LUPRON VS. DEGARELIX

My husband had been on Lupron from Feb. 2012- Dec. 2012 sucessfully.

His PSA is now trending upward with a doubling time from .02 to 1.1 in within a 3 month period.

Our Oncologists will start him on Degarelix in March after some scans.

I asked him why he is changing him from Lupron to Degarelix, and he stated it responds much quicker .

I also asked him if it is injected into the Butt and he stated yes.

After reading about it I find it is injected into the stomach.

I recall in the past on HW some men were having severe side effects where there is alot of swelling and pain.

Question is: has anyone experienced good outcomes using Degarelix VS. Lupron.

Thanks,

BOOGEE

Boogie,
Like Gpax4, I was on Casodex and Firmagon for about 5 months. I was not fond of the lumps and soreness in the stomach so we started using Lupron instead. My results have been good with both Firmagon and Lupron but I don't have any soreness from the Lupron injection. I think other side effects are similar with both.
Best of luck with the Firmagon,
Gunner

Boogee,

Thank You, I'm taking it a day at a time!

Kyphoplasty is used to treat painful compression fractures in the spine. In a compression fracture, all or part of a spine bone collapses. In my case, the cancer ate away at my vertebrae. The procedure is also called balloon kyphoplasty.

Kyphoplasty was performed at my local hospital. One may have local anesthesia (at first, I was awake and felted him hammering, TRUST ME.. I DID FEEL THE DOCTOR HAMMERING ON ME AND TWICE I YEALLED FOR HIM TO S T O P !!!). You will likely also receive medicine to help you relax and feel sleepy. I was out of it a little, but not 100%, so the nurse could communicate with me. So glad I had the procedure as I've not had any pain since. This was my 6th surgery since 1982 (5th since 1997 and 4th since 2004).

You lie face down on a table. The doctor places a needle through the skin (in my case, he had to use a 3 pound hammer) and into the spine bone. Real-time x-ray images are used to guide the doctor to the correct area in your vertebrae. A balloon is placed through the needle, into the bone, and then inflated (had to use 400 pounds of pressure to blow up the balloon). This restores the height of the vertebrae. Cement is then injected into the space to make sure it does not collapse again.

This procedure was use to rebuild my vertebrae. A common cause of compression fractures of the spine is thinning of your bones, cancer or osteoporosis. Your doctor may recommend this procedure if you have severe and disabling pain for two months or more that does not get better with bed rest, pain medicines, and physical therapy.
A doctor may also recommend this procedure if you have a painful compression fractures of the spine due to Cancer.

Ten days before the surgery, I had 10 rounds of radiation to help dissolve the tumor so I could have the procedure.

I copied some, from the net. Hope this helps (sorry, somewhat long)!

Dave

BOOGEE
I just had my latest Lupron injection on Wednesday. The nurse/technician who administered the injection asked me "why dont you get Firmagon, instead? It works faster than Lupron." Well, I had several reactions to that but I calmly informed her that I had already been using Firmagon and that it was effective. My most recent PSA was <0.10 but I wasnt going to get into a treatment debate with her when I was only seeing her for 5 minutes to receive the injection. I will be informing my Dr about that, I think she had no place offering her opinions to a patient that she didnt even have chart details on.
Anyway, I do hope the Firmagon is effective for you and that side effects are minimal.

Boogee,

1982 was left hernia surgery. 1997 and 2010, had surgery on left knee (orthoscopic). 2004, had lower back surgery on L3-L4. 2008, had surgery on C-3-C4.

First DX with PCa in Oct. 1, 2012; my urologist told me that the cancer may have been growing for 2-3 years.

Thanks,

Dave

Boogee
I think the main reason I changed from Degeralix to Lupron is just because the Lupron is tolerated better (by me, it may be the opposite for others). I think my Urologist recommends the 2 treatments as a replacement for each other. We try to keep the beast away by changing up all treatments periodically. Hopefully, this keeps the beast guessing and keeps us a step ahead of suspicious activity.