I had a spacer put in, no gold targets. It was done in office, under a local, and I was out of there in 10 minutes. No pain, no side effects.
Thanks everyone. As I stated, I wasn’t too worried about the pre-treatment procedure. Now I’m not worried at all.
the gradual weaning of the prednisone is not going well. My prednisone pills are 5mg. I did two a day for the first week, one a day for the second week. This week I was to take one every other day. I took my pill Sunday, skipped Monday, took my pill Tuesday and skipped Wednesday. My joints were somewhere sore but I chalked that up to a busy gym day. I was weak and really sore. I had nausea and diarrhea, I was dizzy, lightheaded freezingly cold and my anxiety was through the roof.
I looked it up on line and these are all classic symptoms of prednisone withdrawal. I was unable to sleep. The next morning, Thursday, I took my regular heart meds with a couple of swallow of water, which came right back up.
My wife took me to the urology clinic and I talked to a nurse. She agreed that it was withdrawal. She set me up with an appointment with the doctor on Monday and told me to take one pill a day until then.
I took a pill when I got home and the symptoms subsided, for the most part, in about an hour. I slept pretty well and I just have a bit of residual body aches and fatigue. I am not sure what will happen Monday but at least I feel better.
Note:
Prednisone and heroin withdrawal share six symptoms
Fatigue
Muscle aches and joint pain
Nausea
Diarrhea
Chills
Anxiety
I’m sorry you’re going thru that. I’ve been on and off steroids lately for my spinal cord impingement and while it’s a great med for those sx, withdrawal is annoying. But a longer taper should help you enormously. I’ve been thru opioid withdrawal too in the past, and I prefer steroid withdrawal. ;-D
Thanks
Not that I can exactly -do- anything through the internet (and if I could, I’m sure the Men in Black would be here shortly) but the fact that you’re aware of it and actively working with your doctor to protect yourself is miles ahead of far too many people out there.
That’ll serve you far better than the well wishing of some internet rando like me, but you have the well wishes nonetheless.
My late wife was on prednisone for a few months to deal with a side effect of a side effect of a treatment. At that time she was still generally in decent overall bodily condition and vigor.
Her taper off wasn’t notably difficult beyond a bit of fatigue. But it was about 4x slower than yours was. IANA medical anything, but I was surprised to read how quickly you were being cut back towards zero.
Good luck on a revised schedule that suits your body better.
My PSA is increasing by a good bit, so they’ve got me going to the urologist for the second time in the last 5 years. I don’t have any symptoms, so I’m hopeful it’s not cancerous. Last time they did a biopsy and found nothing.
I had my 3 month post-surgery check-in with my NP this week. PSA check was good - 0.02 - below the reference point 0.10 for prostatectomy, so feeling good about that. The incontinence has subsided and things in that regard are good, but the frequency issue I still need to work on with bladder training and kegels. No more pads, tho, since a few weeks ago. Strength and stamina are returning, and I can ride a bicycle and hike and walk pretty close to normal, altho I need to lay down for a while on most days, especially during work days. The NP referred me to an ED specialist, so looking for some progress in that area, but I know this will take much longer to return to baseline than anything else. I’d say I am around 90-95% back to where I was before the surgery across the board, and bottom line, the cancer appears to be gone! Next check in 3 months.
Hooray for an excellent progress report!
There are a lot of treatment options in this area these days, and one can usually find an option that works quite well.
Great news overall.
Yes, thank you!
Yah, we’ll see what they can do. I knew going into this that there would be three big challenges post-surgery: catheter, incontinence, and ED. With the first two met, I expect the last one will take the longest to resolve, and there is a risk it wont resolve 100%. However, the cancer far outweighed this risk. And I have to be honest, this topic is difficult to discuss with anyone in my life, so I am hoping a more clinical discussion with a specialist will help determine what options may work best for me.
Great news
Let me contribute to the cheers of “good news” with a hearty thumbs up for your hard work on the rehab. I won’t say that’s the hardest part, but it’s the one that requires the most continuous effort on your part.
Kudos!
Wonderful news!
Thank you all! Yes, the rehab/recovery has taken a lot of effort. Some days have been very demotivating, and I’ve had people telling me to take it easy. I think there’s a time for rest, and a time for movement. On walking, I would just go a little farther, and on the bike just go a little longer as my body can tolerate. I am not setting any speed or distance records, but I figured stretching the envelope regularly juuust a little would be helpful, and it has been.