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Biclutamide use

User
Posted 24 Jun 2022 at 10:01

Hi there 

A part of my treatment I've been strongly advised to take Biclutamide for 2 years...

I suppose my question has a bit of vanity slant but with the long term use of Biclutamide, one of the side effects is breast growth.

Has anyone having or been through this change in; enlarge breasts/ nipples and the painful harding tissue in the breast? 

How are you dealing with the pain? 

How do you cope with going out in a T-shirt for example in the warm weather? Etc..

 

Thanks 

Harvel 

User
Posted 24 Jun 2022 at 12:13
Ask whether the CCG in your area approves the prescription of tamoxifen - this can be very effective if you start taking it before you start the bical. Tamoxifen does have potential side effects but better than moobs.

If your CCG doesn't permit tamoxifen, ask whether you can have a zap of radiotherapy to the breast buds.

Unfortunately, where I live, men cannot have either. A postcode lottery :-(

"Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards." Soren Kierkegaard

User
Posted 24 Jun 2022 at 12:31

Just ask for Tamoxifen with the Bicalutamide. Don't bother asking if your CCG approves it. Chances are, none of your clinicians will know, or won't care, and it's possibly better that way. Providing you are prescribed 20mg tablets, it's dirt cheap (other doses are expensive).

Tamoxifen is likely to be refused if you've had any cardio issues or are at risk of DVT. It can also be liver toxic for some people, although this is less likely at the low dose used in this case, but it is worth getting a liver function test when you've been on it for 3 months just to check.

User
Posted 24 Jun 2022 at 13:19
I was on Tamoxifen, which staved off breast growth for about a year, but then it started happening anyway, and I had breast-bud RT which stopped it in its tracks.

Cheers,

Chris

User
Posted 24 Jun 2022 at 15:00

I asked my GP for tamoxifen.   He had never heard of it being used in this way.  Told me he would need to do a bit of research, although he said the science was sound.

Phoned back 2 hours later.  Prescription was in the pharmacy. 

18 months Bicalutimide.   No man boobs.

Just check the dose you should take.  I think I was 1 tablet 20mg twice per week 

Can someone confirm?

User
Posted 24 Jun 2022 at 15:28

2 x 20mg/week is typical.  I seem to recall NICE says 1 x 20mg/week, but that's not enough for many men (and you may need more if you don't start taking it until symptoms appear).

I was prescribed 20mg/day, but told to start at 2 x 20mg/week and adjust dose to symptoms. There's quite a lag between changing dose and effect. I did try going up to 20mg/day at one point, but my liver didn't like it, so I backed off to a lower dose. I wouldn't have known this if my GP hadn't thought to do a liver function test (livers tend not to give symptoms until it's really serious and they may be beyond recovery).

When breast growth/pain happened again after hormone therapy finished when my Testosterone returned, I snapped the tablets in half (so, 10mg), and took one each time the breast pain reappeared. Looking at my log afterwards, that was every day for a week, then every 2 days for a few weeks, then every 3 days. I continued with 10mg every 3 days for another 6 weeks after the pain had gone which shrunk back the breast gland growth, and I stopped taking it a couple of weeks ago, and no symptoms have returned yet.

I mentioned this to my oncologist and he hadn't heard of gynecomastia after testosterone returned, but was fine with me having gone back on to the Tamoxifen and wrote and told my GP that I'd found this did happen in other men too through support groups.

Note that Tamoxifen has no effect on breast fat growth, only breast gland growth.

User
Posted 24 Jun 2022 at 16:01

I was prescribed Tamoxifen 20mg, one a day every day which it seems by some your feedback way to much. I'll discuss more with my consultant.

Kind regards 

Harvel 

 

User
Posted 25 Jun 2022 at 02:58

I think that's the dose for women when used after breast cancer to prevent recurrence. A proportion of these women get non-alcoholic fatty liver disease as a result, which in a small number of cases can lead on to liver cirrhosis. For these women, the risk is considered worth it as it saves more lives by reducing breast cancer recurrence, but for you where it's not a life saving benefit, the risk is probably too high at that dose, at least if not getting your liver monitored. It would be worth asking for a liver function test to check your liver is OK.

 
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