Casodex and PSA

[dac500]

One year into my ADT break, CT scan has shown disease progression in my lymph node metastasis. I was scheduled to have Lupron shot on July 6. Unfortunately, my wife tested positive for Covid 19 soon after our return from London. On the plane nobody, except us, was wearing mask. I am still negative. My appointment for Lupron shot has been postponed until July 19. I am to continue taking 50 mg Casodex daily. My question is how my PSA s going to be impacted being on Casodex for a month before the shot.

[Justfor_]

30 days of Casodex @ 50mg/day will leave a residual PSA of ~18% the initial value.

Example: If on the day you started taking Casodex your PSA was unity (1), 30 days later will be ~0.18.

healthunlocked.com/prostate...

[Tall_Allen]

With your doctor's permission, you may want to increase your Casodex to 150 mg/day while waiting for your shot.

[dac500 in reply to Tall_Allen]

Why you are suggesting the dose increase?

[Tall_Allen in reply to dac500]

to control the cancer in the interim - 150mg is close to the effectiveness of a Lupron shot; 50 mg isn't.

[dac500 in reply to Tall_Allen]

Thanks for the suggestion. I have only 11 days left for the Lupron shot. On June 1, my PSA was 1.10 and Testosterone 163. I was expecting my PSA to rise to 1.5. On March 2, I had a PSA of 0.511 and Testosterone 72. The surprise was the CT scan. Two of the metastatic lymph nodes increased in size somewhat and a new enlarged lymph node appeared (1.1 cm x 0.8 cm). I don't expect my metastasis to go out control soon. So, I have decided not to ask for increase in Casodex dose for the remaining 11 days. How Casodex impacts PSA may give me some idea about sensitivity of metastasis to Testosterone.

[MateoBeach]

50 mg per day of Casodex completely controlled My PC and Kept PSA < 0.10 for nearly 5 years. It will very likely be just fine in such short term. No worries.

[Justfor_ in reply to MateoBeach]

50 mg per week (note per week NOT per day) stabilized my PSA to 0.05 for the latest 5 months. Employ a Cruise missile to shoot down a pigeon medicine is SoC.

[MateoBeach in reply to Justfor_]

That’s great. 👍

[Mascouche]

Just want to mention to anyone upping their dosage of Casodex to be on the lookout for side-effects. It seems to be well tolerated by most but upping Casodex from 50mg to 150mg it had a high adverse effect on me.

I might have been an exception but I am sharing below what I went through in case it helps someone else. Check your weight and health as you start increasing the dose. If you shrink or are experiencing new illnesses, don't wait as long as I did before reporting those to your doctor.

***

On Oct 2020 I weighted 160 and began doing Casodex 50mg. At that dose, it was fairly ok but PSA kept rising over the weeks despite the Casodex.

On Dec 2 2020 I upped the dosage to 100mg. Felt a little worse from it but am managing to work if I take some coffee and if I take some Concerta/Ritalin for concentration. Failed to notice at the time that this new dose of Casodex 100mg was making me lose weight and did not link the occasional shortness of breath to it at the time.

December 16 2020. Upped my Casodex dose to 150mg.

December 22 2020. Stopped taking Casodex completely as I felt just about ready to die. Had been sleeping 16+ hours a day and spent the hours awake to simply cry and stressed that I'll lose my job, house, everything and leaving my wife homeless from dying so rapidly.

December 25 2020. Weight is down to 146, I am not getting better at all despite having stopped the Casodex. However I am no longer artificially depressed from the Casodex but I am so out of breath that even making juice is an effort that leaves me panting.

December 27 2020. Went to the emergency room of the hospital where they confirmed that my issues are not Covid related and that all of my problems are indeed side-effects of Casodex (confusion, word switching, forgetful ness, weight changes, depression, weakness, etc...).

All blood work looks good and the X-Rays of my lungs looks as healthy as those I had taken in 2014. So I just need to wait for 4-6 weeks in order for Casodex to be fully out of my system.

January 2021 started Lupron again.

***

[dac500 in reply to Mascouche]

Sorry to hear about your bad experience with Casodex. I am not planning to increase my dosage. Previously, I took Casodex 50 mg for a year together with Lupron shots from November, 2018 to November, 2019. This time I am on Casodex 50 mg for about 3 weeks. So far only symptom is pain in my breast. Funny during the period taking Lupron I had little problem with my breast, but now off Lupron for a year my breast started enlarging and I have more pain.

[Justfor_ in reply to dac500]

Tamoxifen takes care of sensitive breasts.

[Grandpa4 in reply to Justfor_]

Yes and has the benefit of being good for bones. I could not tolerate it so I irradiated the breast. Minimal risk and very quick and easy permanent solution.

[Magnus1964]

The casodex should bring down your PSA. My advice is do not stop casodex if you PSA is down I am not a fan of ADT vacations. They only give new lines cancer cells a chance to find a work around.

[j-o-h-n in reply to Magnus1964]

Ditto........

Good Luck, Good Health and Good Humor.

j-o-h-n Friday 07/08/2022 12:40 PM DST