I had sciatica 30 years and then prostate cancer six years ago with hormone treatment and Radiotherapy. My PSA got down to 0.16 but recently rose to 7.1. I have done bone scan and MRI for four different areas. I am diagnosed with Lumbar Metastatic. My back pain is continuous which I am managing with Diclofenac and Prednisolone. I have an appointment with my Oncologist. Should I opt for Radiotherapy or Radio frequency Ablation with Cement to bring my suffering to an end
Will gratefully appreciate your help.
Thanks
Written by
Cdsane37
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So sorry to hear of your continuous lower back pain.
You did not mention what type(s) of hormone treatment(s) you had in the last 6 years, how long you took them, and how they worked for you. Six years is a pretty long run.
(When I was first diagnosed with already advanced prostate cancer and bone "mets" in my back 3 1/2 years ago, I was in a lot of pain, too. In my case, a first line hormone therapy using mainly Lupron damped down the cancer, and my back pain also quickly subsided.)
That kind of pain relief can sometimes be had with second line treatments, too, such as Zytiga (abiraterone acetate) or Xtandi (enzalutamide), with recurrent prostate cancer. There are several other treatment options for advancing prostate cancer, besides those. When you see your Oncologist, ask to have all your possible future treatment options clearly spelled-out for you. Describe your pain, of course, and ask about all the options for how to relieve it, too. You might be able to find something that brings relief, but is less invasive or risky to surrounding health tissues. If in doubt, consider getting a second opinion somewhere.
Sorry about the pain. I have bone mets in my spine at the t-8 vertebra. It became excruciating. That's how my PSA was diagnosed.
As others that responded said, Hormone therapy can help a lot and almost immediately. I forget the drug, but one of them does not spike your testosterone before the levels drop. That is what I had and then I switched to Lupron for my second treatment and have been on it ever since (2-years). My pain was almost gone in a few days.
You can then follow it up with radiation, which helps reduce the pain. My experience with radiation was mostly some fatigue. Not much else. And all this allowed me to get off the opioids I was having to take for the pain in literally a couple of days.
I believe that casodex is the drug they use prior to starting lupron/eligard. I had to tell my urologist to give me casodex before the eligard to prevent the T flare. Weird when you have to give your doctor directions.
I agreed with you 100%. A doctor once told me in so many words. " It my way or the highway." I took the highway. Your life is too important not to be a member of your medical team.
It seems you were first on Firmagon; if so, why did you switch to Lupron?
Rich
I smoke pot. I have no pain from the mets I have in my lumbar, hip and sacrum. I'm on Lupron for 7+ years, now with Zytiga and Xgeva. If anyone tells you pot is a gateway drug, f them, if someone tells you it has no medicinal value, f them, If someone tells you it's worse than heroine, LSD, and cocaine, f them. F Jeff Sessions, the DEA, and the rest of the sub-world he and his ilk lives in.
Peace, Pot, Microdot...Joe
• in reply to
I got my MM card a few weeks ago. My state is enlightened enough to allow Medical Marijuana dispensaries. The people voted for it ... and the damned politicians blocked it. So the voters voted for it again and this time the neanderthal politicians folded.
I wish you good health. I can tell you what I did with mets to L-2 and T-3; however, unless you undertake aggressive treatment, you will continue with met pain and arthritis and eventually spread......
With a ballooning PSA from 7.7 to 32.4 after seeds and IMRT eleven months prior, thirteen years ago, I opted for a six month chemo trial with Dr. Robert Amato in Houston. Within the six months, the mets were totally resolved with the pain. Today I still enjoye a PSA that still undetectable and negative Bone scans and CT scans.
My advice, find a Medical Oncologist that specializes in only Prostate Cancer or Geniurlogical Cancers that is an academia researcher of this disease.
Thanks so much for the replies. I am now on Casodex for a month while taking Leuprorelin at three months intervals. And have an with my Oncologist for review in three months time. But I am now suffering from constipation. Is. It one of the side effects of the medications.
Will gratefully appreciate any contributions. Keep healthy, focused and remain blessed
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