Ever Decreasing Circles part three

As usual, you are in my thoughts Paul, as are others in a similar situation.

My head is so full of you all and it leaves those of us looking on feeling useless, well it does me anyway (shouldn't make sweeping statements!)

I really really hope that the Enzo suits you and benefits you.

xx

Julie - I've been lucky in that since being diagnosed I've had almost no bone pain. However, I have become 'creakier' in the hips such that Mrs_ColU has had to walk slower when out with me. I think 'creakier' as I put it and 'a shuffle' as you put it may be similar. My assumption has been that this is probably caused by the HT rather than the PCa.

In early December 2015 I developed a sore right shoulder. My GP prescribed Naproxen (an anti-inflammatory) and Omeprazole (something to stop the Naproxen from upsetting my stomach). I took them for six days and they magicked away the problem with the shoulder. To my surprise they came with a Brucie Bonus in that my creakiness seemed to disappear as well and all of a sudden I was bounding up and down hills like a young gazelle leaving Mrs_ColU in my wake. http://community.prostatecanceruk.org/editors/tiny_mce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-wink.gif

The effect is gradually wearing off now but I intend to ask my GP if I can use them again on special occasions such as prior to a walking based holiday.

Could this be worth a try for Trevor?

I think my wife would be fascinated . She got an honours degree later in her years in English Lit / Creative writing. If not for personal circumstances and the ease of income with dog grooming , I think she would be a literary giant haha .

Thanks for the update, Paul. It must be reasssuring to know that there's no urgency about the next step. In Tony's case, PSA had risen from 18 to over 130 in three weeks, so there was no time to hang about. He seems to be on a fast-track version of Pca, I'm afraid. But all is well at the moment - today is blood test day, with result tomorrow, so we are apprehenisve, although hoping for another good result. As you say, we have to make the most of the good times, without looking too far ahead.

Marje

Good luck with the blood tests tomorrow piglet. Fingers crossed for you

Glad that it's better than expected. Wishes to you Paul

Sorry to hear about the rise Paul. But good to hear your other options can be put on hold for a while.

Male oncologist now...wonder if I will see him in March

Bri

So pleased with the scan results and a further reprieve before enzo

So you will be drug free when we see you in Feb so ok for some alcohol

All the best

Si

My Onco made the same suggestion when Bicalutamide failed for me. She added that for us Gleason 8+ers the drop only happened in 20% of cases, however, the odds aren't too bad. I saw no drop and started Enzo 6 weeks later.

Edited by member 27 Jan 2016 at 19:17  | Reason: Not specified

Similar to the above only at a lower level, my PSA went from 0.38 to 1.6 in 2 months, first increase since treatments started. Stopped biclutamide but still on zoladex, next blood test in 6 weeks ie this Friday, results Tuesday. Like you hoping for a decrease otherwise onco said abbi. Fingers crossed for us both.

Kev

Not liking the increase in psa but really liking the 6 week reprieve!

All the best,

Lesley x

So difficult few days. It is interesting without a partner I mostly feel OK as I do not have to inflict my ups and downs on someone else. My son is helpful too but a lot of time I have to make decisions for myself. Actually most of the time I quite like that. But the last few days have been really difficult. I stopped taking casodex just over a week ago and this week I have had a lot of aches and pains around the areas I have bone mets. It's been difficult to get the pain relief right and not sure if it's just a little flare up which will settle (this happened a few weeks ago) or is the direct result of the ending of casodex. I have a phone call out for the nurse practitioners to see what suggestions they have.

So this morning at 5 am I decided I could not go to London to a meeting and cancelled that. Then I went back to bed and had a good extra sleep. Trouble was it was then difficult to get out of bed and the pain relief needed immediate top up.

So not feeling good today but trying just to get through and either it will subside or I need to start enzo sooner than another five weeks.

Here's the first lady Paul, zooming in !! Not that I'm a lot of good because I do no have the experience that you talk about but I'm sure the others will and they too will zoom in.

Thinking of you Paul and hoping the pain becomes more manageable

Sorry to hear you're having pain, Paul. When Tony's cancer became hormone resistant,he was in quite a bit of pain for a couple of weeks, self-medicating with an assortment of drugs as he felt the need. Eventally he rang the GP, who told him to take Solpadol plus paracetamol four times a day, without waiting for symptoms to remind him. He did as advised, and very soon he was pretty well pain free, and stayed on that regime until he was settled on the Enzalutamide, which is now doing the job very nicely. So don't be afraid to seek advice on proper pain management, it really can help.

Sorry to hear you are going through some tribulations Paul. On the bright side, England did well against South Africa.

I hope you have a sense of humour mate? Will buy you a beer, if you are drinking?

atb

dave

Thanks for all the kind thoughts. The flare happened quite quickly so though I was taking medicine regularly it was not strong enough. I have also used the oramorph sparingly but it was suggested by the nurse I should use it more. GP was really helpful and sorted a prescription for tramadol. Said I should look it for hallucinations and the image of Julie charging up the country to see me as probably one such hallucination. So getting my head around pain management which I do understand but this came on so quickly. Maybe the flare will calm down too.

I know I am not alone with you wonderful lot but just felt a little vulnerable this morning as the pain was all over the place but is settling a bit now.

Aren't you the lucky man having all these lovely ladies on here concerned about you! What a lovely group of kind people.

I do hope tramadol and increased oramorph helps with your pain and enables you to get about a bit better.

Lesley x

Beginning to get it under control. Tramadol certainly has had a positive effect. All these painkillers make me a little drowsy but otherwise no other side effects. Went to Halifax today which was a good test of how I felt. The worst pain is my right pubic bone which was subject to RT relief last July. This has flared again and just sitting is a problem, and walking sets it off too. So this hurt quite a bit at lunch but I can avoid it when I am at home where my own chair does not set it off.

But I hope I have some control now and that the flare may also begin to recede. Feel a bit drained but less frantic than yesterday where I was struggling to do anything. Thanks for your kind words of support, invaluable to how I feel!