How much leeway for Zoladex injections

This was told to us by the Consultant.

So do not worry too much, I would think a week would be fine.

ATB

Alison

Initially I was on monthly(28 days) Zoladex as I was told that it would be easier for come off HT regarding the side effects i.e they would cease more quickly than the 12 weekly ones. I was happy with this.

When I had the fiducial markings implanted I was then told to go to 3 monthly injections. I continued with the monthly ones until I finished RT. I was then very firmly informed that I should swop to the 12 weekly injections. Which I have.

But it's early days and I shouldn't worry too much at the moment . A patient usually needs to be on Zoladex for at least 12 weeks before RT can start and as been mentioned before some patients have a Zoladex 'holiday ' at a later date.

However it's worrying when treatment has only just started not to have a regular routine and being messed around by the practice is extremely annoying.

I hope that this can be this sorted quickly. In the meantime try not to worry to much.

Which I know is easier said than done.

My Gleason score was 7 with staging T3a and with one third aggressive cancer .

Of course I was worried in the initial days but now I'm firmly in the swing of things ,I just go with the flow.

Generally speaking, I feel uncomfortable when we post on here that a GP practice has made mistakes or is somehow not stepping up to the plate. But I am afraid that in this case, the nurse needs a bit of a shake and I fear that Deejay or her dad are going to need to stay on top of things - the nurse should have known how important it is to have the implant within a couple of days and should surely have got in touch the minute she realised there was a supply problem ... or made alternative arrangements with the hospital maybe.

It makes me want to ask whether she actually knows how to inject the implant - Deejay, in your shoes I would be tempted to phone the practice and ask for confirmation that they have a nurse experienced in giving zoladex as it is not straightforward.

Edited by member 08 Feb 2016 at 22:00  | Reason: Not specified

Hi Dee,

I wouldn't worry too much about your dad going past his due date for his Zoladex, I know it is not ideal, in an ideal world his surgery would have been up to speed, however I doubt a few days or even a week is likely to have a profound effect on his treatment.

I was on Zoladex for 3 years, and when I came off I was looking forward to getting my testosterone levels up to speed, however it took best part of 12 months for me to work the side effects of the Zoladex out of my system.  Now I know I was on it a lot longer than your dad, but I would think it will take more than a few days for his body to resume making testosterone in damaging quantities.

Also, I haven't seen much posted on here recently, but there are many who advocate what they call Intermittent Hormone therapy, the theory being that it is just as good to have a occassional bouts of HT followed by a break.

So far as Doctors surgeries are concerned, they all have their local inconsistencies, for example it seems to be left to me to organise a PSA test about a week before each appopintment with a Consultant.  I have found that I need to book that appointment 2 perhaps 3 weeks in advance, because often the phlebotomist is booked solid that far in advance.

Then when I phone for the result, irrespective of which receptionist answers my call, they all tell me 'the result was normal', I have to ask them for the number.  I have been repeating this rigmarole at least 4 times a year for the last 8 years, and it is tedious, but by the same token life is too short to get too worked up about it?

Ditto with Zoladex and Prostrap, my Surgery has an in-house Pharmacy, but the receptionists do not cross reference, so when I book an appointment with the nurse for a Zoladex implant, I then need to make a second phone call to the Pharmacy, tell them my appointment date and ensure they have a zoladex implant for me.  Crazy when you think that the receptionist and pharmacist sit no more than 10 feet apart, but that is the way it is, and it is easier to go with the flow, learn the system, learn the tricks and make the system work for you?

:)

Dave