I have a question regarding my dad taking Xtandi every-night since 2 months ago , he ain’t like before, I can feel it , he has no energy and very fatigued, kinda depress , he used to walk but seems very difficult for him now, I was thinking if it’s ok to ask the MO to reduce it to 3 pills ? 2 pills maybe ? Metastatic cancer, into this journey since January 2020, had radiation, currently under ADT and Xtandi, psa very low, do you think it’s ok to go with less ?
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Spring_moon
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I reduced it to half dose for a couple of week's then added a 3rd pill and finally a fourth. That seemed to resolve some of my side effects. Low hemoglobin could account for some fatigue. Check the blood work. Good luck.
Thanks for responding, He started with 2 pills and reached to 4 recently, can we go back to 2 again? Is it safe? and all his lab tests show low red and white blood cells which I think it’s the side effect of radiation as well as ADT, what can I do to resolve this issue , the MO suggested nothing rather than taking B12 supplements.
Will it be as effective - no. Will it reduce his side effects - yes. That's the trade-off. If insurance agrees, he can try Nubeqa instead - it may be less fatiguing. Has he tried Zytiga?
You could consider treatment with Lu 177 PSMA which has low side effects unless there is bone marrow infiltration caused by large number of bone metastases. There are clinical trials:
No, is not a cure. If there are not mets in a PSMA PET/CT he will no qualify for Lu 177 or Ac 225 PSMA treatments. With undetectable PSA these PET/CTs may not show any cancer. It does not mean the cancer is cured.
He may have undetectable PSA meanwhile he is taking Xtandi full dose. If he reduces the dose of Xtandi his PSA may start to increase.
My husband lost his fight in January after Xtandi, which had made his last weeks difficult, failed to work. He went from an alert man to being very fatigued and nauseous and, at times, confused. I believed the confusion was caused by the medication. He was admitted to hospital for tests and medication was stopped. I researched the half-life of Xtandi which was 8.6 days. He was gradually improving mentally by day 9. Unfortunately the disease progressed and claimed him after 3 weeks but his mental state was improved. He had been on 4 capsules daily so your father should ask about a lower dose. Good luck, Selaw
I reduced my dose to half per my MO after taking it for about 3 years at full dose, side effects seemed cumulative and became intolerable. It reduced side effects and remained effective for over two years, my PSA was undetectable. Recently my PSA has become slightly detectable again and I increased to 3 pills, definitely feel the difference but PSA is holding steady, even reduced a bit, still slightly detectable. I’ll see how it goes on the higher dose, I may vary the dose and go back to 2 for a short time if SE’s become troublesome again. Definitely consult with your MO about dosage, some guys do fine on a lower dose. The full dose is not written in stone.
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