Connect
← Return to Is ADT ever used at reduced dosage to moderate side effects?
Discussion
Is ADT ever used at reduced dosage to moderate side effects?
Prostate Cancer | Last Active: 6 days ago | Replies (24)Comment receiving replies
Are the side effects of ADT that you want to reduce, what YOU are experiencing, or what you have read OTHERS are experiencing?
I ask because side effects of ADT vary GREATLY from person to person. In my case, they were so mild that when my oncologist offered to take me off of ADT after 2.5 years, I initially declined, preferring the known over the unknown.
I finally changed my mind because I wanted to find out if the cancer had been reduced or eliminated. As it turns out, my PSA has now been stable at 0.09 for eight months. At the first sign of significant PSA values, I will have no problem going back on ADT.
Also, reputable medical studies consider dosages & side effects of medication versus efficacy. If you experiment with dosages that have not been considered in a reputable medical study, you are in effect creating your own one-man medical study without any controls. You may end up reducing side effects & efficacy, or reducing efficacy without a gain in side effects.
I would think you would be better off considering alternate medications that have been studied in a reputable environment, rather than experimenting on your own.
Replies to "Are the side effects of ADT that you want to reduce, what YOU are experiencing, or..."
Connect
@readandlearn thanks for your comments, I agree with all you said.
My questions here are not about myself, I'm fortunate enough so far to have avoided the whole issue but I'm asking about the case of a friend who is having sufficient side-effects at about the one-year point to need opiate pain killers. As I understand it he underwent radiation therapy a year ago so his case was that serious, but had not been seen to spread and was sort of a minimum radiation case. The frequency of these side effects seems to be pretty high though their intensity may vary. I'm also concerned that whatever mechanisms are involved, once the side effects are that severe they are likely to be doing real damage and get worse.
I think you have done exactly what I thought my friend should also try!
I thought he'd told me he was scheduled to try halting ADT in January, but now suddenly he's telling me it's been June all along. The serious pain only began a week or so ago. Actually maybe last January he told me June but I thought it was June 2025 and then it slid to January when he meant June 2026 all along and misspoke ... he doesn't really speak about it much but it has impacted his energy too from pretty early on, he has complained about that.
I have a friend who tried a new statin back some years ago and started complaining about the pain, and sure enough that statin was pulled from the market soon thereafter for rhabdomyolysis. So, I thought I should ask some of these questions.