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psa tracking after RT and HT finished

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User

Posted 09 Feb 2020 at 12:44

Hi;

I was just wondering if anyone has tracked their psa results following ending HT and RT?

I know everyone is different and results are never the same but I just wondered if they bounce up and down?

15 months since my OH finished HT and RT and the results are 0.1, 01, 0.2 0.2 and this week 0.4 (which defo spooked us until I had replies from Lyn etc who reassured us).

I know Rays jumped up and down over the years since 2008 and that has been really helpful to us.

Thanks for reading

Jen

User

Posted 09 Feb 2020 at 17:11

Yes I am starting to take note on psa readings , finished rt last feb 2019 last zoladex injection mar 2019 , I only had 3in total, saw onco on my 65th birthday April ,

where he told me all my psa readings from my diagnosis to April 2019 15/5/18 6.4

1/11/18. 0.64

11/1/19 0.19

4/4/19 0.03( 65 birthday when I saw onco , who then said no more zoladex ,blood test every 6 months )

12/9/19 0.01

saw own gp to renew my yearly tamsolium tablets who wanted to do psa test last week

6/2/20 0.06

So as I was told by onco last April expect a gradual rise , which is ok but no spike in readings ‘allowed’ and magic number of 2 is the limit ? , so getting on with life and next blood test 6 months time . Ok still getting side effects from HT , night sweats . How long do they last ?

User

Posted 09 Feb 2020 at 17:25

My PSA was fine for a while. It was at a higher level than many who have had RT but wasn't moving. Last year it started rising and, crucially, the 4th rise was more than 2 ng above the nadir. This kickstarted a succession of scans and a PET scan showed some lymph node involvement. Last PSA reading was 3.3.

I think your OH's results look fine to me Jenny and the team will know when, or indeed if, further investigations are needed.

User

Posted 09 Feb 2020 at 19:01

Hi Malcolm and Pete;

Thanks so much for replying!

We thought 0.4 was ok but were just a bit spooked by the nurse mentioning getting us in for scans etc. at 0.4 (with a Prostate). Maybe it was because it had doubled from 0.2 to 0.4 in 5 months I don’t know.

Hopefully will get news from the Onco on Tuesday .
my husbands lowest is 0.1 ( we only do it to 1 point here) so the cut off would be 2.1 I think for us.

Re the night sweats the OH had them for a year but they reduced steadily and now at 15 months he maybe gets 1 a night at most .

Thank you both for your replies and stay in touch and let me know how things go . There are lots of positives in your replies so keep going!

jen

User

Posted 17 Feb 2020 at 16:17

Quick Update;
Consultant Onco wants us to repeat psa in 8 weeks so cross everything its down!
We are off to Canary Islands for a little break so will try to put it to the back of our minds but we are worried its gone up.
Our rational sides say its just 0.4 but our irrational sides say its up from 0.2.

Thanks again

Jen
x

User

Posted 17 Feb 2020 at 18:38

Enjoy your trip to the sun and hopefully PSA will stabilise or reduce.

I’ve been on holiday many times with the dark shadow of the next test.

Hopefully you can park those thoughts and enjoy a well deserved holiday.

Ido4

User

Posted 18 Feb 2020 at 09:00

Thank you for your words - They sum things up perfectly!
We are thrown because his first PSA following radiotherapy was so low at 0.1 it couldn't get any lower and its going the wrong way just now.
Hopefully its some healthy prostate tissue regenerating but as you said quite rightly we will have to park it for 8 weeks as there is absolutely nothing we can do!

Jen

User

Posted 18 Feb 2020 at 16:12

As good cells regenerate after RT they will produce more PSA, which is no longer held down as the effect of HT gradually diminishes.

Nevertheless monitoring is important to check on the pattern and extent of increasing PSA.

Barry

User

Posted 18 Feb 2020 at 16:17

Thanks for replying Barry - we are hoping it either goes down or stays stable.
The psa testing anxiety is hell on earth (not just for us but for everyone) but we are attempting to learn to live with it!

Jen

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