Completed Salvage Treatment

[Emak1]

Now we wait and see. Last shot of Firmagon went in on Monday (total of 7 treatments) along with 40 IMRT sessions to the prostate bed. Hoping for a lengthy remission, but only time will tell.

Overall the side effects were OK, dealing with some proctitis that kicked in at week 7 and is continuing 3 weeks post radiation. RO says this will subside. It is mainly pain at this point vs the other symptoms.

Just want to add that this board is a great place. I am a fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me, type of person. My original RP, went well, but to be honest, I just blindly followed my urologists guidance. On the BCR, I started to educate myself and this is board is the place to be.

Thanks all for the valuable contributions.

[ritchiek]

Radiation proctitis may gradually improve over the next few months.

If not , then try Mesalazine suppositories.

I live in the U.K. & in 2011 had a RP followed by 66Gy of External Beam Radiotherapy ( this is an older , less well targetted method of radiation therapy than your IMRT ).

Mesalazine suppositories improved my proctitis within a couple of months. I think I used them for a year or so .

I don’t know whether they are licensed for radiation proctitis in the USA but the same drug is used worldwide in tablet form for inflammatory bowel disease. The most common brand in U.K. is Asacol.

[Emak1 in reply to ritchiek]

Thanks. Yup I actually have that and am using. Things have started to calm down a bit.

[Hidden]

Stay vigilant. Get frequent PSA tests. After my RP, BCR and subsequent IMRT, it took two years for the next BCR. In 2011, I then went on what I call ADT4 (Lupron, Casodex, Avodart and Cabergoline). Provenge in 2014. Stopped Lupron in 2016. Current PSA <0.006.

[Emak1 in reply to Hidden]

Absolutely. I am cautiously optimistic Hoping the statistics in my favor pan out, but keeping a close eye in the event we need to go to the next stage. Great to hear your success and the ability to stop Lupron

[Arrayscout]

Good luck. I completed SRT in Dec 2012 but did ADT2 for 18 months. PSA undetectable today.

[Emak1 in reply to Arrayscout]

That is great news. Saw you take "Avodart and supplements", what supplements do you take?

[Arrayscout in reply to Emak1]

The Avodart is 3x/week. I check DHT once a year to make sure it's < 5 ng/mL. For supplements, I'm taking Curcumim, Resveratrol, Pomegranate, and Vit D. I check Vit D once a year and try and keep between 50 and 90 ng/mL (mostly at lower end).