ARI-only side effects

Posted by mmacaulay @mmacaulay, Jun 15 7:05pm

I’m 76. My T is up since I stopped Lupron with Nubeqa, after 15 months, and continued with Nubeqa for the last 28 months. The testosterone isn’t utilized because it’s blocked by the ARI. So aromatase (an enzyme) goes to work and converts the T to estrogen. It’s the estrogen that causes the female characteristics that I’m experiencing. Gynecomastia. Bloated belly. Weight gain. Constipation. Fatigue. Ironically, if I hadn’t dropped the Lupron, there wouldn’t have been any T to covert to estrogen!

It’s the cost of living. I was Stage 4b, metastatic, Gleason 9. I also did chemo and SBRT. Now my PSA is less than 0.1, and my PET scans are pretty clean. So I’m only dealing with side effects of Nubeqa.

Just wondering what’s next. If I stop the ARI would the PC return? Could I safely take an ARI vacation? Would the estrogen related gynecomastia and weight gain reverse course?

Or maybe I should take tamoxifen, a “selective estrogen receptor modulator” with another set of side effects. SERM, another acronym for the list.

Anybody else in the same boat?