Since my diagnosis 1&1/2 yrs ago I've nearly died 3 times. Gained nearly 100 pounds and lost the ability to do any tasks whatsoever... I used to be extremely active, 10 ft tall and bullet proof. Now I'm 10 ft wide, cry at the drop of a hat and stay so fatigued I do good to even bathe daily. I'm not sure if there's any bit of the man I once was left and I've lost intimacy with my wife of 20 yrs that I've always shared a passionate love life that was worthy of a Hollywood movie! I've even sunk into such depression that it scares me! Can anyone offer some advice or at least relate with a similar experience??
How do I get back to some semblance o... - Advanced Prostate...
How do I get back to some semblance of normalcy in daily life/activities?
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ROVman
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43 Replies
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You should see a psychiatrist, someone you like/connect with and see if antidepressants may help you. I was in similar mental head space and ended up taking sertraline, which has also been shown to help control PC. The fatigue is a negative feedback loop. You just need to start with a walk, do what you can and push through it. Commit and do it every day, adding some distance or speed. It’s like the fog lifting after awhile. Stay strong brother
in reply to Chugach
Good advice. 👏🏼
If you haven't already...start cutting down on the processed carbs and carbs in general. Some on this site recommend keto. I don't but diet is not universal. Everyone responds different.
You might try incorporating intermediate fasting into your lifestyle.
I would surmise you may be prediabetic if not fully diabetic. When was your glucose and A1c blood test last drawn?
Diet and Execerise and incorporate 16:8 Intermediate fasting and you will probably see positive changes in short order.
An anti-depressent (lexepor/zoloft/etc) might be what you need for your depression.
Good luck.
Since I retired from medicine more than 15 years ago, I have lost over a hundred
Pounds and even now still losing.
What worked for me and many others, is a rejection of conventional diet advice, and avoiding carbohydrates and Vegatable oils, I e processed foods.
I refuse statins or anything else to lower cholesterol. In2013 I stopped all bread and grains.
Not only did I lose weight , but reversed diabetes and Graves Disease, an autoimmune thyroiditis.
I have been keto for more than 5 years and eat an animal and fish based diet, especially in the last two years
There are many low carb doctors who will help you, but you have to look for them. The medical community is still fighting low carb tooth and nail.
Conventional weight control will fail 99% of the time over 10 years, 97% over three years.
Oh yes carb addiction is a real thing so addiction counseling my be a useful adjunct
Right behind you. Had this mother 16 years. I am tired ALL the time. I am single and due to equipment not working, fear I will remain that way. I am on 2 anti-depressants. Also caring for my 96 year old father. Some days I just wish I didn’t wake up.
in reply to MJCA
Hey MJ! Your 16 years is impressive to me with six years in . Respect for watching over pops. My mom is 93 but in assisted living and refuses to see or talk to my brother and I . Her cheese slid off of her cracker along time ago . Mornings are a rough start for me too. Keep afloat !🚣♀️🚣♀️🚣♀️🚣♀️🚣♀️
I’m sure your dad is thankful that your waking up each day and spending time with him. Stay strong brother
Shit..... many a G.I.s. storming the Normandy beaches in WWII would have given their eyeteeth to be in your shoes today. So live every day, laugh every day and forget your Pca...Could be your Dad was in the big one..... Give him my regards..... (get a dog)....
Good Luck, Good Health and Good Humor.
j-o-h-n Thursday 01/13/2022 2:52 PM EST
Hello fellow traveler The therapies for prostate cancer are scorched earth type.
A very cruel and inhuman therapy... all medical world is a toxic world...wrong road.
No wonder you got screwed up.
It is normal.
The therapy destroys everything of being human and male.....
No libido, urination mess, bowl movement ...
So personal that one cant even talk and even accept this state.
Everything is wet.....horrible...
The trick is to walk out of all mental conditioning.
Activate choiceless awareness and look at the mind body mess.
Just look at the show...
In yoga, we say that my real MY or SELF is not this body and conditioned mind.
=========
One feels very tired, rotten and without any motivation.
You have to move your ass, get out, get out....
Walk, walk, walk.....do not listen to your screwed up mental state due to this inhuman castration. They do it to criminal sex offenders.
Sure, you do not even recognize now who you were before....
and you got trapped...
Just walk walk walk walk...
Diet Diet....count calories...
Drink lot of water.....control PH thru water type
One step at a time... 100 lbs extra is lot of weight in short time
They say if you can take a step.....you can take 1000 steps
Journey starts with one step.......
Then you will pick up with your wife and you have not lost hugging, love and joy of being.....
Que sera sera....
Live fully as it is.....
in reply to Karmaji
Scorched earth , scorched body too.. indeed.
You don't specify in your post or profile on treatment(s) but I assume you are on standard ADT, and that some or all of these problems are treatment-related. So obviously the loss of T will cause fatigue, loss of muscle and sexual function, etc. but some of the mood problems may be related to the loss of estrogen.
So in addition to talk therapy and antidepressant medication, consider low-dose estrogen patches as a possible way to improve some symptoms.
I will add my support to this approach. I'm on permanent ADT, and now take estradiol (estrogen) via transdermal skin patches. After 3 years on Lupron, I know what that bone-wearying fatigue felt like, and didn't want to go there again. (I feel great!).
Do a Youtube search for Dr. Richard Wassersug. He has a number of videos addressing ADT and its effects, and ways to mitigate them. Estrogen is a bit controversial for a variety of reasons, but for one really suffering from the side effects of ADT it is worth investigating.
And by the way, I was on Lexapro for a couple of years during my initial treatment phase. It's ok, and if you need it then you need it. We wear glasses to correct our vision, and such drugs can act somewhat the same for our brain chemistry. A caution about that one in particular, it is not easy to get off of it again. It takes almost a year of very slow tapering, or you'll likely get what are called "brain zaps". Feels like vertigo but only for a fraction of a second; they're VERY annoying!
All the best, fellow warrior!
Karmaji wrote >>> " ...The therapies for prostate cancer are scorched earth type... "
6 years ago I preferred a journey to the top of Mt. EVEREST for GL10.
FREEZING (as in Cryoablation instead of something scorching) therapy that followed surgical castration instead if CHEMICAL ADT, then an immunotherapy injection and now 5 years 3 months on Testosterone replacement.
I'm OK with a possible "short end of the stick or short straw" simply to continue to live an active - QUALITY life instead of the far too often spoken about unhappy ADT - scorched earth treatment path.
Agree with those who have suggested procedures helping to manage similar issues that your are experiencing.
Hell yes I relate. I too thought of myself as ten ft tall. Now we’ve come down to earth a bit. Nearly dying three times and surviving is a big deal. So
Many don’t .. losing those wonderful Hollywood moments is not fun ..either.. I put my sweet Angel through self loathing hell for three years . How could I , the star of a Hollywood movie fall so low?? Losing intimacy Along with many cognitive and physical attributes is a slap in the face . But I’ve lived past the bad stats . I find joy in the simple life ..... I don’t want to end my life on an angry bitter note. So I practice daily happiness routines . Lowered expectations for sure. Please don’t give into the dark side .. it’s easy to fall off into an abyss of depression. For me the first two years were the worst. I think that you’ll adjust to the new you . This is the row that we sow . If you can Fast , cut out processed food and sugar you could shed some lbs . ? If you can reduce that 100 , everything else should improve. Even the moods. Sam-e has helped my moods and lethargy . Hang in there . It can get better !✌️🌵
in reply to
I'm coming out there to take you out for a spin around town...you need a good night out on the town..
in reply to
Oh yeah...I'm bring j-o-h-n with me...
j-o-h-n in reply to
I'm game...... who's paying????
Good Luck, Good Health and Good Humor.
j-o-h-n Thursday 01/13/2022 2:58 PM EST
in reply to
Don’t we all? 🥳
treedown in reply to
Whats this about a Hollywood movie?
in reply to treedown
Well ? he said that prior to pc his romance was like a holiday movie . But I made a vailed reference to a line in a favorite song of old “ If I were a star in a Hollywood movie”? Spill the wine . War ..
treedown in reply to
Got it I thought it a veiled reference to your past. You sure looked like you could have been a movie, probably a beach movie.
in reply to treedown
Yah! The good the bad and the ugly. That was then . This is now. I fought my big ego until it crumbled under the stress .. My ego was the first to fight my diminished capacities in the form of frustration and anger .. once I submitted to the new me , Self loathing faded to the edges of my view. I don’t look into mirrors and always keep the lights dim. My body and skin and bones are more like a 100 yr old , than almost 60.. besides all of that, I’m just lucky to be alive . Pluck the day brother , before it plucks us all.
I too am rowing your boat....i was referd to as super man 6ft4 255 lbs ..i worked circles around all on the construction site and then i could rock all nite....i find the fn depression that comes with i think formost the lupron/erleada since dx 4.5 yrs ago is main culprit...the living with stg4 apc is no fn sound oc music neither...i go on because others need me..otherwise i would halt all treatment and jump overboard and swim with the sharks....the weight gain ive added 40lbs.. is not easy to get rid of but one by product of this so called pandemic is lupron in short supply so i got eligard and for some reason have lost my appetide.. ...could be that my psa iz at .2 now and the train is leaving the station but thats depressing.....i think finding this band of brothers at HU has been the best medicine for me their is plenty of support if you need it as you are finding out... And the humor at times is priceless ......good luck B.w
in reply to Boywonder56
Even a heavy superman is still Superman
Boywonder56 in reply to
Lmao.....me exactly😣
although my moobs Are a little firmer.....
in reply to Boywonder56
Yeah...I got a little of those too but not too bad..maybe a little weight-loss would help..but then again..who cares?
j-o-h-n in reply to
Faster than a speeding aspirin.... more powerful than a poco loco sniffing loco poco....and able to leap years......
That son of a bitch will never fit in a phone booth.......
Good Luck, Good Health and Good Humor.
j-o-h-n Thursday 01/13/2022 3:07 PM EST
in reply to Boywonder56
Man over board! The sharks surround us . We’re going to need a bigger boat . 6.4 -255 is a man to be reckoned with .I’m 6.3 and 190 now , skin and osteopenia bones . A favorite song of mine is “ 16tons” Tennessee Ernie Ford. Hang in there big guy 😂
I have terrible / overwhelming fatigue currently. I had to take a medical leave (for the second time in 6 months) or face getting fired for not being able to complete my daily tasks.
My oncology team now includes a cancer rehab specialist. He (Dr Khanna at Winship Cancer Institute) prescribed physically therapy. They say that the fatigue can be related to chronic inflammation, if it is not caused by other issues like thyroid problems... Physical exercise helps to flush the inflammation. He described me to a “t” when he asked if I felt lazy and useless. I literally feel like I have worked a 10 hour shift after only being awake for an hour. Despite 8+ hours of sleep a night, I can not tell you the last time I woke up feeling “refreshed”
After 6 sessions of physical therapy, I still can’t really tell if this long term helps. However, I do feel better, even if more physically sore, the next day. They are slowly working me through a routine that will be the basis for me continuing on after the session end. Almost all exercises can be done at home with little to not equipment.
I am hoping this works, because a) the idea of being “disabled” is completely against my nature and b) my cancer has not metastasized into bones or distant organ yet (lymph node apparently do not count anymore) to get disability payments. (Due to exhaustion, I have applied for SSDI so that I don’t loose health insurance, my house, my car, etc... Cancer kicks your ass in so many way.. 🥲
I completely agree with the people who recommended talking to a therapist too... it was a requirement from my palliative care doctor, and it is helpful to have someone help you talk through things. I was already prescribed An antidepressant to help with hot flashes from my Urologist when I started ADT.
Lastly, as hard as it may be, keep a positive attitude. It helps!
You are not alone. You do not suffer this blight without a group of peers.
Your will power and mental strength can get you through this, even if your body is currently letting you down.
in reply to TrashPanda72
Hey TrashPanda. I am the same. Leveled by no t and adt and Rt. Having Mets on my bladder and tubes from my kidneys allowed me on ssdi. Good luck on the PT. If we don’t move we can fade into the dust rapidly . Take care . I think stage #4 APC should be a disability on its own .
Lots of support and good humor here. Suggest:Get an estradiol patch twice weekly to help with many (not all) of the ADT SEs.
Discuss a trial of an antidepressant to balance your serotonin. ( I take low dose fluoxetine 10 mg)
Walk outside every day, however much or little you are able. Greet everyone you encounter with a wave or (masked) smile.
Try the very low carb or even ketogenic approach for very fast and permanent Weight loss without hunger pangs. Fuel on your fat. Learn about it. IMF helps too.
Remember gratitude for life and all that you do have. You are alive and loved!
Oh, brother...I hear you. I hear you loud and clear.
This fucking post is getting me depressed..........
Good Luck, Good Health and Good Humor.
j-o-h-n Wednesday 04/21/2021 5:59 PM DST
in reply to j-o-h-n
Low T will do it everytime
j-o-h-n in reply to
** To watch this wonderful video just click on the title on the top of the video ***a
Don't' forget Spear Brittany...
youtube.com/watch?v=8YzabSd...
Good Luck, Good Health and Good Humor.
j-o-h-n Wednesday 04/21/2021 6:31 PM DST
in reply to j-o-h-n
After watching that video I poked my eye out with a Broccoli Spear
j-o-h-n in reply to
Best to use an asparagus spear instead....
Good Luck, Good Health and Good Humor.
j-o-h-n Wednesday 04/21/2021 9:52 PM DST
Boywonder56 in reply to
Fn great
Trouble is......... you got out of the tincan too soon.............. dive..... dive..... dive.....
Good Luck, Good Health and Good Humor.
j-o-h-n Thursday 01/13/2022 3:14 PM EST
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