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Has anyone done Proton without Hormonal Therapy (ADT)?
Prostate Cancer | Last Active: Mar 30, 2023 | Replies (24)Comment receiving replies
Yes I had prostate cancer 2 nodules 4+3 and 3+4 PSA 4.6. Treated with 6 months Lupron and 20 proton sessions. Lupron sucked the life out of me and I was ready for the nursing home.
My doctors were baffled and did a brain MRI and sent me to physical therapy. After reading a lot and watching online seminars I discovered low T is a common problem after Prostate cancer and Lupron. I would recommend anyone PC get a Testosterone test before treatment to establish a baseline.
Yes I am aware that the gel will give you a more steady dose but the hassle of applying it and risk of being around woman with it was the deciding factor on using the injection.
The testosterone is in an oil base and lasts about 12 days and I can tell when it is wearing off. Yes it is a big long needle but it only hurts briefly when it pierces the outer skin. It is an intramuscular injection and the only time that I ever have any discomfort is when I've missed the muscle or did not purge all the air from the shot.
I am 66 years old and my PSA hovers around .14 most of the time. I do not like giving myself a shot but does not bother me at all anymore.
Did I mention my insurance will not pay for the gel.
Replies to "Yes I had prostate cancer 2 nodules 4+3 and 3+4 PSA 4.6. Treated with 6 months..."
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I had all my T levels from every blood test going back to 2008 along with every PSA test and never got over a 2.9 but still had PC with 4-3 and 3-4 in a 7mm lesion. My Excell medical spread sheet has all the results from all my blood tests. My PSA was 2.3 to 2.9 for over 5 years and I almost considered just watching it except for the 4-3 that I had confirmed at an outside pathology lab. It was the only thing that put me in the unfavorable intermediate risk category as it was only confined to the area of the lesion in my 120-gram prostate and there were only 4 positive cores out of 30 and my low PSA number made me question if I was even a poor risk. Then there is my age of 74. If I live 15 more years that puts me at 89 and I sure don't want to be in a nursing home. Like I said I am going to go back on T after I see my granddaughter in September and see how my PSA responds. With my huge prostate and age that was why I was never worried with a 2.9 PSA until my endocrinologist did the full PSA test.