Thank you!
A little more background on my situation. I have been treated at UCLA Medical Center and am seeing a Genito Urinary oncologist there. I have also gotten a second opinion from a Genito Urinary oncologist at MD Anderson. Both docs well known and highly respected for their positive outcomes.
I think that their suggestion (both of them) that I might be best served by a holiday after 6 months of ADT is a real balancing act. I am meeting with them both in two weeks to really dive into my options and whether I might opt for this holiday. Testosterone deprivation is not a benign treatment and I think that more and more specialists realize that ADT can most certainly shorten life-expectancy in itself, and most definitely have a real negative effect on quality of life. I suffer from major brain fog, fatigue, irritability, anemia, significant joint pain, low white blood cell count, hot flashes that interfere with my ability to get quality sleep and a resting heart rate that has risen significantly. And yes, I ride my Peloton 3-4 times a week and do resistance training 2-3 times a week. I can’t imagine how I would be feeling if I did not do this.
Obviously, I consider all of these side effects better than dying from próstatas cancer, but I do think that forward thinking oncologists are now thinking that “holidays” from ADT, rather than just putting men on this toxic protocol for years and years on end, might be a more beneficial approach overall.
I am not sure how I will proceed but at least they are giving me this option. More specifically the option of taking a holiday and then monitoring my PSA closely to see if it rises above 0.1 and then possibly reapplying ADT or some form of radiation (based on PET Scan). I was hoping that someone else in this group had taken this path, but at this point I have not seen that response. Soooo, if I decide to take this ADT holiday, I will certainly let you all know how it goes. Good luck to you and keep fighting the good fight.