Getting Ready to Start Abiraterone

[Professorgary]

I am getting ready to start abiraterone (1000) mg with 5 mg prednisone once daily. I have been thoroughly instructed on taking the abiraterone with no food two hours before and one hour after as well as taking prednisone with food but was wondering when you guys take yours. Morning before breakfast or before bed. My drug insert also says if I only take prednisone once daily to take it in the morning. Thanks in advance.

[Magnus1964]

I was on a drug trial with abiraterone. The trial start with taking it without food. PSA went down. The instructed to take it with food, PSA went down farther.

[Professorgary in reply to Magnus1964]

I have read of these trials however the ones I read about had the group taking less drug with food. 250 mg with a low fat breakfast.

[JohnInTheMiddle in reply to Magnus1964]

1. Bravo being on Abiraterone (aka Zytiga). In the right circumstances it's very powerful.

2. You're on an ADT too, yes?

3. Because you're here on the "Advanced" forum you probably have metastases?

4. I've been on Abi for 18 months, no problems that I am aware of.

5. Timing is slightly awkward in the morning, when I take Abi, because it's better to be standing up than lying down, when absorbing a medication.

6. So I get up and take the Abi at 6:30 am., but not the prednisone.

7. And I don't lie down - I eat breakfast an hour later. I do have a coffee during that time and have not found any recommendation not to.

8. At my breakfast, which includes always some fat, I take my prednisone, and a few vitamins like D and some calcium and magnesium etc. all at once.

9. As long as you're covered by insurance, the 1 g Abi per day is fine and you can follow the "no food" regimen. However I know responsible people who for various reasons, including financial stress because the med is not fully covered, eat food with Abi, this is apparently a reasonable thing to do. It's interesting that the "no food rule" is related to the magnification of the effects of Abi, not a diminishment of those effects.

[Professorgary in reply to JohnInTheMiddle]

John, to answer your comment I have node involvement as well as nodules in both lungs and lesions in spine, ribs, pelvis and femurs. Psa was 5664 when I started lupron and recent scans show lungs have resolved themselves as well as several bone lesions. Psa bottomed at 6 2 months ago and is heading back up. I’m handling the lupron pretty well and hope I can deal with the Abi. I’m also concerned with prednisone because I’ve tried it for back pain in the past and couldn’t handle it but MO said that was a much higher dose than I’ll get now.

[dhccpa in reply to Magnus1964]

Same quantity of AA with and without food?

[Magnus1964 in reply to dhccpa]

No change on dosage.

[Hidden]

Eat breakfast, take Prednisone with breakfast.

Wait 2 hours, take Abi,

Wait 1 hour eat lunch.

Easy peasy

[Tommyj2 in reply to Hidden]

Easy peasy if you have nothing else to do…little more complicated with a busy schedule

[Hidden in reply to Tommyj2]

What? You don’t have a 3 hour window between breakfast and lunch?

[Tommyj2 in reply to Tommyj2]

don’t know what I was thinking at the time….

[d3is4me]

I took Zytiga 1000mg 2hours before eating in the morning and pres.with breakfast for 12months now Yonsa 500mg fine particle Abi with breakfast both work well.

[dhccpa in reply to d3is4me]

500 mg with food? No bad SEs?

[d3is4me in reply to dhccpa]

Hi No different SEs But check Yonsa is a fine particle Abi has a much better absorption than Zytiga can be taken with or without food.

[dhccpa in reply to d3is4me]

Will do. Haven't heard of it before.

[fireandice123]

I took the prednisone in the evening. Took the Abi as soon as I woke up in the morning. By the time I showered, shaved, fed the pets, and unloaded the dishwasher about an hour had passed and I had breakfast.

[Hidden in reply to fireandice123]

I tried prednisone in the evening. Was wide awake ALL night!!

[fireandice123 in reply to Hidden]

I realized later that wakefulness is one of the SE’s but I never had that or any SE from the prednisone, at least none that I recognized. If only I could say the same thing about Abi SE’s.

[Mike1971]

I took Abi when waking up and prednisone after breakfast.

(Taking prednisone in the evening would make it hard to fall asleep at night).

[treedown]

I wake up about 5 am, sometimes a little later, and take zytiga. Then when I get up I eat when able and take Prednisone. I have reminder in the calender for both and mark them completed when I am done. This is my second time around with Lurpon and Zytiga. Easy peasy for me and hoping the same for you.

[Chrisbaird]

I take Zytiga 500gm once wake an hour before breakfast but admit I do lay in bed 30 mins after which I question isn’t right for absorption 5gm prednisone with breakfast

[Proflac]

My husband takes the abi during one of his several visits to the loo during the night. If you're not in that boat - well done! Good luck. It's still working for him after 2 years.

[Blauw]

I took mine at 3 pm, 2 hours after my lunch and then I wouldn’t eat a thing till 4 pm. Set an alarm on my watch to remind me.

[michael00]

I take mine about 10;30-11:00 pm then take prednisone in the morning with food. It's worked well for me for 5 years.

[pakb]

My husband has been on that combo for almost 6 years. He takes his abiraterone (zytiga) at about 5/5:30 and uses the loo. Then he goes back to sleep- getting up between 7 and 9 depending on his schedule that day- he takes his prednisone and other vitamins with breakfast. If he doesn't get up at 5 or 5:30 then he just has black coffee with the abiraterone until an hour has passed to eat. It's worked great for him for these 6 years.

[Warrior13]

I take 250mg and 5mg prednisone with a low-fat breakfast

[Amadeus71 in reply to Warrior13]

How long have you been taking 250 with food? Is breakfast the same everyday? Thanks!

[Warrior13 in reply to Amadeus71]

Just about one year now… one more to go .. stampede trial

[dhccpa in reply to Warrior13]

So they're finally testing the reduced dosage with food in a clinical trial?

[Professorgary in reply to dhccpa]

Yes. Actually in India the reduced dose seems to be the standard.

[Amadeus71]

I've been on 1000mg Abi plus 2x5mg prednisone daily since January 2022. I tried a few different routines/schedules and found Abi in the morning before breakfast works best for me. PSA currently undetectable and has been for about 6 months.

[ShipModeler]

I chose a route that works well for me. For the past 18 months I have taken the Zytiga at 4 AM. I picked this time because I normally have to hit the bathroom around then. My Endocrinologist told we to take the prednisone in the AM with breakfast.

[jmarsh]

I take Pred after breakfast around 6:45. I take Abi at 9:00 or later. I’ve been doing this for about 15 mos now. So far, so good. Pro tip: I set a permanent reminder in my phone for 9:00 every day.

[robert570]

I took it when I first got up in the morning. (4 tablets) I took my prednisone a little after lunch.

[j-o-h-n]

Caution!!! Never take it when you're sleeping.....

Good Luck, Good Health and Good Humor.

j-o-h-n Saturday 09/09/2023 12:29 PM DST

[pj1121]

i take 1000 arbraterone 5 prednisone and 2 BP meds all together at 6:00am then often dont eat until 11:00. But ive only been on abi for 2weeks. Others on a different thread here take everything together as well.

[hopefull99]

I am taking prednisone twice a day. First thing in the morning with abiraterone and evening dose with dinner.

If it does not bother you on an empty stomach, it's OK to take it that way. For me it is simpler to take the morning dose with Aberaterone.

[jfoesq]

I have been taking it for 6 years continuously and for several years intermittently before then. I take the aberaterone when I wake up from sleep to use the bathroom- usually sometime between 6:00-8:00am. I take the prednisone sometime after dinner along with my vitamins. Works for me.

[TEXAS_dan2022]

I have been on Abiraterone (generic for Zytiga) 1000mg daily and prednisone 5mg once daily since 2019 and after doing some study found that the best way to take the Abiraterone at 6:00AM in the morning and then take my Prednisone at around 8:30AM or so with breakfast. I have not had any serious side affects other than loss of strength (i.e. no Testosterone) however tis may be attributed to taking Lupron injections every 12 weeks also as part of my medical regime. I hope you have read the precautions on handling the abiraterone and to not let anyone even 'touch' the pills nor should you kiss your wife after taking them until you have washed you mouth off.

You may experience hot flashes for the first several months but these are not bad and what you are avoiding by taking them is much worse. Good Luck and continue to monitor this site as there are a lot of good useful helps mentioned here.

[TMcgee]

I take 250mg AA and 10mg Prednisone with low fat yogurt and berries daily. I made the decision based on the trials and studies below. Quite frankly, if you read everything, you will quickly determine that fasting before and after for a total of 3 hours has the same issues as taking AA with low and high fat meals.

There appears to be a combination of art and science in prescribing this particular drug, as the studies detail.

cinj.org/sites/cinj/files/d...

future-science.com/doi/10.4...

link.springer.com/article/1...

clinicaltrials.gov/study/NC...

Best to you and your family

[Calhoun113]

7AM for aberaterone and 8AM for breakfast and prednisone and calcium w/D3 pill.

[CocoTheAlphaCat]

Wow! Lots of people on the protocol here. FWIW, Abiraterone first thing when I get up; then wait at least an hour before any food (coffee is ok, but ONLY black coffee). Prednisone later in the day, usually around either breakfast or lunch. It's an upper, so don't take it later in the day.