Husband has been off Lupron, Zytiga for about six months now and finally weaned of the small amount of prednisone a couple of months ago. He's been slamming supplements and kicking up his exercise, and testosterone is slowing coming back (at about 80 right now.) He is slooowwwly starting to get back some energy. But he's been experiencing pretty bad achiness in his joints, particularly his hands. Muscles too but that's likely a result of the recent increase in exercise. He doesn't want to increase his pain relievers--he wants to wean off that stuff, too. But at this point, the joint pain is getting bad. Is this a "normal" result of transitioning off drugs, before cortisol and hormones are back up and running? Any advice appreciated -- thank you!
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ElizabethMedora
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I tried to come off 10mg of pred in 3 weeks. Pain started when I went to 2.5mg. I think my Oncologist was worried that the inflammation would make the cancer worse. Perhaps the lesson is not to do it so quickly.
we’ll, not completely. I figured my arthritis had become worse over the years I was taking the corticosteroids so it didn’t go away 100%. Still, we’re all so different
thanks for sending this message I’m so glad to hear when a pc patient is off those medications and on his way to no more pc. For his hand discomfort I don’t have any knowledge of drugs that might help him . I eas thinking he might want to try RICE therapy , which is rest ice compression elevation. Maybe that’s going to be enough maybe not 😊I hope it will give him some relief. I am glad he’s doing nutrients ( that’s my area of expertise).
That's good news. My doctor is now talking about adding ADT to radiation. More awful side effects to deal with I'm sure. Hoping to control my PSA with a more natural approach.
Thanks! Seems like a lot of stuff I read on the forum about natural solutions is kind of a "piecemeal" approach though rather than a comprehensive plan. I'm not sure there really is one for PCa. Just asking a lot of questions at this point.
Thanks everyone for your input. Mostly he was worried if this was something other than post-therapy side effects. Or if it's something that will resolve itself eventually.
Diagnosed G-9 (4+5) in December of 2021. 4 tumors restricted to prostate. PSMA PET was clean so enrolled in clinical trial using 6 28 days cycles of Zytiga/prednisone (10 mg), Lupron and Niraparib. SBRT administered at the end of third cycle . Finished ADT 8/28/22 and tapered prednisone over 3 weeks. I had some arthritis symptoms prior to treatment, but since coming off prednisone, I have had significant joint pain - especially my hands. Many nights my hand pain will wake me up after 4-5 hours of sleep. I have tried gloves, oral NSAIDS, tramadol - mixed results. Recently, I have gotten significant relief by washing my hands thoroughly and strongly in very warm water and then applying diclofenac cream, per dosage instructions. I rub it in thoroughly and massage my hands for about 5 minutes. I am restricting the treatment to every other day to avoid skin SEs. I hope you get some relief.
When I was going through chemo, I was getting Nuelestra to help with increasing my white blood cell count. One of the side effects is joint pain. MO said to take Claritin to help with the joint pain. I didn't believe that Claritin would work but I was wrong. It does. Your husband may want to try that.
Not enough. He knows that. Tennis a couple of times a week, 1 mile walk a few times a week, and trips to the gym maybe 1-2x/week, but sometimes skipped it. He knows he screwed up. He's much more intentional about that now.
Great! That’s all that matters. A lot of guys make the mistake of thinking return of testosterone alone will work magic. Psychologically yes, but for most it’s only to a degree. It’s the exercise itself that matters.
Time off exercise when older is much harder to come back from, but amazing results can happen if we are patient and manage our expectations. More weights, get a trainer if you can at all afford it. Great luck to you both!
I also developed sever hand pain post Lupron, Zytiga, prednisone and radiation. My hand pain started increasing 6-8 months after stopping prednisone. I was getting up each morning with hand pain an unable to close my hands and having no strength. I felt like I was holding two bricks. I connected it to the prednisone when I was prescribed prednisone for a viral infection and the pain temporally subsided. I sought a hand specialist and started physical therapy in May and with little improvement in my predominant hand the doctor diagnosed I was suffering from osteoarthritis of the hand, Dupuytren’s disease (Vikings disease) and trigger finger. I had surgery in September 2022 . I then started six weeks of physical therapy and after four months I am pain free full movement and strength.
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Update 
First post: Father with metastatic PCa, looking for natural treatment experiences after stoping oral chemo/radiation. 
PSA post Salvage Radiation 
PRE-ZYTIGA LUPRON PSA DIDN'T DROP MUCH
Post-infusion pain in arm
