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Finishing mainstream treatment

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User
Posted 24 Jun 2019 at 14:29

 After a detailed conversation with my oncologist she has agreed that as my PSA is now 0.2 there is no reason why I can stop hormone therapy at the 18 month point. So  on July 23rd I get my last triptorelin hormone therapy injection.  This will naturally expire mid October and from then on it’s wait and watch.

 I am going to ask for a PSA test mid-October to establish a firm nadir for my PSA.

 It’s going to be a nervous time from October as my testosterone re-enters the system and I wonder if any surviving micro cellular cancer cells start to grow and spread. I don’t know what the clinical requirements would be for testing but from my point of view, I would like to have a PSA test mid January which would be three months after cessation of hormone therapy and then another three months after that. At that point I would be exactly 2 years from  start of hormone therapy April 2018.

Bearing in mind I had hormone therapy and radiotherapy and not prostatectomy I wonder if anyone else on here has been where I am going and can offer me any information?

thanks for reading

User
Posted 24 Jun 2019 at 15:52

I think a PSA of 0.2 after RT and HT is very good.

Hopefully the treatment has done the job.

Ido4

User
Posted 24 Jun 2019 at 16:38
I understand it takes a while to reach the lowest point so this is a good start.
User
Posted 24 Jun 2019 at 16:59

Good news for you i think , i am in same boat, rt finished  early feb , over time i had 3 ht injections the last one ‘ finished ‘ 11june . My psa taken first week of april reading 0.03 . Still getting side effects of rt /ht psa test due in sept . I am. Pretty laid back about it , what really helped me considerably is the fact i personally know so many men in different stages of pc . In the grand scheme of things i find the process rather interesting . 

User
Posted 27 Jun 2019 at 15:01

Wish you luck Pallance, I will have my last injection in October as I am sticking to the 24 months at the insistence of my consultant and also my missus.....

I also had RT but had Brachy beforehand. My PSA is down to 0.08 so I’m hoping all went as planned.

Keep us posted on the journey after HT, will be very interested as we both started at a similar place , PSA 27 & G9.  I really hope you get back to ‘normal ‘ quickly.

Good luck

Phil

User
Posted 27 Jun 2019 at 17:38
It will take quite a time for the affects/benefits of HT to reduce to the point where HT is no longer affecting your PSA and you and your consultant are able to establish more precisely where you are. If you can't get 3 monthly PSA tests for the next 12 months, I would try to have 4 monthly ones. If PSA is shown to be pretty stable (which of course we hope it will be), depending on results the intervals between tests could be extended.
Barry
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User
Posted 24 Jun 2019 at 15:52

I think a PSA of 0.2 after RT and HT is very good.

Hopefully the treatment has done the job.

Ido4

User
Posted 24 Jun 2019 at 16:38
I understand it takes a while to reach the lowest point so this is a good start.
User
Posted 24 Jun 2019 at 16:59

Good news for you i think , i am in same boat, rt finished  early feb , over time i had 3 ht injections the last one ‘ finished ‘ 11june . My psa taken first week of april reading 0.03 . Still getting side effects of rt /ht psa test due in sept . I am. Pretty laid back about it , what really helped me considerably is the fact i personally know so many men in different stages of pc . In the grand scheme of things i find the process rather interesting . 

User
Posted 27 Jun 2019 at 15:01

Wish you luck Pallance, I will have my last injection in October as I am sticking to the 24 months at the insistence of my consultant and also my missus.....

I also had RT but had Brachy beforehand. My PSA is down to 0.08 so I’m hoping all went as planned.

Keep us posted on the journey after HT, will be very interested as we both started at a similar place , PSA 27 & G9.  I really hope you get back to ‘normal ‘ quickly.

Good luck

Phil

User
Posted 27 Jun 2019 at 15:40

Phil

sure will keep the updates coming. PSA November 0.5 March 0.2 and I get July reading next week, I’m hoping it will be 0.0 something 😎

Alan

User
Posted 27 Jun 2019 at 15:45

Fingers crossed Alan ...........

User
Posted 27 Jun 2019 at 17:38
It will take quite a time for the affects/benefits of HT to reduce to the point where HT is no longer affecting your PSA and you and your consultant are able to establish more precisely where you are. If you can't get 3 monthly PSA tests for the next 12 months, I would try to have 4 monthly ones. If PSA is shown to be pretty stable (which of course we hope it will be), depending on results the intervals between tests could be extended.
Barry
User
Posted 27 Jun 2019 at 22:15

Pallance you asked what to expect. As we're all different that's an unknown. In my case even with the usual precautions before a PSA test results varied somewhat. Having been there I can understand target hopes but all that did was create stress. So I learned just to be happy with keeping under the cut of point which in my case was the not uncommon 2. You've done the hard work (treatment) so try and chill a bit with the thought job done.

As regards nadir mine was set 12 months after HT ended but then I had a longer time on HT.

 

Forgot to say my next result is Monday

Ray

Edited by member 27 Jun 2019 at 22:17  | Reason: Not specified

User
Posted 19 Jul 2019 at 14:54

Thanks everyone for the responses

I spoke to a PC UK nurse  on the phone today asking what happens once my current HT injection expires. He told me that the effect stops almost immediately and that I could expect my testosterone to slowly return to “normal” between 3 and 12 months time.  Barry tells a different story on this subject. But I guess as we always say with prostate cancer, we are all different.

 All of my details are in my profile so I won’t repeat it here, I would be interested to hear stories of what happened from anyone similar to me in treatment who has stopped HT with a PSA of less than 0.1 or undetectable as my nurse called it.

 

User
Posted 19 Jul 2019 at 15:58

https://prostatecanceruk.org/prostate-information/living-with-prostate-cancer/how-hormone-therapy-affects-you

see 'How long will side effects last in this link.'

 

Edited by member 19 Jul 2019 at 16:11  | Reason: to highlight link

Barry
 
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