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Hi, did you have any bad side effects from the hormones, and how long did you have rt, 

Hi Moll.

I had 20 sessions of RT over four weeks. The first two weeks were fine but by week 3 I had bowel problems and extreme fatigue. The staff at the treatment centre were wonderful and quickly dealt with everything. In week 4 I was having problems passing urine and that was sorted by taking Tamsulosin. I continued taking that for about two months and then gradually weaned off it.

I also developed sleeplessness during the treatment and still suffer from that two years later. I don't sleep more than two or three hours a night unless I take a sleeping pill when I can get as much as 6 or 7 hours. The sleeping pills are very addictive so I try to only take two a week and live with the sleeplessness the rest of the week. It works for me.

I started HT in October 2018 and will have my last Prostap injection in June this year. I have had some problems with hot flushes and take Cyproterone once a day and Sage Leaf capsules and Evening Primrose Oil twice a day which manage it pretty well. On the occasions when the hot flushes get worse I have an homeopathic remedy of Sepia (Cuttlefish ink) which knock them on the head for a while.

One side effect of HT which they won't tell you about is the shrinkage of your penis and testicles. I guess that patients don't like to discuss it with their oncologists. Mine are half the size they were before HT started. I don't know if they will return to normal after HT finishes but I'll be 74 by then so I don't think it will matter too much.

I hope that helps and good luck with your treatment.

Thanks for insight of your treatment, going through what you have would you still choose this treatment over the surgical option or are the problems worse, have you had any feedback from others if the open procedure or the robotic is better, with everything happening on the telephone it is proving making any decisions really difficult because I don't know what questions to ask, thanks to you I now know ask on the hormone and rad option, thanks

I would still go for the HT/RT route with no hesitation. Although I have had pretty much all of the expected side effects they have all been controlled well and haven't interfered with my life too much. It took a few months after finishing RT to get fit enough to go rowing again and it was hard work fighting the fatigue but you can do it.

One thing I didn't mention was that you will probably get a lot of strong emotions when starting HT and might cry a lot. It's fine. As long you are ready for it you can deal with it. It will get better as your body adjusts to the treatment.

Thanks Seamus, really good to get your feedback, so would you say that after a year of treatment of hormone and rt I should be getting back to normal

It's hard to give you an answer to that. Some on here only had a few months of HT and stopped that before their RT started whereas I will have had 3 years of HT by the time I finish. I believe it will take at least a year before I start to see a return to normal after that.

Well I wish you all the best and thanks for taking the trouble to talk to me

I had three years of HT, and was back to near normal after about 6 months, bar the permanent effects. Most people (not all) get 18-24 months these days, with a quicker recovery and less risk of permanent effects.

You're welcome. I hope it helps you to make a choice of treatment.

Hi and I'm sorry that I'm late to this.

Sorry to hear your diagnosis and my husband went through the agonies of deciding which route to go down. He was 63 when diagnosed and he had two tumours, both Gleason 9. We both found The Toolkit from Prostate Cancer invaluable and we both spoke with the surgeons and radiotherapist.

One thing Brian found very helpful was to list the pros and cons to each option.

With my full support he decided that he wanted the prostate gone, even though he wasn't eligible for nerve saving and they couldn't make any guarantees that the cancer hadn't microscopically migrated.

Thankfully, the operation went well and he regained his continence within 2 months and returned to his job before lockdown started which involved a lot of heavy lifting.

There has been other side effects and as his op didn't save the nerves, erections are now a memory, but he was pleasantly surprised to discover that all the feelings were there, just no growth.

The op was the right choice for him and he is happy (18 months later) with his choice but as he says, it might not be the right choice for the next man. Do your research and choice what feels right for you and good luck with your journey and don't hesitate to ask anything that might help you.