Side effects of Bicalutamide

Hello old timer,

Welcome to MacMillan and the crazy world of cancer.

Cancer comes with many burdens. The physical is obvious, but the mental, and emotional burden, nothing can prepare you for it, as there is no training 

Like yourself I’m on hormone therapy and was prescribed Bicalutamide to prevent tumour flare. One of the effects of Bicalutamide is  fatigue. I was instructed to take it at night to minimise the effects. Hormone therapy reduces the level of testosterone in your body, which in turn causes fatigue. Add to this mix, worry, stress, and anxiety, which in turn can adversely affect your sleep, and you can see why your fatigued. Rest assured I’ve trodden this part of your path, and I was very tired by the end of the day. In fact before the end of the day.

Another side effect of hormone therapy is described as mood swings, and there are times when you feel quite irrational. Hormone therapy can have a depressive effect upon your system, and again I’ve experienced it. In the early days of my treatment, trying to cope with everything that was happening to me and the changes to my body, I experienced a couple of emotional meltdowns. I now know how to cope with this side effect, but it still beats me at times. 

Rest assured that what is happening to you is, in my experience, and from what I’ve read of others, is quiet normal at this point in your treatment. It’s just that you’ve nothing to compare it against from your life experiences. 

To help combat this feeling of fatigue, try to keep yourself busy, and your mind occupied. Cancer has a habit of forcing its way to the front of your thoughts. Exercise too, helps you cope with fatigue, and a good walk helps with the feel good factor. Keep in touch here, contact a Macmillan advisor, your local Macmillan nurses, your CNS, mine is fantastic, and check out holistic therapies. My CNS put me in contact with a local holistic centre, and auricular acupuncture worked a treat for me.

Best regards

Hi oldtimer.

Like both you and flightsim, I have trodden the same path with hormone treatment. I had my first Prostap injection just three days after starting the Bicalutamide. I was very tired and emotional after a few weeks but can't blame either treatment in particular as they both started close together. You should also be aware that hormone treatment can cause clinical depression, so that's something to look out for.

I was very fit before starting treatment but did find it difficult to keep up the competitive rowing that I had been doing before. I kept on rowing twice a week but stopped the competitive element as it was just too much. The tears would start at any time of day (or night) and were totally unpredictable.

A friend who had been through the same treatment a year before me suggested Evening Primrose Oil and Sage Capsules, so I started taking both twice a day and that was a great help with the emotional instability, the hot flushes and the tiredness. Since it has been so successful for me, I will continue with those as long as I remain on hormone treatment, which will be at least another 18 months. Both can be bought at any high street herbalist or on the internet from Holland & Barrett.

I had to stop rowing for three months after having the gold seeds implanted for radiotherapy, but have recently started again and am already feeling the benefit. I intend to return to competitive rowing in June and hope to take part in the world championships in Stranraer in July (I will be competing in the men's 60+ class as we don't have enough oldies in our club to make the 280+). I very much hope that I will still be rowing in six years time when I get to your age, but I may not be taking part in competitions by then!

I also managed to climb an 874 metre high mountain on Good Friday without feeling too tired although my quads and calf muscles were a bit sore the next day.

You need to take as much exercise as you feel you can (and then just a little bit more) so you can maintain a good fitness level for the next stage of your treatment. It's also good to have a hobby which you can do when you feel tired. Having spent a lot of time in the past working with rope I took up making key-rings from paracord, which is easy to do at any time, and I now make them in industrial quantities for both the Glasgow Maggie's Centre and our local Cancer Support charity! Here's some of the ones I made for the staff in the cancer hospital where I received my radiotherapy.

Hi oldtimer from another oldtimer. I've been on the roller coaster for nearly 6 years now and the mood swings have never stopped for me. Usually about once a week I have a day of feeling down, funnily it usually follows a really good nights sleep. I'm also on low dose steroid so sometimes have very restless nights, but they are followed by good days. You get used to the mood swings in the knowledge that it dose'nt last long. Best of luck with your treatment.