Radiotherapy Treatment

SRabb I have been along the PC journey and started my 20 sessions of RT on 18th July 2024. You may like to read my diary of the whole journey in my profile, it's long winded so starting at the end of May 2024 will shorten it a bit.
As of today my remaining side effects are hot sweats and ED, it is my belief that my testosterone level may be increasing a bit but my next blood test results in July will confirm or deny that! 

Hi

so my husband is a year out of radiotherapy and hormone therapy

His initial side effects were bowel urgency and struggling to pass urine  This led to complete urinary retention and he needed a catheter for three weeks   This is very unusual so don’t panic!  However when the catheter was removed everything was basically back to normal

i would say the side effects in total lasted 2/3 months but now everything is as normal, his life is back to what it was before treatment and his psa is.0.245

So all is good and hopefully it will be for you

hi first time on here .side effects well i was diagnosed gleason 9 in nov 2018 had the usual tiredness flushes on hormones urgent weeing etc . but in last 7 months got lot worse the weeing at night every couple hours keeping me awake restricetd sleep . doing a TURPS op on 23rd june as urodynamics assement shows retriction and incontinence bit nervous as could cause intontinence get worse in which do botox ,all very complex make worse by leaking lot blood in urine  last week about a pint in continous 11 hrs and then psa going from 8.1 to a worrying 26.7 in only 10 weeks ,on thurs having retest PSA to see if thats correct.. wonder anybody had any these long term effects ..off hormones at moment but have 37 sessions (too much i think ) RT which damaged my whole urintary system ..john

wish my psa was that low .2 is good the testestorone level tested and as goes up the psa will but hopefully yours stay constant .mine origionally was 1.9 after treatment but after 2/3 years started slowly go up in tests . the body has to settle after all that RT its the long term effects bothered me .defends on amount of RT and of course gleason score ..hope everything goes well ..john

its odd that most PC  patients have their PSA /testestorone bloods done every 6/12 month since may 2023 mines been done every 3 months .ive had 3 ct scans 3 mris and a pelvic ct scan so far mnothings spread but its always a concern when levels rise , best of luck for july tests

Hello Johnjmac and welcome to the group. I have tagged in our community champion Brian Millibob as he has had first hand experience of a TURP.

My husband is also Gleason 9 and has had repeated progressions. There is a specialist scan called a PSMA PET scan which is very good at identifying where even small areas of cancer are lodged anywhere in the body so maybe this is something you can ask about. 

I hope the next PSA shows things back to normal but let us know how you get on.

Mine were to be every three months but according to my local hospital trust Christie's have advised trusts to reduce them to six monthly and not have either a face to face or telephone consultation unless the test shows any change that causes concern. As for a testosterone test, that is not normally included by my trust but I asked for that to be added to my next one and will do so again.   

Hello John (jmac) 

A warm welcome to the online Community -although I am sorry to find you here - I am on holiday ant this time hence the delay in my reply. .

As Alwayshope said - I had a TURP in November 2022. The operation takes a few slices or chips off the bottom of your prostate to increase your flow.

I checked into hospital at 7.00am and was in theatre by 9.30 - a spinal injection so I had no feeling below my pelvis and was awake throughout - no pain at all, in fact the surgeon and staff and I all did the "popmaster" quiz on the radio. All done for 11.30 and back on the ward. A catheter for the day but was removed at 6.00am the following day and once I could pass 750ml of urine I was free to toddle off home.

My flow was vastly improved - however as I had had an indwelling catheter for 10 months I had to learn to wee again - but with regular pelvic floor exercises all is good now. (If you click on my name or avatar you can read my full journey)

I hope this helps - if I can do anything for you please do let me know.

Best wishes - Brian.

I went through my radiotherapy and hormone and testosterone.  Took hormone 28 tablets start of 2025 along with injections started radiotherapy on April 14th , finished  sessions on May 2nd, my latest PSA blood test was on 29th  May,  came back with a result of 0.01 , no more testosterone injections needed just PSA every 6 months and monitor any return symptoms. Side effects have been mild compared to some and have almost but gone apart from the lack of energy and feeling tired 

i had similar 37 sessions of RT main problem kicked in 5 years down the line long term problems  when incontinece and restriction  got lot worse and tamalusin didnt work for me apart from giving me  dizzy headache s , also haemutura lot blood last week being investigated ..due another psa to double check the sharp rise to 26.7 on thursday  so ongoing ..but after 6 years its hasnt spread to bones ...john