My Dad...Side effects of Casodex and Lupron Shots.

 

On 9/11/2009 Mallie wrote:

I am very new to this site. My dad was diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer about 1 1/2 years ago which has already metastatized to multiple bones in his body. His PSA level was about 700.  Needless to say, my family is devastated by this and we are trying to gain as much knowledge about this as possible. We have watched a very vibrant, humorous, healthy, outgoing and wonderful man go through something that I wouldn't wish on my worse enemy. The love that I have for my father is beyond what any words could ever express and it has been hard watching him go through this intense pain. However, about 2 months ago, his doctors started him on Casodex and Lupron shots. He is scheduled to get the next injection in October. I truly praise God that he has felt much better than before since the combination hormone therapy. He has not had to take a pain pill for about 2 months now. The side effects have been hot flashes on and off, occasional tiredness, some lower back pain, a little bit of weight gain which he desperatly needed and he said that hair is just growing everywhere (under arms, etc.) Overall, he has been in much better spirits lately and again I give God all the glory.

I do have a couple of questions for anyone that might be (or knows anyone) on the same meds that my dad is taking (Casodex & Lupron shots)?  I've spoken to my mom because I keep reading about the men taking these meds having a lack of sex drive. Has anyone tried any types of meds to try to improve in that area such as Viagra or anything and what were the results? Also, does anyone know of anyone to have broken any of their bones, in particular their femur bone? That is the bone that the doctors seems to very concerned with. In addition, has anyone experienced the hair growth while taking these meds? Please help if you can. I thank you all in advance for any light you can shed.

I pray for everyone on this website and I thank all of you for your stories. We all need as much information and emotional support as we can get.  God bless all of you.

Warmest regards,
Mallie

‹ Prostate Cancer -Thoughts from AJ's wife Internal healing ›

My husband is 53 yrs old and was diagnosed with Prostate Cancer also one and a half years ago.  He had a Gleason count of 10 out of 10, was told he is not a candidate for surgery as it had spread outside of the prostate to the lymph glands already.  They started him on Lupron right away along with Casodex pills.  That was in March 2008.  He had a PSA count of 460.  He had IV chemo in August 2008 through Nov 2008.  It made him very sick and weak, but the PSA dropped down to a low point of 75.  His Dr. Appts in March and in June all showed that the Hormone therapy wasn't working anymore.  They switched the Lupron shot to a shot called Degarelix that you get every 28 days, and discontinued the Casodex too.  That did not work at all.  His PSA went to 700 and this week it is up to 2200.  This week the doctor is trying something called Ketaconazole (I looked it up online and it says it is an anti-fungal med).

We don't know what to think anymore.  My husband is getting thinner and weaker and more disgusted by the day.  The cancer is in his bones and he had two tumors in his spine that they just finished doing radiation on.

He has been sick with vomiting and blood in the urine for about nine days. We have called and seen all three of his doctors and none of them will give us a straight answer as to what is going on. 

 As far as hair growth, I would say no he hasn't noticed alot of that.  The hot flashes are terrible and zap his strength to the point that he has to go lay down or sit down if we are out somewhere. 

I don't know where we go from here.  I am sorry to hear so many others are suffering with this disease but now don't feel so all alone.

Mallie my heart gos out to you and your Dad  I remember when I had prostate bones mets it was in my lower back and my ribs  my doctor told me where it was I could roll over in bed of a night and brake my spine and be a para for the rest of my life. but it fine now Im finily free of the pain so I know how bad it can get and what you Dad and you are  going though I still remember the look on my wife and my doughter faces I just want to hold and tell them how much I truely loved them  as lone as I could. you know  one of our guys in the  cancer support group use to have  a PSA of 3000 it come down now but I could not belive it could go that high  your Dads  PSA should be comeing down if not hes haveing to meny carbs or sugar from sme were. Watch out for fruit or  fruit juice the fruit sugars in it will put his PSA up  take care Ray  

Excercise is mandatory, both aerobic and weights. Also as your doctor about Femera as it will stop any breast growth and may stop the hair growth. Also take Foxamex to strengthen bones. The PCRI web site has a lot of informaton on the side affects of HT.

JohnT

 

On 9/11/2009 Gold Star Mom wrote:

 

On 9/11/2009 Mallie wrote:

I am very new to this site. My dad was diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer about 1 1/2 years ago which has already metastatized to multiple bones in his body. His PSA level was about 700.  Needless to say, my family is devastated by this and we are trying to gain as much knowledge about this as possible. We have watched a very vibrant, humorous, healthy, outgoing and wonderful man go through something that I wouldn't wish on my worse enemy. The love that I have for my father is beyond what any words could ever express and it has been hard watching him go through this intense pain. However, about 2 months ago, his doctors started him on Casodex and Lupron shots. He is scheduled to get the next injection in October. I truly praise God that he has felt much better than before since the combination hormone therapy. He has not had to take a pain pill for about 2 months now. The side effects have been hot flashes on and off, occasional tiredness, some lower back pain, a little bit of weight gain which he desperatly needed and he said that hair is just growing everywhere (under arms, etc.) Overall, he has been in much better spirits lately and again I give God all the glory.

I do have a couple of questions for anyone that might be (or knows anyone) on the same meds that my dad is taking (Casodex & Lupron shots)?  I've spoken to my mom because I keep reading about the men taking these meds having a lack of sex drive. Has anyone tried any types of meds to try to improve in that area such as Viagra or anything and what were the results? Also, does anyone know of anyone to have broken any of their bones, in particular their femur bone? That is the bone that the doctors seems to very concerned with. In addition, has anyone experienced the hair growth while taking these meds? Please help if you can. I thank you all in advance for any light you can shed.

I pray for everyone on this website and I thank all of you for your stories. We all need as much information and emotional support as we can get.  God bless all of you.

Warmest regards,
Mallie

‹ Prostate Cancer -Thoughts from AJ's wife Internal healing ›

My husband is 53 yrs old and was diagnosed with Prostate Cancer also one and a half years ago.  He had a Gleason count of 10 out of 10, was told he is not a candidate for surgery as it had spread outside of the prostate to the lymph glands already.  They started him on Lupron right away along with Casodex pills.  That was in March 2008.  He had a PSA count of 460.  He had IV chemo in August 2008 through Nov 2008.  It made him very sick and weak, but the PSA dropped down to a low point of 75.  His Dr. Appts in March and in June all showed that the Hormone therapy wasn't working anymore.  They switched the Lupron shot to a shot called Degarelix that you get every 28 days, and discontinued the Casodex too.  That did not work at all.  His PSA went to 700 and this week it is up to 2200.  This week the doctor is trying something called Ketaconazole (I looked it up online and it says it is an anti-fungal med).

We don't know what to think anymore.  My husband is getting thinner and weaker and more disgusted by the day.  The cancer is in his bones and he had two tumors in his spine that they just finished doing radiation on.

He has been sick with vomiting and blood in the urine for about nine days. We have called and seen all three of his doctors and none of them will give us a straight answer as to what is going on. 

 As far as hair growth, I would say no he hasn't noticed alot of that.  The hot flashes are terrible and zap his strength to the point that he has to go lay down or sit down if we are out somewhere. 

I don't know where we go from here.  I am sorry to hear so many others are suffering with this disease but now don't feel so all alone.

Thank you for your response.  I am sorry to hear that so many others are suffering with this disease as well but I feel the same as you.  At least I don't feel so all alone.  At one point, I really did and I didn't realize that there were so many stories that sound so similar to what my dad is going through.  I really thought that we were in this by ourselves.

My dad is going through those hot flashes like crazy too.  He said that just like your husband, it immediately drains his energy and he has to go and lay down in order to recuperate.  In addition, I was so very worried about my dad because he was slim to start off with but he was a healthy slim.  Over the past 9 months, it's like watching him wither away because he has gotten sooo thin and weak.  It's very scary.  I am just grateful to God that over the past 2 months (on Casodex and 1st Lupron injection), he has gained 8 lbs.  He is still thin but at least it's better than continuing to drop weight off so drastically. 

Thank you for sharing your experiences and shedding some light on the situation.  Please keep in touch and I will keep you and your husband in prayer.  Please do the same for my dad and family. 

 

 

On 9/11/2009 jcr65566 wrote:

Mallie my heart gos out to you and your Dad  I remember when I had prostate bones mets it was in my lower back and my ribs  my doctor told me where it was I could roll over in bed of a night and brake my spine and be a para for the rest of my life. but it fine now Im finily free of the pain so I know how bad it can get and what you Dad and you are  going though I still remember the look on my wife and my doughter faces I just want to hold and tell them how much I truely loved them  as lone as I could. you know  one of our guys in the  cancer support group use to have  a PSA of 3000 it come down now but I could not belive it could go that high  your Dads  PSA should be comeing down if not hes haveing to meny carbs or sugar from sme were. Watch out for fruit or  fruit juice the fruit sugars in it will put his PSA up  take care Ray  

Ray, thanks for the support and the great suggestions and advice about the sugars.  I've been reading alot about cancer really thriving on sugar/glucose.  I just told my dad to stay away from it.  He has been eating some things that contain sugar because he was trying to gain some weight because he was getting so frail that it was scary.  Since being on Casodex and taking the 1 Lupron injection in July, he has gained about 8 lbs.  I told him to stop eating the sugary foods and I will tell him to watch out for the fruit sugars too.  I can feel totally relate to what you were going through with prostate bone mets.  My dad got the same speech from the doctor about him being careful because even if he moved the wrong way or rolled over while sleeping, he could break a bone and be a para for the rest of his life.  This has been the hardest thing for my dad to even share with me.  He actually held back for a while even telling me.  I knew that something was going on but I didn't know that it was this devastating of a circumstance.  I almost was scared to actually post about my dad's PSA level being at 700 because at first I was seeing much lower psa levels and I thought that everyone would respond like "OH NO!, there's no hope!"  But I see that there are levels in the 2000's and 3000's.  I never knew that it could even go that high. 

My dad hasn't had to take a pain pill since mid-June.  I am so thankful because that pain was so intense and I know that he couldn't have hung on much longer going through that.  His mobility was diminishing as well to the point that for about 2 or 3 days, he couldn't even get up out of the bed.   

I can't thank you enough for your response and for sharing your experiences and for the overall support.  I will keep you in prayer and I thank God that YOU are pain free.

Take care and warmest regards,

Mallie 

 

 

On 9/11/2009 Johnt wrote:

Excercise is mandatory, both aerobic and weights. Also as your doctor about Femera as it will stop any breast growth and may stop the hair growth. Also take Foxamex to strengthen bones. The PCRI web site has a lot of informaton on the side affects of HT.

JohnT

Hi John,

Thank you for this information.  I will let my dad know about this immediately.  Do you know of anyone who had the hair growth?  Also, do you know of anyone who has actually broken any bones while suffering with this?  I know that my dad is worried about doing weights because of the concern that the doctor's have regarding his femur bone.  They are really stressing for him to be very careful with his movement because his bones are so vulnerable to break due to the prostate bone mets. 

Look forward to hearing from you soon.  Thank you again for the info.  It is very much appreciated.

Take care and warm regards,

Mallie

 

On 9/11/2009 Mallie wrote:

 

On 9/11/2009 Johnt wrote:

Excercise is mandatory, both aerobic and weights. Also as your doctor about Femera as it will stop any breast growth and may stop the hair growth. Also take Foxamex to strengthen bones. The PCRI web site has a lot of informaton on the side affects of HT.

JohnT

Hi John,

Thank you for this information.  I will let my dad know about this immediately.  Do you know of anyone who had the hair growth?  Also, do you know of anyone who has actually broken any bones while suffering with this?  I know that my dad is worried about doing weights because of the concern that the doctor's have regarding his femur bone.  They are really stressing for him to be very careful with his movement because his bones are so vulnerable to break due to the prostate bone mets. 

Look forward to hearing from you soon.  Thank you again for the info.  It is very much appreciated.

Take care and warm regards,

Mallie

P.S. - My dad is walking as much as he can and he has now regained a little more strength to do some of his daily functions.  A couple of months ago, he had to stop doing anything because the pain was way too intense and he was losing mobility in his legs.  Again, I'm glad that he's doing much better and I will tell him to do as much exercise as he can handle without harming his bones.  :)

 

 

On 9/11/2009 Mallie wrote:

 

On 9/11/2009 jcr65566 wrote:

Mallie my heart gos out to you and your Dad  I remember when I had prostate bones mets it was in my lower back and my ribs  my doctor told me where it was I could roll over in bed of a night and brake my spine and be a para for the rest of my life. but it fine now Im finily free of the pain so I know how bad it can get and what you Dad and you are  going though I still remember the look on my wife and my doughter faces I just want to hold and tell them how much I truely loved them  as lone as I could. you know  one of our guys in the  cancer support group use to have  a PSA of 3000 it come down now but I could not belive it could go that high  your Dads  PSA should be comeing down if not hes haveing to meny carbs or sugar from sme were. Watch out for fruit or  fruit juice the fruit sugars in it will put his PSA up  take care Ray  

Ray, thanks for the support and the great suggestions and advice about the sugars.  I've been reading alot about cancer really thriving on sugar/glucose.  I just told my dad to stay away from it.  He has been eating some things that contain sugar because he was trying to gain some weight because he was getting so frail that it was scary.  Since being on Casodex and taking the 1 Lupron injection in July, he has gained about 8 lbs.  I told him to stop eating the sugary foods and I will tell him to watch out for the fruit sugars too.  I can feel totally relate to what you were going through with prostate bone mets.  My dad got the same speech from the doctor about him being careful because even if he moved the wrong way or rolled over while sleeping, he could break a bone and be a para for the rest of his life.  This has been the hardest thing for my dad to even share with me.  He actually held back for a while even telling me.  I knew that something was going on but I didn't know that it was this devastating of a circumstance.  I almost was scared to actually post about my dad's PSA level being at 700 because at first I was seeing much lower psa levels and I thought that everyone would respond like "OH NO!, there's no hope!"  But I see that there are levels in the 2000's and 3000's.  I never knew that it could even go that high. 

My dad hasn't had to take a pain pill since mid-June.  I am so thankful because that pain was so intense and I know that he couldn't have hung on much longer going through that.  His mobility was diminishing as well to the point that for about 2 or 3 days, he couldn't even get up out of the bed.   

I can't thank you enough for your response and for sharing your experiences and for the overall support.  I will keep you in prayer and I thank God that YOU are pain free.

Take care and warmest regards,

Mallie 

 

 

Hi Mallie that guy with the 3000psa going good you know The Casodex and Lupron Shots.will bring his PSA down if he can resist the urge the cancer sending out for him to have more sugar and carbs the other thing he needs  to do is, dont, lose, hope, this happen to me in 2007 I sat on the edge of beach in the water and Prayed to God  I started to cry I did not know that when I got up and went home that God was going to answer that prayer with my wife contacting a naturopath who know how to treat cancer it worked so tell him from me dont lose hope. Allso One of the caregivers postered this link last week to this artical on the alteritive mesigboard it called Real help for cancer by Bill sardi and Timothy Hubbell 

On other web sites they clame it  had a very good sucess rate not only for prostrate cancer but for breast cancer as well. you have to ask him to ask his doctor but at $100.00 for a weekly shoot it can get a bit pricie but if it works why not take care and God bless Ray  

http://www.lewrockwell.com/sardi/sardi84.html  

This is only the first bit of the arital go to the link to see the rest

The weekly injection of just 100 billionths of a gram of a harmless glyco-protein (a naturally-produced molecule with a sugar component and a protein component) activates the human immune system and cures cancer for good, according to human studies among breast cancer and colon cancer patients, producing complete remissions lasting 4 and 7 years respectively. This glyco-protein cure is totally without side effect but currently goes unused by cancer doctors.

Normal Gc protein (also called vitamin D binding protein), an abundant glyco-protein found in human blood serum, becomes the molecular switch to activate macrophages when it is converted to its active form, called Gc macrophage activating factor (Gc-MAF). Gc protein is normally activated by conversion to Gc-MAF with the help of the B and T cells (bone marrow-made and thymus gland-made white blood cells). But, as researchers explain it themselves, cancer cells secrete an enzyme known as alpha-N-acetylgalactosaminidase (also called Nagalase) that completely blocks conversion of Gc protein to Gc-MAF, preventing tumor-cell killing by the macrophages. This is the way cancer cells escape detection and destruction, by disengaging the human immune system. This also leaves cancer patients prone to infections and many then succumb to pneumonia or other infections.

The once-weekly injection of minute amounts of Gc-MAF, just 100 nanograms (billionths of a gram), activates macrophages and allows the immune system to pursue cancer cells with vigor, sufficient to produce total long-term cures in humans.

Nobuto Yamamoto, director of the Division of Cancer Immunology and Molecular Biology, Socrates Institute for Therapeutic Immunology, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, says this is "probably the most potent macrophage activating factor ever discovered."

The once-weekly injection of minute amounts of Gc-MAF, just 100 nanograms (billionths of a gram), activates macrophages and allows the immune system to pursue cancer cells with vigor, sufficient to produce total long-term cures in humans.

Nobuto Yamamoto, director of the Division of Cancer Immunology and Molecular Biology, Socrates Institute for Therapeutic Immunology, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, says this is "probably the most potent macrophage activating factor ever discovered."

 

On 9/12/2009 jcr65566 wrote:

 

On 9/11/2009 Mallie wrote:

 

On 9/11/2009 jcr65566 wrote:

Mallie my heart gos out to you and your Dad  I remember when I had prostate bones mets it was in my lower back and my ribs  my doctor told me where it was I could roll over in bed of a night and brake my spine and be a para for the rest of my life. but it fine now Im finily free of the pain so I know how bad it can get and what you Dad and you are  going though I still remember the look on my wife and my doughter faces I just want to hold and tell them how much I truely loved them  as lone as I could. you know  one of our guys in the  cancer support group use to have  a PSA of 3000 it come down now but I could not belive it could go that high  your Dads  PSA should be comeing down if not hes haveing to meny carbs or sugar from sme were. Watch out for fruit or  fruit juice the fruit sugars in it will put his PSA up  take care Ray  

Ray, thanks for the support and the great suggestions and advice about the sugars.  I've been reading alot about cancer really thriving on sugar/glucose.  I just told my dad to stay away from it.  He has been eating some things that contain sugar because he was trying to gain some weight because he was getting so frail that it was scary.  Since being on Casodex and taking the 1 Lupron injection in July, he has gained about 8 lbs.  I told him to stop eating the sugary foods and I will tell him to watch out for the fruit sugars too.  I can feel totally relate to what you were going through with prostate bone mets.  My dad got the same speech from the doctor about him being careful because even if he moved the wrong way or rolled over while sleeping, he could break a bone and be a para for the rest of his life.  This has been the hardest thing for my dad to even share with me.  He actually held back for a while even telling me.  I knew that something was going on but I didn't know that it was this devastating of a circumstance.  I almost was scared to actually post about my dad's PSA level being at 700 because at first I was seeing much lower psa levels and I thought that everyone would respond like "OH NO!, there's no hope!"  But I see that there are levels in the 2000's and 3000's.  I never knew that it could even go that high. 

My dad hasn't had to take a pain pill since mid-June.  I am so thankful because that pain was so intense and I know that he couldn't have hung on much longer going through that.  His mobility was diminishing as well to the point that for about 2 or 3 days, he couldn't even get up out of the bed.   

I can't thank you enough for your response and for sharing your experiences and for the overall support.  I will keep you in prayer and I thank God that YOU are pain free.

Take care and warmest regards,

Mallie 

 

 

Hi Mallie that guy with the 3000psa going good you know The Casodex and Lupron Shots.will bring his PSA down if he can resist the urge the cancer sending out for him to have more sugar and carbs the other thing he needs  to do is, dont, lose, hope, this happen to me in 2007 I sat on the edge of beach in the water and Prayed to God  I started to cry I did not know that when I got up and went home that God was going to answer that prayer with my wife contacting a naturopath who know how to treat cancer it worked so tell him from me dont lose hope. Allso One of the caregivers postered this link last week to this artical on the alteritive mesigboard it called Real help for cancer by Bill sardi and Timothy Hubbell 

On other web sites they clame it  had a very good sucess rate not only for prostrate cancer but for breast cancer as well. you have to ask him to ask his doctor but at $100.00 for a weekly shoot it can get a bit pricie but if it works why not take care and God bless Ray  

http://www.lewrockwell.com/sardi/sardi84.html  

This is only the first bit of the arital go to the link to see the rest

The weekly injection of just 100 billionths of a gram of a harmless glyco-protein (a naturally-produced molecule with a sugar component and a protein component) activates the human immune system and cures cancer for good, according to human studies among breast cancer and colon cancer patients, producing complete remissions lasting 4 and 7 years respectively. This glyco-protein cure is totally without side effect but currently goes unused by cancer doctors.

Normal Gc protein (also called vitamin D binding protein), an abundant glyco-protein found in human blood serum, becomes the molecular switch to activate macrophages when it is converted to its active form, called Gc macrophage activating factor (Gc-MAF). Gc protein is normally activated by conversion to Gc-MAF with the help of the B and T cells (bone marrow-made and thymus gland-made white blood cells). But, as researchers explain it themselves, cancer cells secrete an enzyme known as alpha-N-acetylgalactosaminidase (also called Nagalase) that completely blocks conversion of Gc protein to Gc-MAF, preventing tumor-cell killing by the macrophages. This is the way cancer cells escape detection and destruction, by disengaging the human immune system. This also leaves cancer patients prone to infections and many then succumb to pneumonia or other infections.

The once-weekly injection of minute amounts of Gc-MAF, just 100 nanograms (billionths of a gram), activates macrophages and allows the immune system to pursue cancer cells with vigor, sufficient to produce total long-term cures in humans.

Nobuto Yamamoto, director of the Division of Cancer Immunology and Molecular Biology, Socrates Institute for Therapeutic Immunology, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, says this is "probably the most potent macrophage activating factor ever discovered."

The once-weekly injection of minute amounts of Gc-MAF, just 100 nanograms (billionths of a gram), activates macrophages and allows the immune system to pursue cancer cells with vigor, sufficient to produce total long-term cures in humans.

Nobuto Yamamoto, director of the Division of Cancer Immunology and Molecular Biology, Socrates Institute for Therapeutic Immunology, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, says this is "probably the most potent macrophage activating factor ever discovered."

Hi Ray,

I can't thank you enough for this very beneficial information.  I will certainly take a look at this link and I will forward it to my dad also.  I am so glad to hear that the guy that had the PSA level of 3000 is doing good also.  Again, thanks for the support and for sharing your knowledge with others.  God is truly using you to help others through your experiences.  All glory to God cause I'm so happy that you have overcome some of the challenges and obstacles that you have faced in dealing with this disease.  I pray for the same outcome for my dad.  Take care and God Bless!