Beginning Xtandi

After 6 months on Zytiga/prednisone - no success. My PSA has continued to rise (From 17 to 31in this 6 month period.) Side effects tolerable - mostly fatigue, balance issues, and occasional stomach/bowel upset - all tolerable - but what's new?

Now I am prescribed Xtandy which has an endless list of side effects.

I would appreciate any words of advice and general comments re: Xtandi - based on your experience.

Of interest, my Onc has directed I begin with half dose (2 caps/day) for two weeks - then meet with him before moving to 3 caps (3/4 dose) for the next two weeks. Then, if all goes well, move to full dose per day of 4 caps.

What reactions do you have? And any comments on how this treatment worked for you?

Additional info:
DX 1996 Gleason 3+4 and PSA 10.1
Treatment: seed implant 1997, lupron 1 yr,
PSA nadir 0.06
PSA varies 0.8 - 16.0 until 2011
Add, Biclud & Casodex
PSA varies 2.0 to 4.5 until Aug 14 2014
8/2014 Sharp inc.PSA to 13.0 with abdominal pain
DX CT scan = invasive soft tissue
Eligard treatment - disease reduced/pain gone
treatm't chosen: salvage Radiation Dattoli 2015 40 sessions
Post treat=PSA never lower than 0.55
PET Scan 0-1-2015 no apparent disease
March 2016 PSA jumps to 4.0+
Resume Eligard
7-16 - Bone Scan neg PSA 17
10-16 CT Whole body negative PSA 29
8-1-16 Begin Zytiga 5 months - no help
12-15 - PSA 3
1-17 Begin Xtandi

Post Edited (Malone26) : 12/19/2016 12:53:43 PM (GMT-7)

I have had experience with both Zytiga and Xtandi. I did get good response from Zytiga, bringing my PSA down from near 10 to the 3.5 -4.0 range. I stayed on Zytiga for 20 months and then, when we thought it was starting to fail, I switched to Xtandi. I started off with the full 4 caps per day. My PSA dropped to 0.46 and has increased slightly for six months. I actually had a small decrease this month ( I get PSA tested monthly). I was bruising easily when on zytiga and notice that has stopped. But my left shoulder and finger joints are sore, especially in the mornings now on Xtandi. I prefer Xtandi because I do not have to be on an empty stomach to take it and there is no prednisone to take. Another reason I switched over to xtandi was that we planned to do Provenge and I think there was a requirement to be off of prednisone for a time before the Provenge treatments.

OK Bezilbub. We are here to help, chat, whatever we can do for you as you move through treatments.

You might want to update your profile with that "additional info" in your original post. Copy all of it, click on My Profile, then Edit Profile and update your stats there in the Signature section. The signature will only allow so many characters so you may have to trim it down some.
Faustmann