushes still quite frequent. The good news is that my PSA is still undetectable. I am, however, very concerned about really stiff and aching back and hips which are preventing me from walking any great distance. Have reported to my GP and Velindre and have had an Xray carried out and am awaiting the results. The weight gain associated with the hormone treatment is still very much in evidence and that might be a contributory factor of course. I am still managing to do a lot of swimming but a severe diet will be needed after Xmas. It is an anxious wait for the Xray results.

Hormone Treatment Over - a Nervous Wait Begins

It seems a long time since I wrote anything in this blog but then there has been nothing to report really – life goes on.

This is now, however, a momentous time for me. My final Prostap hormone injection was three months ago. The critical thing now is how my prostate reacts as the effect of the hormone treatment wears off after three years of injections.  What will happen to that PSA level which will surely climb but hopefully stabilise at a low level. I do feel more concerned than I have been for a long time.

On the plus side, I am hoping that some of those side effects of the treatment will also wear off. I can certainly do without the hot flushes and the tiredness and, yes, that weight gain. Maybe I will feel more like a man again!

PSA Still Undetectable But Last Hormone Injection in July

Another three months has passed and another telephone consultation. In the meantime I had my three-monthly Prostap injection in early April. Delighted to hear that my PSA level is still undetectable.

My Prostap injection in July will be my last but the effects are likely to linger on until November. My next consultation will coincide with this in November i.e. in six months.

When the hormone treatment finishes, the PSA level will necessarily rise. The big question is if it stablilises at an acceptable level i.e 2.0-3.0 or if it climbs higher. I will worry about that when the time comes. Until then I will manage those pesky side-effects of the hormone treatment as best I can.

Still struggling with the side effects of hormone treatment

Just had my latest telephone consultation.  Pleased to say that PSA is still undetectable. This is the first blood test since stopping Xtandi. I am still having Prostap injections and I have to say the side effects seem to have become more pronounced. Further weight gain, sore breasts and hot flushes. 

Plan will be to stop hormone treatment in August. So far so good!

Stopping the Pills

My course of Xtandi is coming to an end in a week or so. My latest PSA level is still undetectable so I guess it has done its job. It has also turned out that I have also been taking bicalutamide tablets for two years plus when I should have had taken them for only 28 days. Some how they got on to a repeat prescription and I went blithely on taking them. So, with the Xtandi plus bicalutamide plus the Prostap injections I really was giving my male hormones a bashing. It certainly might account for some of the side effects that I have experienced.

When my supply of Xtandi runs out I will just be on the Prostap injections for another year. After Xmas I will have a serious attempt to lose weight.

Another Sigh of Relief

Just had my latest blood test and I am pleased to report that PSA was still <0.1. My next test in three months will probably mark the end of the Xtandi hormone treatment though the three monthly injections will continue for some time after that. It is a strange thing you are never sure whether to celebrate a positive result or whether to just be grateful and carry on. I think the latter course is the most sensible.

Due to the weight gain I have experienced with the hormone treatment I was concerned about diabetes so I had a test for that. This also came back negative to my relief.

On a lighter note, one of the hidden benefits of the current treatment regime is that I am saving a fortune in razor blades. I used to shave every day but now once or twice a week is fine.