I an Dennis I have Stage 4 prostate w... - Advanced Prostate...

Advanced Prostate Cancer

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I an Dennis I have Stage 4 prostate with bone metastasis. Diagnosis in 2011

DFZ4835 profile image
22 Replies

I was on vacation and had such server pain in my back, hips,neck and legs I was sure my arthritis was running amuck.  We went home and I went to my rumaoligest.  After a bone survey the next day I had a call from the rumaoligest to come in that day. When I got there he said I should see a oncologist. He said he thought I had bone mets probably from prostrate cancer. 

A couple months before I had a complete exam and had a PSA of 3.5. What a shock! I have never had an abnormal PSA. My oncologist said it is unusual but happens sometimes.  

My cancer is very aggressive a 9 out of 10. I am now on Xgeva, Lupron, prednisone  and zytiga. 

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DFZ4835
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BrentW profile image
BrentW

What a lovely paper.  Some indication of how much curcumin is needed would be useful, homecures.  I have been taking the stuff for years. I have had huge (as high as 70%) falls in PSA while taking such drugs as Lupron that I -- rightly or wrongly -- ascribe to help from the curcumin, the curcumin alone seems to have little inhibitory effect when I am not on the drugs. 

Dr_WHO profile image
Dr_WHO

Sorry for the news and I wish you the best of luck.  Even though it is a shock to have cancer, there is still a lot of reason for hope.  Be strong!  You have a lot of people pulling for you!

It is unfortunate that many men (including myself up to last December) think that prostate cancer is the "good" cancer. That it is always slow growing and that you can always rely on the PSA test.  Unfortunately that is not always true.  

My PSA #  low up to last December.  Then it went up to 4.3. A month later it was 11.  Today I am in day five of post surgery.  (I had to beg the Dr. to do the surgery as he thought it was already to advanced as it was also in lymph nodes.) The surgeon stated it is high risk cancer, at least T3N2 with G of 8,  and he expects the cancer to be upgraded when the pathology reports come back.  In any case, I will be starting radiation and hormonal theories once I have recovered from the operation and they get a new baseline PSA.  

Your comments about arthitis pain hit home.  I have a lot of arthitis pain in my shoulders, neck, tailbone and knees.  Fortunately for me the bone scan was negative.  That all said, I am planing to be around for a long time (I am 58.)

DS_WAVL profile image
DS_WAVL

I am interested in hearing about your personal journey with Prostate Cancer.

gusgold profile image
gusgold

You say "curcumin cures all types of cancer"...wow...I guess you are way smarter than "all the dumb" guys here wasting their time with oncologists and drugs like firmagon, zytiga, xtandi, and xofigo...according to you all they need to do is pop curcumin caps...get lost you lousy scammer

in reply to gusgold

Negative response to the person recommending Curcumin.Many nutrients are beneficial for P.C..Meriva 500-sf=2capsTwiceDailyIs highly recommended.Seek out a naturalpathic onocolgist if you believe. I've done both ADT & radiation+Tak 700 .I was stage 4 metistac.gleason 8.Also taking all holistic measures.No visible signs for six months.Dont believe that I would even be here if I hadn't Persued all avenues.Be proactive.Good luck!!!

Chask profile image
Chask

Google throws up in excess of 30,000 responses to the query, but very few are to "Clinical Studies".

Many of the query results are to suppliers of supplements, anecdotal reports and general discussion of herbs.

That is not to say the results aren't worth looking at, but they are not "Clinical Studies" which implies a degree of independent evaluation.  

There do appear to be some valid clinical studies and they do suggest some value in use of curcumin for cancer treatment, but let's not get carried away.  There are nothing like 30,000 studies.  

WinnipesaukeeBob profile image
WinnipesaukeeBob

Dennis,

You are taking the good drugs to slow the spread of your PC.  I have taken them all and the Zytiga actually got my PC out of my lymph nodes.  My bone mets stabilized at six.  My stage IV diagnosis was in 2012.

There are also three other drugs I take that are cheap and that do not add to the side effects of hormonal therapy for me.  Metformin helps suppress blood sugar surges that cause inflamation and immune suppression and has strong metadata analysis and clinical trials showing its effectiveness with PC.  

Crestor is the one statin that you can safely use with Zytiga.  It suppresses LDL cholesterol (fat in your bloodstream).  Most people who fail HT like Zytiga have high LDL.  I am told LDL is prostate cancer's second food of choice if the androgen is suppressed.

Avodart keeps testosterone from converting to androgen (dyhidrate testosterone) that is PC's first choice of food.  It completes the HT or androgen depravation therapy with Zytiga and Lupron.

I would also recommend Xofigo for your bone met pain.  I completed this six month treatment a year ago. It will lessen bone met pain for sure, and has the possibility of healing some existing bone mets along with your other treatment. It healed three of my six bone mets completely, and perhaps more.  Bone mets disappear from scans slowly.  You take Xofigo  along with Lupron and Zytiga, but I think you would stop Xgeva to start Xofigo.  I did.

A good Mediterranean diet with some supplements is also really important to make your body a very poor host to your cancer. The book "Anti-Cancer" explains this best. The book is also very inspirational.

And exercise helps you retain a little muscle and quality of life. It is particularly important in keeping  your lymphatic system and liver up to the task of clearing out all the debris that cancer and drugs create.

It is a helluva fight but you can win many precious years or more.  May your life be good and long.

A brother in the fight,

   Bob

DFZ4835 profile image
DFZ4835 in reply to WinnipesaukeeBob

Bob thanks for the answer and offering help. Two years ago I completed 9 months of xofigo treatments. It helped but not as much as I expected. I have kidney disease and non alcohol related liver disease.  I can't have C.T. scans with dye because of my kidney disease. I can't have a M.R.I. because of I have a pacemaker. I end up with a nuclear bone scan ane a skeletal survey xray to check the progress of the p.c. and bone mets. I have found that CBD does a great job helping ease my pain.  For me it works better than norco and lasts more than twice as long. It also eases chemo sickness. I am not an add for CBD it helps me but I can't say if it would help others. My cancer is progressing very slowly right now and I hope it stays that way or stops.

Dennis

WinnipesaukeeBob profile image
WinnipesaukeeBob in reply to DFZ4835

As do I, Dennis. Stay well my friend.

   Bob

WinnipesaukeeBob profile image
WinnipesaukeeBob in reply to WinnipesaukeeBob

Zytiga did give me swelling in my feet, even with the accompanying prednisone.  In a month the pain stopped and the swelling went down.

I use two supplements in addition to Metformin to help reduce inflamation.  They are nattokinase and Wobenzyme.  Maybe they helped.

   Bob

docbulldog profile image
docbulldog in reply to WinnipesaukeeBob

WinnipesaukeeBob,  I have one question to interject, I have a lot of foot pain especially when I first awake and step out of bed. My feet feel hot and the bottoms of my feet seem swollen when I awake. I have had problems with Planter Fasciitis but it has disappeared. Do some of the Hormone Therapy drugs cause inflammation on the bottoms of your feet? My oncologist does not think so. You mentioned about Metformin for inflammation caused by blood sugar surges, could my pain be a start of neuropathy?

DFZ4835 profile image
DFZ4835 in reply to docbulldog

Docbulldog

I think you have a reaction caused by one of your meds. After taking zytiga for several months I had my legs from the knee down and my feet would feel like I was stepping on hot coals. My oncologist didn't think that was the cause but the P.A.N. Rep said he has other patients with the same complaint. P.A.N. is the Patient Access Network they help me pay my share off the $9,000.00 a month the drug costs. The paln went away after a couple weeks and has not returned.

Dennis 

glennporemba profile image
glennporemba in reply to WinnipesaukeeBob

thanks Bob for sharing information, after 6 years fighting CRPC with bone METS conventional drug and treatment options are getting very limited for me. I have not tried the 3 you mentioned. I will look into it best regards Glenn

qkhanhxvi profile image
qkhanhxvi in reply to WinnipesaukeeBob

Hi Bob,

I’m so glad to see your shares.

My husband has his cancer spreading to the bones also. Can I ask what are you doing next, after taking all those meds ? how was it and is it effective for you in curing bone mets ?

Thank you in advance !

DFZ4835 profile image
DFZ4835 in reply to qkhanhxvi

quant xvi

We're you sending this to me Dennis or to Bob? My post was 2 yrs. ago.

My bone mets are about the same. A little better. But still there. Since than I have been diagnosed with congestive heart failure ( CHF ) and osteonporosis of the jaw ( ONJ ). ONJ is caused by bone strengthening meds like xgeva that are taken in large amounts for cancer patients. The odds of getting ONJ from xgeva or boniva are about 200 to one. For normal use like osteoporosis the odds are like 200,000 to one. It's all in the amount taken. I have been feeling better on the cancer side after this last round of taxotere. I pray things get better for you. I will ask God to help you and yours.

Dennis

qkhanhxvi profile image
qkhanhxvi in reply to DFZ4835

oh i was sending it to Bob, because i saw his shares about him taking meds for the mets. But i am happy to see your reply. My husband had his diagnosis 4 months ago, he is doing his 6th round also the last round of chemo, and about to have the radiotherapy. Can i ask is that what you have been through also ? what kind of treatment do you have for the mets ? he has his mets in his pelvis. Is the mets causing any pain for you ?

I’m thankful for your share, the doctor that we’re working with in Singapore doesnt share enough.

qkhanhxvi profile image
qkhanhxvi in reply to qkhanhxvi

and btw, can i ask how long have you been in this battle with the bone mets ?

Chask profile image
Chask

Homecures, you need to get with reality.  You claimed that there were " in excess of 30.000 clinical studies confirming the benefits of curcumin in the treatment of prostate cancer listed".  That is not correct.  In fact I would doubt that there have been anything like 30,000 clinical studies into prostate cancer regardless of the context.

I did get in excess of 30,00 results (in fact 38,000) for a Google search of "curcumin prostate cancer ncbi", but only a very small number were clinical studies.

And I am not denying the value of curcumin in the treatment of cancer, but lets get it into perspective.  There have been some studies which suggest it could be of value.  Accept that and move on, but to claim there have been 30,000 clinical studies devalues your credibility.

Fastf250ps profile image
Fastf250ps

God speed!

Darryl profile image
DarrylPartner

Your story is a warning to us all. Take all pain seriously and seek out a consultant MD.

eggraj8 profile image
eggraj8

I had Gleason 9 prostate cancer with a PSA of 2.6 before it was finally diagnosed. The cancer spread to bones, liver and lungs. I am now on Chemo (Taxotere and Carboplatin) along with ADT (degarilex) and prednisone. The cancer seems to be no longer spreading so I am OK for now. Will probably add XGEVA in the future for bones.

pdaleuski profile image
pdaleuski

I have Stage 4 Prostrate cancer, Last Nov out of the blue my PSA was 538 and my Doc wanted to start Chemo, (Kaiser) I went to UCLA Med Center and got a second, and the director there recommended I go on Xtandi, ( Expensive even with Medicare & Insurance), but worth it my PSA is now.34 and other then feeling beat up all the time all seem ok.Doing Lupron every three months also... So I say to you look at options and do what you feel is best for you..study hard.

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