In my August 3mo checkup, my psa was .12 . I get three month lupron injection, and on abiraterone since Feb 22. In my Nov checkup, PSA jump to .34 and so had one month follow-up showing that it jumped to .63.
For background, I had PSMA PET scan in Jan 2022 that showed possible met in right anterior acetabular, but it had no CT correlate. Jump back to this Dec, new bone scan and CT scan now shows that met.
I do have pain in my right hip. It seems to have started after a 14 mile bike ride in Oct after having not been on a bike at all in a couple of years. So, speculatively, I can't help but wonder if overdoing it on the bike might have contributed to this flare up. I renewed a gym membership specifically to use the sauna. The heat does seem to alleviate the pain.
My question is this: is sauna OK, or contraindicated? I have read that sauna use does apparently trigger growth hormone release and so I wonder aloud here if anyone has had their doctor discourage sauna? Or for that matter, too much or too vigorous exercise?
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I can tell you right now Exercise is one of the keys to surviving this crap. Haven't heard anything bad about sauna. I do enjoy the occasional sauna at the gym
Interesting on DEXA scan, my MO has never ordered one., Although I just had x-ray, CT and bone scan. I can get a DEXA scan for $99 myself, but what am I looking for?
Most older people don’t have to worry about exercising too much at all, provided increases are slow and steady. Your taking a 14 mile bike ride after not being on a bike ‘at all in a couple of years’ is obviously the opposite of what you want.
Build strength and endurance patiently and you should have no worries, or more specifically, injuries.
Sauna is fine. Fpr many cancers hyperthermia is used in conjunction with chemo. It hasn't panned out in PCa but some people cling to it anyway as a natural way to self medicate.
Exercise is very important. Increase slowly.
And make sure that your hydration and electrolytes are good. PCa therapies and exercise can trash your electrolytes. Low hydration and/or poor electrolyte balance can result in joint pains. Particularly in your hips.
Most of your electrolytes are tested in the simple comprehensive metabolic panel blood test. If they are low try Nunn tabs.
Exercise reduces PCa mortality 30-60%. It's listed prominently on cancer.gov among many other sites. There are over 3000 clinical trials concerning exercise for cancer patients.
Finnish sauna bathing does not increase or decrease the risk of cancer in men: a prospective cohort studyJari A Laukkanen, Timo H Mäkikallio, Hassan Khan, Tanjaniina Laukkanen, Jussi Kauhanen, Setor K Kunutsor
European Journal of Cancer 121, 184-191, 2019
Introduction
Evidence suggests that heat therapy can be used to prevent and treat cancer; anecdotal reports suggest passive heat therapies may increase cancer risk. Finnish sauna bathing has been linked to a reduced risk of chronic diseases, but its association with cancer risk is unknown. We aimed to assess the prospective association between frequency of sauna bathing and the risk of all-cause and site-specific cancers using the Kuopio Ischemic Heart Disease prospective cohort.
Methods
Baseline sauna bathing habits were assessed in 2173 men aged 42–61 years with no history of cancer. Hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for cancer were calculated using Cox proportional hazard models. We corrected for within-person variability in sauna bathing habits using data from repeat assessments taken 11 years apart.
Results
During a median follow-up of 24.3 years, 588 (27.1%) all-cause cancer cases were recorded. The age-adjusted regression dilution ratio of sauna bathing frequency was 0.69 (0.62–0.76). In multivariable-adjusted analyses, the HRs (95% CIs) of all-cause cancer were 0.92 (0.76–1.11) and 0.92 (0.66–1.27) for men who had 2-3 and ≥4 sauna sessions per week, respectively, compared with men who had ≤1 sauna session per week. The non-significant findings were consistent for prostate, gastrointestinal and lung cancers on multivariate adjustment.
Conclusionl
Frequent Finnish sauna bathing is not associated with the risk of cancer in a middle-aged male Caucasian population. Further studies are required to confirm or refute these findings, particularly in women and other age groups.
I’m a Sauna nut..I have my own..wood fired. I find it relieves all my woes both somatic and otherwise. I enjoy snow rolling or cold plunges as well which is often not subscribed to but imho absolutely imperative after hyperthermia. The Yin and Yang that return the balance in the ever revolving crankshaft..Heading in for a good soak momentarily.
I have used a portable sauna for years,. The instructions warn about hyperthermia. The main fear seems to be that hyperthermia can cause loss of consciousness. I set for 30 minutes, using once every two weeks, 130 degrees F and it turns off automatically when it reaches that temperature. I bought it because I read that cancer cells (all types) die at 106 degrees F. The body tries to maintain 98.6. So your circulatory and respiratory systems limit the effectiveness. I have had no problems.
P.S. Bicycling stimulates the prostate gland and can increase the blood PSA reading.
my only warning is don’t use if you’re using fentanyl patches. Medication is released through body heat so using a sauna or hot tub would give you a high dose and run out the patches sooner. We found this out the hard way. The hot tub helped him immensely with bone pain but the patches ran out quickly. The reason he felt better was because he was getting massive doses of fentanyl after being in the hot tub.
I have met damage in both hip - leg joints and both knees. Both a jacuzzi and a steam sauna help relieve the some of the pains for a couple hours or more.
I had one of those portable steam saunas on my back deck ( zip up the front, folding chair inside, your head sticks out the top , steam generator on floor next to sauna ) , about $150 or less on Amazon , fits in garage , spare bedroom , back deck etc. will fold up easily for storage in closet. On chilly winter nights, I’d go out on the back deck and I’d start it up, takes about 20 minutes to get going fully. Unzip it , sit down, put your towel around your neck ( optional ) zip it back up and enjoy. They have zippered openings for your hands to read a book or use your media device . They are affordable and work wonderful. I tried but did not like the infrared bulb type … . They take little floor space and are suitable indoors or out. Just IMHO.
Can i suggest going to a hydro therapy pool, it is so good on the muscles .I am a little lucky my wife is very good at remedial massage .Best of luck! Regards Brian
We have an infra red Sauna jim uses 2 times per week, 135 degrees for 30 minutes. He tells me, as he perspires, the sweat is oily, very different from what he is use to with regular exercise. I noticed one of the posts said you excrete the meds, if I’m not mistaken. If not to personal, what are you sweating these days?
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