Steroid taper when ending Zytiga

[MMMayhem]

I am coming off ADT. Last Lupron injection is wearing off. I will stop the Zytiga soon as well. I am trying to skip the 4 hour drive to MSK for an appt to have labs done and setup a steroid taper. I assume the taper is just a new schedule that reduces my dosage over time. Thought i could handle that via a phone consult and get my labs done locally rather than at MSK.

I know it's usually prednisone, but in my case it was wreaking havoc on my glucose even at half dosage, so they put me on dexamethasone instead. Can any of you tell me what your experiences were with going off ADT and how they handled reducing the steroids?

[YostConner]

My prednisone taper was a week. I was on 5mg 2x per day. We started by skipping a dose, then a day.

[charlesmeyers1964]

my new urologist/oncologist is starting a new treatment i see him this monday. my psa went up 10 so i'm at 47. been on it for off and on 11 years. i feel good except being tired. i took the 6 month shot

charlie

[jdm3]

Tapering right now. I stopped Zytiga 12 days ago (but who's counting?) and was on 5mg/day of prednisone. My oncologist recommended skipping a dose every other day for a week and that's it. Pretty simple - especially for low-dose prednisone. Another recommendation is alternate one whole and one half pill (they are easy to cut) each day for a week. Then just go to half pills for a week. Then a half pill every other day for two weeks. That is the SLOW taper.

[MMMayhem in reply to jdm3]

I was also on 5mg prednisone 1x/day instead of twice and the glucose was still high. The 5mg of dexamethasone is seamed down the middle like half doses are expected. So maybe on that they will go with the slow version of taper. We will see. Thanks for the info.

[jdm3]

Good luck with all that. Stay positive and enjoy life. Perhaps you will never have to take those meds again...... and testing anxiety will diminish with time... and you will live long enough to tell your great grandchildren about the times when cancer was a scary diagnosis not just a slight inconvenience.

[3putt]

Sorry as I don't have the answer but your message created a question. Why are you going off ADT & Zytiga? I've been on both for just over a year myself and, aside from daily fights with exhaustion, this regiment seems to be keeping the monster in check. I've been curious how long I stay on both but my oncologist is kind of vague. Thanks in advance, God bless & keep up the fight!

[MMMayhem in reply to 3putt]

I did RP in Oct of 17 and everything indicated that should have been the end of it for me. However my PSA dropped for a while, but never went to zero and started rising. Did another MRI & CT in May and found a suspicious lymph node. Went on ADT in July, 40 radiation treatments from Sept through Nov. The plan all along was to only do ADT for 9 months and then see how successful the radiation was.

[j-o-h-n]

If you don't mind. Where are you located? Who is your Oncologist at MSK? Thanks.

Good Luck, Good Health and Good Humor.

j-o-h-n Sunday 03/31/2019 2:47 PM DST

[MMMayhem in reply to j-o-h-n]

I'm upstate in the Binghamton NY area (Conklin). I see Sean McBride he's an RO, but also oversees my ADT since we did radiation at the same time. I did see a MO there Dana Rathkopf, but only twice since McBride ended up taking care of everything.

[j-o-h-n]

Thanks for the info.

Long Drive... I installed a computer system for a bank "Bankers Trust of Binghamton" long time ago, I guess the bank name has changed since BTco was taken over by Duestsche bank.

I'm in NYC and it's much easier for me to go to MSK. My "great" oncologist is Dr. Michael Morris.

Your guy Sean McBride has great scholastic background, but looking at his picture I think I have dandruff older than him.

Education

College & Residency

Brigham and Women's Hospital

Residency , Radiation Oncology

Harvard Medical School

Residency , Radiation Oncology

Yale University School of Medicine

Medical School

California Pacific Medical Center - Pacific Campus

Internship , Internal Medicine

Good Luck, Good Health and Good Humor.

j-o-h-n Sunday 03/31/2019 4:42 PM DST

[MMMayhem in reply to j-o-h-n]

I know what you mean. I had the consult with him in person before seeing his photo on the MSK site. All I could think of when I saw his pic was "Doogie Howser". He knows his stuff though and seems to be in charge as I've had a few other Dr's that work under him take care of things for me.

[j-o-h-n]

That's good to hear.... Young, Smart and a Go Getter... (We already Got Em but we forgot what to do with Em)

Good Luck, Good Health and Good Humor.

j-o-h-n Sunday 03/31/2019 8:23 PM DST

[NWLiving]

My husband had some odd loss of muscle control issues when he went off prednisone. They restarted him on it and then took him off more slowly. Of course it was also completion of chemo and being on lupron, and xtandi as well.

[zenbee13]

Hi I was on 5mg twice a day and had no taper going from Zytiga to Xtandi. Just stopped the prednisone cold. Didn't have problems with that, rather the Xtandi was just making everything ache, and zapped my energy to next to nothing.

[Darryl Partner]

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