Pluvicto - How long do side effects last?

Pluvicto symptoms now at 4 weeks, just seem to be getting worse. The Lab tests all checked out. But, my husband has extreme fatigue, zero appetite, and chills. I thought by now the symptoms would start to improve. He's getting the 2nd treatment in 3 weeks. Not good lying in bed all day. The Oncologist was going to put him back on Dexamthasone, a steroid that helped with chemo side effects, but took him off that 3 weeks ago.. My husband didn't want to go back on it because it gave him insomnia. This is all so scary. What kind of treatment is this if it keeps you in bed all day and you eat 400 calories a day!

@cal77
I heard from one guy who after Proctor shot it would take 10 days before he started to feel better, He had no appetite during that time and would lose weight. At 10 days, he finally came back to normal and ate a whole bunch and a few few days later it was time to go back for the next treatment.

This is the extreme. Most people only have a day or two of feeling uncomfortable. You might ask the doctor about giving him a steroid to offset some of the fatigue issues. I’m not a doctor, but I’ve heard from some people that their doctors have given them that and it offset some of those side effects.

Does Pluvicto just extend your life for 15 months? That's what I found when I googled it. 15 months of extreme fatigue and eating 400 calories a day doesn't seem like much of a life. My husband seems to be hit pretty hard with this treatment. Way worse than Chemo. He's at 5 weeks now and just gets worse and worse with symptoms. Also, the first treatment did nothing, his PSA went up from 700 to 730...The Oncologist said it could take the 2nd treatment for any results in PSA drop...Hoping that happens...Next one is July 8th...if he can survive these side effects. Anyone else hit this hard?

@cal77

Is he on one of the ADT drugs as well. They can also cause more fatigue.

Unfortunately, the results of Pluvicto vary considerably. Usually, you want to take at least three treatments before you stop, figuring it doesn’t work.

Be aware that it works really well for 33% of people OK for 33% of people and not at all for 33% of people.

If you have certain genetic issues, either hereditary or somatic, it can affect how well Pluvicto Works. You can ask for a somatic test before doing Pluvicto To find out if you’ve got Genetic changes Due to the cancer.

If you have BRCA2 or ATM It seems to work better. If you have RB1, PTEN or TP53 They are Pluvicto resistant.

I know people that have had severe fatigue for up to 10 days after getting a Pluvicto Treatment. Food didn’t taste good and they didn’t have an appetite, After 10 days, ate a whole lot making up for the 10 days of lost weight and then going to another treatment.

You have to watch out about cutting back on food, it can actually cause the exact opposite result you are looking for.

Low Testosterone causes a sluggish metabolism, reduced muscle mass, increased abdominal fat storage, and low energy for exercise. Low-T creates a cycle where weight gain further lowers testosterone, requiring lifestyle changes or medical intervention to break.

Cutting out meals for weight loss often backfires by causing your metabolism to slow down and promoting fat storage as the body enters a survival-oriented "conservation mode". It leads to nutrient deficiencies, intense hunger causing overeating later, energy crashes, mental fatigue, and potential muscle loss.

Between low T and the inability to cut out meals. It’s really annoying how hard it is for prostate cancer patientsto lose weight.

Pluvicto Is not a long-term solution. People I know who have had a lot of success and only needed one or two treatments have their PSA start to rise after nine months to a year and they need another treatment. Some people go six treatments and have the same thing happen. In Australia, they allow people to have at least two sets of treatments, If it works, the first time they can go back a second time. That’s being studied here.

@jeffmarc

Thanks Jeff...lots of good info there.

Yes, he is getting Eligard shots every 4 months.

I'll tell him to try and eat something, but it seems to be hard for him. He was super active even with Stage 4, but last November they found a tumor at T4 near his spinal cord, and now he's been struggling with mobility issues and proprioception. It's all been a huge nightmare and now Pluvicto knocking him down some more.

I'm just hoping he's one of the ones where Pluvicto works.

Thanks