Had my first 3 monthly Prostap injection 3 weeks ago. So far, apart from soreness at the injection site for two days, no side affects whatsoever, is that normal?!
Everyone reacts differently to the hormone injections. I have been on Prostap for 18 months now and have no side effects. I did have hot flushes but started taking Sage Leaf and Evening Primrose Oil capsules (from Holland and Baratt) twice a day, which knocked them on the head. I have now halved my daily intake and the hot flushes are still under control. It's probably a good idea to reduce your alcohol and caffeine intake for a while until you are sure there's no effects from them.
I only had one injection which was sore for a week and that was when the nurse shook the syringe to mix it quicker. The instructions in the pack are quite clear that the syringe should NOT BE shaken and only tapped and rotated until the powder is dissolved. Needless to say I always refused to have my subsequent injections given by that particular practice nurse.
Good luck with your treatment.
Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery and today is a gift.
Thanks Seamus. I have heard that some people don't get any side effects, it's only because before receiving this injection I was reading so many stories of people with side effects that I thought it was inevitable I'd get them! I just hope the injection is working!
I don't drink alcohol and only have one coffee a day but thanks for the advice on this.
I’m on decapeptyl. Alcohol is the worst. I get regular hot flushes, not too bad generally just occasionally so bad it makes me feel sick, but that is rare.
I was on Zoladex for 18 months and after the usual hot flushes etc, it settled down nicely and I was moved to six monthly injections, then the bean counters at my surgery decided that Zoladex was too expensive and they put me on Prostap.
Oh my God. It was awful, within two days I had an extreme reaction to it, I wolke up in the night convinced that I was going to be sick, rushed to the bathroom, but nothing happened, so I put the loo seat down and sat there and then I began to get reall hot and the room was spinning 1,000 miles an hour. I hadn`t put the light on, so as not to disturb my wife, so I just sat there getting hotter and hotter with my head spinning. I took off anything I was wearing, even my watch and just sat there feeling awful, sweating like never before, but I knew that if I got up and tried to alert my wife, I would have passed out. This went on for around 45 minutes, then I began to feel better and put the light on and , still sitting, towelled myself dry. I looked down at the bathroom floor and around me, in a semi circle was a pool of water which took me a while to realise was where I`d been sweating, as it was still dripping off my hands. At this point my wife got up and called the paramedics who wanted to take me to hospital , as my temp was still on the high side, but it began to subside and I convinced them that I didn`t need to go (no point in lying on a trolley in a corridor all night).
I went back to bed and slept and was very weary for days, which the paramedics put down to an adverse reaction the Prostap.
When I began to recover, the hot flushes came at me with a vengeance and I had to take Cyproterone to try and lessen them, then my joints began to ache terribly, especially my shoulder, arms and knee. My GP said it must be the Prostap and se took me off it and back to Zoladex, which I had 8 weeks ago and I`ve been absolutely fine, so if Prostap, which is I believe, a generic HT drug works for you, stick with it I say and know that you are a lucky man, not suffering the adverse effects I did.
I wish you well on your cancer journey, stay safe.
Wow that must've been awful for you and probably a rare reaction to it. I had my first injection two months ago now and in a month the next one. I have had a few hot flushes but very mild, also itching around my middle which may or may not be a side effect. I am very slimly built always have been but no weight put on which is shame in my case and no man boobs fortunately either!
Side effects can include putting on weight and loss of libido accompanied by shrinking of the old todger as the male hormone Testosterone on which the cancer feeds is diminishing. After 6 months of no follow up injection I experienced cessation of hot flushes which were no real bother and lasted only a few minutes even in very hot weather. After 13 months of no follow up injection my libido improved even at age 79 ! . Its all worth it as the PSA reading drops. After a blood test last week I receive my result today of my PSA reading and expect it is back to my diagnostic level. In which case my consultant has indicated I will be back to Bicalutamide before a Stap 3 injection again. I turned down Radiology treatment due to logistics of attending for a month as I live out of town and had other things wrong with me as well.
I am now on my 4th Prostap and don't have any soreness but suffer from weight gain, lack of libido, tiredness, fatigue, lack of stamina and strength. The hot flushes are not really impacted by primrose oil.
Life is so much better without Prostap !! I`ve also lost the awful aching in my joints I was having, especially in my knees and lower leg.
I`m definitely a lot happier back on the Zoladex, not even feeling anywhere near as fatigued as before.
Let`s hope that you keep the weight off, I asked my cancer nurse about that and she said that on HT any unburnt fat goes straight to your stomach, which is why so many men develop a "Buddah belly", which is very very difficult to shift. AS for the man boobs, another inevitable consequence I`m afraid, PC, the cancer that keeps on giving!
On a brighter note, since being medical retired from BT, last year, I`m sufficiently over the chemo and have recently secured a part time position within the NHS. It`s great being back at work again and feeling useful, not to mention the extra money coming in, it`s only 18hrs a week which is just right for me.
After 10 months since first Prostap 3 injection I had yet another blood test for PSA and last time 4 months ago it had increased to 12. Just had another blood test 4 months later and had increased to PSA 16 so is stabilising a bit. Nurse doing Blood Test told me the threshold was 25 (presumably for more medication). Consultant is phoning me soon on 16th to tell me what he has decided. Perhaps its an age thing as 79 years old. There is a sliding scale of age and PSA for referring you for treatment. From memory I think at my age is nearing PSA 16. My PSA at referral was 20.
Had a letter yesterday from my GP stating that as my PSA had only increased from 12 to 16 over 4 months no medication is indicated and the threshold for medication was PSA 25. And book a PSA test every 6 months.
Had a scheduled telephone appt. from my hospital team an hour later agreeing with treatment but wondered where he had got the figure of 25 from.
If I have learned anything from this Forum is that specialists don't always sing from the same hymn sheet. I seem to remember that one knowledgeable contributor once said that PSA figures are not the be all and end all. Ho hum !
