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Relationship between ADT and De Quervain tendonitis, stiff fingers?
I am metastatic PC ,Gleason 9 moved to the bones. Started adt (Nubeqa and Eligard) treatment after, radiations and Doxetacel chemo in 2024. Now my PSA is = 0.1. I am glad. But I have developed stiff fingers (it is not arthritis) and De Quervain tendonitis is back hurting me after a damage that happen 30 years ago and that seemed to have been resolved. Anybody knows if ADT treatments are connected to these side effects and what to do about it beside seeing a rheumatologist? I play guitar so I am worried. Thank you.
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ADT can affect your joints.
Androgen Deprivation Therapy (ADT) for prostate cancer can significantly affect joints, causing issues like hand joint pain, stiffness, worsening physical function, and an increased risk of inflammatory conditions such as Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) and other rheumatic diseases, partly by impacting testosterone levels that normally limit inflammation.
He was an article that discusses it
https://journals.lww.com/ursc/fulltext/2020/31010/prevalence_of_hand_joint_symptoms_in_androgen.5.aspx.
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3 ReactionsHere’s a 2019 paper titled “Androgen deprivation therapy and the risk of tenosynovitis in prostate cancer patients” —> https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31111393/
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2 Reactions@thierryb1959, I can imagine as a guitar player you are concerned about stiff fingers. I hope you saw the helpful references that @brianjarvis and @jeffmarc posted for you. Here's a related discussion that might interest you:
- Pain and stiffness in hands after ADT? https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/pain-and-stiffness-in-hands-after-adt/
Do gentle finger stretches and exercises help?
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2 ReactionsI've been on ADT since August 2024, and play guitar too. I haven't experienced the stiff fingers or hand joint pain. A friend of mine has been playing guitar professionally since the 1970's and contracted Dupuytren's contracture, which is a genetic condition that causes the tissue under the skin of the fingers and palms to tighten and thicken. He continues to play guitar professionally and uses a capo to avoid, as much as possible, playing barre chords or doing complex fingerpicking. Hope this helps.
@colleenyoung Thank you Colleen. The stiffness in the fingers is bad when I wake up. Then after I slowly move my fingers it gets better. My rheumatologist had not clue about the ADT possible connection with my condition. I made a copy of the study done in Japan that I found here on the message board, by the way Thank you people here for the support, and I mailed that copy to the rheumatologist. When I see him on 01/12/26 maybe he will better inform me about what to do with my fingers. I still play guitar everyday which is good for my fingers and anxiety.
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1 ReactionI developed severe bilaeral arthritis in my wrists about 3 months into Orgovyx. It has limited my time at the pottery wheel. I'm Gleason 9 with no know mets
As a longtime "trigger finger" patient (7 so far) I can tell you they can easily be treated with steroid injections by hand specialists in most cities. I figured my trigger fingers were caused by my type II diabetes but it is possible my PC ADT pills (Orgovyx) also contributes.
My hand specialist tells me you can only get two injections per finger. After that, you need a small surgical in office procedure for each finger. But, both treatments are very effective.