Thanks to whom all reponded. I am "tryin on meds". OMG the pain is relentless. Almost feel silly spacing and evalluating--take 'em ALL!...
Purgatory--I am there nnow,too--wasting away, but I dodn't have any "work" to interefere. on hospice trying to control the pain! LIMITED SUCESS so far! Typing here 'or anywhere" is nearly impossible....
I nearly checked out wiht kidney failure, was hospitalized, and after 12 days, made it back home. (my riting hrer will no be my usual meticulous stuff--so hard to write under heavy meds. I am so weak...
I know what THAT's like! Taxotere worked for me for several months. Indeed it is hard on the body, but if it kills cancer cells...! Best of luck with it!...
Thanks for the tip. My previous M.O. with the hot tub would be to steep in it till I had a 'glow' all over, CLEARY imprudent for my present situation. When I woke up this morning, I felt a little...
Fentanyl is a skin patch that oozes its medicine constantly over 72 hours (then it's time for a new patch). My ups and downs in the pain-fighting field, nausea, etc., have given me a sporadic...
Thanks, Zufus and Zimac (gee, sound like good names for medicines!). >Two BM's this week. Maybe not enough. Got to get it out before you put anything in. Hope this helps.< Two good ones, two...
KJ63--Thanks! I've now been on Samarium 153 for a week. I *THINK* I am beginning to feel effects. I always assess the "state of the pain" first thing in the morning before gulping my pain pills, but...
Jitters99--Wow, my ears pricked up from those encouraging statements about PSA plummeting with Xtandi. I have been on Xtandi not quite two weeks, now, and missed a dose here and there (when I was so...
Zimac and z-monster--thanks. >Make sure to stay on a good bowel regimen while taking the opiates. Don't need any added discomfort.< Un-fortunately that horse has already left the barn. I have...
Got my dose of 77 millicuries of Samarium 153 yesterday. The "literature" I had read spoke of a "bag-type" infusion of several hours. The actual infusion took only a minute or so by direct injection....
Thanks, all, for the encouragement. Been only taking them for a week, and I *DO* seem to have lost a little spunk (not much to lose, either). I don't want to be "bedridden". It's bad enough just...
Raddad--Samarium's effectiveness "lasts" for about four months (actual half-life is only 48 hours). It's possible to get sequential doses, I suppose. It's palliative, and only really meant to ease...
Sorry that worry of "failure" is in the air. I know fully well the feeling!! I concur with SoComf re: Taxotere. I went 8 rounds three weeks apart before I gave it up (PSA rising). T'aint fun, and...
Took my first Xtandi pills last night. Boy, are those WHOPPERS! I take heartburn medicine that Xtandi dampens (omeprazole), but...hey! I'm hoping this works, and I can give Xtandi a "Xtanding...
Thanks for the good wishes, all. GOTTA one of these days be in that 80% where the treatment was effective!!!! GOTTA!...
Next week I will undergo an infusion of Samarium 153, a radioactive material akin to calcium that the bones will take up at "repair" sites, and the proximity to the radiation will kill bone met...
I had to "dump" Zytiga after only six weeks---I had increasingly violent bone/muscle pain to the extent of EXCRUCIATING disability after about four weeks of taking it AND my PSA had QUINTUPLED (from...
Glad that Provenge has worked for you and that you are being "honored" with a "free vacation" at their expense. Maybe a "come-on" to use Provenge should be...."free vacation in Tampa if it works for...
MsWorryWart--Interesting sound-alike, but not related, methinks. Zufus--YES! Thanks for that. Someone on this board is currently using alpharadin. I *LIKE* that term "cell death". Bring it on! I had...
A little reserach on my part came up with "Samarium", whose radioactive isotope 153 is used similarly to Strontium, but is not as damaging. The name has the "s" and "m", so maybe that is what the onc...
Despite the novelty of "alpharadin", apparently the concept is an old one: Strontium (either 90 or 89) has been used for awhile in the same purpose--to mimic a calcium molecule and have the body dump...
Not trying to be cute, but at my oncologist's meeting the day before Thanksgiving, he recommended a nuclear medicinal treatment to help reduce my bone metastasis that has been causing so much pain....
What a great story!! Sometimes out of the mouths of babes.... At least he had the insight to laugh at himself--I think laughter kills cancer cells, too!...
nhwife (or any other Xtandi paitents, for that matter)--Where are you getting your Xtandi?? My seemingly "experienced" pharmacy, "Curascripts", had Zytiga, but does NOT carry Xtandi! I am thinking...
Boy, you two just CAN'T seem to catch a break!! I went through three days of excruciating back pain, so I *FEEL* for you (her). My best wishes are all I can offer!...
Thursday (two days after the intense pain): Haven't taken Zytiga for three days. Back to "normal" hurt. Onc was surprised--no one he knows on Zytiga has reacted like me. Of course the only way to...
My Zytiga journey is *OVER*. EXTREME muscle cramping (even while doing nothing, but especially while sleeping) sent me into "10" pain some of the time, and "9" pain the rest. There was NO position of...
Xtandi might be in my immediate future. Had EXCRUCIATING side-effects from Zytiga and have stopped taking it (see my "Zytiga journey") thread....
Raddad: >Ok you figured it out - Don't do that again!< Yeah, reminds me of the Borscht Belt-type comedic schtick like: "Hey Doc! It hurts when I do THIS (arm motion or something). What should I do?"...
Hopeneverdies: >Like I told before Provenge is an approved FDA biological not because results rely totally on faith but because it has been proven scintifically to extend over all survival time in...
"There's no fool like an old fool". Dat's me. "State of pain" today? Mild discomfort ('cept for my gums, which haven't seen an OUNCE of improvement in the week since being worked on). FINALLY figured...
Startech and Raddad--I will take "good vibes" and prayers from any quarter! Miraculously (?) I feel MUCH BETTER today, free of the myriad muscle/bone pains of the last few days. I did a lot more...
"Only faith"--that's the bubaboo with Provenge. You can't PROVE it is working. Hey Dendreon--For c. 100K ya gotta do better than that if you want widespread usage of your product!...
Ms.WW, nhwife, KJ63--thanks. I *KNOW* I have to give this Zytiga a "breaking-in-period", but my state of pain today vs two weeks ago is markedly different, in a BAD way. I have purposely refrained...
Today I have a LOT of "underlying" bone pain--that is, there is not enough pain to "exclaim" or even moan, but if we assigned a pain number "4" to where one expresses, I am at 3.5. And it just...
OK, SOMEONE is lying/deceiving/gypping! If, as the "blog" said, all aspects of Zytiga absorption has been studied and understood, then SOMEONE should be able to properly calculate how to get the 50mg...
Hope things go well for you. As for bladder spasms, any thought of "Vesicare"? It worked for me when a nearby cancerous tumor started invading my bladder--calmed it down. As for the "lazy"...
Raddad--Yes, I am taking 5 mg Prednizone twice daily (have been for six months). I had been taking it at night before bedtime, but I think I will switch to earlier in the day. During the last six...
Ya gotta realize that "trials" are for DRUG MANUFACTURERS, not the patient. By that I mean that the company that produces the drug are looking for "proof" of specific details that do not necessarily...
Yeah, like the old joke about the guy that read so much about the evils of smoking that he gave up reading!!...
Late October Update: I indeed went on a 15-day cruise the day after taking my first dose(s) of Zytiga. All went well for about a week, then I started getting INTENSE bone pain in those "known cancer...
For all my "negativity" on my Provenge treatment, I only wish the best for anyone who gets it. I, too, was "Provenged" last year, and subsequently had to radiate a burgeoning resurgent prostate-bed...
My $5000 package of Zytiga (one month's supply) arrived at my door today! I knew I would ship out (literally) tomorrow for 15 days, so wanted it NOW so I can get going on it rather than wait til I...
Thanks, all who responded. Good to know that late-night ingestion worked for someone. Update--I have found a mail-order outfit (Curascripts) that will send me Zytiga. I am a little surprised that...
Talked to oncologist today about adjuvant Lupron/Casodex along with my new Zytiga, and he shook his head. The leuprolides are not helpful, evidently. The Zytiga will "take care of" any testosterone...
I have been officially prescribed Zytiga today and will post "happenings" here to spread info and experience to this forum group as best I can. After "failing" hormone-deprivation therapy, radiation,...
I do REALLY hope it works out for you!...
nhwife---I have the choice between Zytiga and "MDV3100" now known as "Xtandi" as my next treament. My onc says all his (his colleague's actually) Xtandi patients are nearly bed-ridden with EXTREME...
May it continue!!...