Hi everyone,
Last time I updated here was on June 16, 2017. Since then I've had further
progress using my combined therapy of Budwig, bicalutamide, and dutasteride.
Here is my updated tracking of PSA test results:
2/3/17 -- 27.96
3/3/17 -- 17.72
4/03/17 -- 4.67
5/03/17 -- 3.11
6/05/17 -- 2.60
7/03/17 -- 2.15
8/02/17 -- ?1.84
9/06/17 -- ?1.75
So, you can see that the decline in my PSA is decelerating. From my
reading, I've gotten the notion that PSA under bicalutamide hormonal therapy
stabilizes around 2.00. So, I am a bit below that, but not enough to suggest
that the Budwig protocol has had additional impact beyond the expected.
However, even though the decline recently has slowed it hasn't stopped, but
was at 5% last time around. So, the decline may continue or more importantly,
the Budwig effect could manifest itself in a long term stabilization over a
few years. I'll see.
Whether or not that happens, I think it likely that my PSA may begin to
rise again since experiments with bicalutamide indicate that after an
undetermined period of time the hormonal therapy actually begins to work with
the cancer. At that point, I'll face a decision about what to do.
My thinking now is that I will go with the Budwig protocol supplemented by
turmeric, MCP, and the White Mushroom Powder Julian was kind enough to tell us
about recently. That may be effective because the combined therapy I'm using
now may actually be hindering the favorable impact of Budwig.
I'll make that move quickly once I'm sure the PSA is no longer stable, so
that I have lots of time to evaluate Budwig plus alone. with no allopathic
remedies clouding the issue of effectiveness.
So that's it. A good update with optimism for the future and a backup plan
if the PSA starts rising again. In addition, I'll have another MRI in the not
too distant future, to check out if there's any visible cancer either in or
outside the prostate, since I think it is just possible that my cancer may
already have been cured and that the remaining PSA level above undetectable is
due to BPH and not to prostate cancer.
Does anyone have any thoughts on this update? I would greatly value your
ideas.
Best to all,
Joe Firestone
On June 16, 2017 at 5:42 PM Joe Firestone
<eisai@...> wrote:
Hi Tom,
No one recommended the therapy. I picked it up from this article:
Casodex or bicalutamide is a well-known hormonal therapy for prostate
cancer. It blocks the testosterone receptors on cells, but not the
testosterone. The likelihood of many side effects is much less from Casodex
than from Lupron Depot the favorite recommendation Doctors here in the US.
I've read somewhere that Casodex is favored in Europe. Here's a very good
wikipedia article on it (note the citations in it):
Casodex alone however, is not sufficient to block testosterone generated
by the adrenal gland, so if you take it alone, you'll still be feeding the
cancer. Dustasteride is a good supplement to Casodex for blocking testerone
generated from the adrenal gland, because, unlike finasteride, another
preferred therapy, it is more effective in doing that. Here's wikipedia on
the comparison
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutasteride#Prostate_cancer_2?:?
"Dutasteride belongs to a class of drugs called , which block the action of the that convert
testosterone into DHT.
It is an
of
all three of 5¦Á-°ù±ð»å³Ü³¦³Ù²¹²õ±ð,
, , and .
This is in contrast to finasteride, which is similarly an irreversible
inhibitor of 5¦Á-°ù±ð»å³Ü³¦³Ù²¹²õ±ð
but only inhibits the type II and III .
As a result of this difference, dutasteride is able to achieve a reduction
in circulating DHT levels of as much as 98%, whereas finasteride is only
able to achieve a reduction of 65 to 70%.
In spite of the differential reduction in circulating DHT levels, the two
drugs decrease levels of DHT to a similar extent of approximately 85 to 90%
in the ,where
the type II isoform of 5¦Á-°ù±ð»å³Ü³¦³Ù²¹²õ±ð predominates."
More generally, there is a lot of research on dustasteride as you'll see
from the wikipedia reference. It's normally prescribed for BPH.
Anyway, I had fight to get the combination of the two drugs prescribed
for me. I did not tell my doctors that I would be doing Budwig ?at the
same time, but my expectation was and still is that Budwig would shield me
somewhat from the likely severity of some of the side effects.?
The Casodex/Dustasteride/Budwig therapy is my way of moving down the road
toward an eventual cure for the cancer. I expect Casodex/Dustateride to fail
me before too long, and see Budwig as more long-term treatment. I hope all
three can get me down the road another 4 - 5 years or for good in the case
of Budwig.
If it's not for good, then I have in mind various focal ablation
techniques more or less on the horizon that may be available from Kaiser
over the next 4-5 years. Here's a quote from a memo I wrote to my Kaiser
doctors on this
We are
living in a period of rapid development of other medical techniques and
therapies that will have minimal side effects and that are likely to be
available to Kaiser patients during the next few years. These include https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4080850/
:
?
¡°Focal
ablation of prostate cancer is an evolving treatment strategy that destroys
a predefined region (or target) of the prostate that harbors the clinically
significant cancer. A number of energy sources have been investigated for
focal ablation of the prostate, including cryotherapy,13 high-intensity
focused ultrasound (HIFU),14 photodynamic therapy,15 and laser
ablation.16¡±
?
In
addition, there is photodynamic therapy using activating light sensitive
drugs previously injected.
So, that's it. I hope it's of interest to you and others. But I can't
recommend it, of course, because it's just a personal strategy for coping
with PC and living as long as I can.
Joe
On June
16, 2017 at 9:27 AM "Tom Henry tomhenry332@... [FlaxSeedOil2]"
wrote:
?
?
Congratulation
Joe!
Few
questions:
????????"Last
fall my PSA began to spike and after it reached 27.96, I decided to make a
change and begin the Budwig protocol. I also decided to
????????????also
use bicalutamide
(Casodex), and dutasteride (Avodart), as well, and began those
drugs on March 1, after tests showing that
????????????I
was still non-metastatic."
1. Who
recommended you to take the 2 drugs:?bicalutamide
(Casodex), and dutasteride (Avodart) ?
2. How
do you know they are effective for prostate cancer? Any research studies
on these 2 drugs?
Please
advise. Thank you.
Tom
On Friday,
16 June 2017, 0:56, "Joe Firestone eisai@... [FlaxSeedOil2]"
wrote:
?
?
Hello Sandra and Everyone,
Perhaps it's time for update. As I've said in previous emails my
wife, Bonnie, and I began the Budwig diet on February 15 of this year.
Bonnie is a breast cancer survivor, who received surgery and chemo therapy
and has now been clear for roughly four years. She decided to begin Budwig
for preventive reasons and to make things easier for me.
I received a diagnosis of non-metastatic Gleason 8 prostate cancer
just short of 5 years ago and decided then to continue taking finasteride
for BPH and using supplements and dietary changes to hold back my cancer.
Last fall my PSA began to spike and after it reached 27.96, I decided to
make a change and begin the Budwig protocol. I also decided to also use
bicalutamide (Casodex), and dutasteride (Avodart), as well, and began
those drugs on March 1, after tests showing that I was still
non-metastatic.
To get prescriptions for the two?drugs, I had to fight with my
Kaiser Doctors, who want to use Lupron depot in cases like mine. In the
end however, I persuaded them to go along with my choices by citing
research on both positive results and differences in side effects and just
insisting that I would not take Lupron. I have not shared my choice to
pursue Budwig, as well as my pharmaceutical choices with my doctors.
I'm tracking the results of my combined Budwig/pharma treatment with
monthly PSA tests. Here are my results:
2/3/17 -- 27.96
3/3/17 -- 17.72
4/03/17 -- 4.67
5/03/17 -- 3.11
6/05/17 -- 2.60
You can see that my PSA has been falling substantially, but that the
rate of deceleration in decline of the PSA has been slowing as time
passes. At first, I thought that the substantial decline from February 3,
to March 3, must have been at least partly due to Budwig, but I now think
it was too early for Budwig to have been due to an immediate impact of
bicalutamide, because its impact is said to be greatest at the start and I
think a decline of 1/3 in the PSA is probably possible after 2 days of
taking that drug, considering that the next decline was one of about 80 %
over 31 days.
One of the differences between Lupron therapy and bicalutamide
therapy is that Lupron will generally reduce PSA to a fraction of 1,
perhaps as low as 0.1, whereas, bicalutamide will only lower it to perhaps
2 or so, but rarely lower. So, thus far, I think my results fit the
bicalutamide pattern and that I can't distinguish, though neither can I
rule out, a definite impact from the Budwig protocol.
Looking at the future however, I think that if my PSA results
continue to fall, and as time passes they keep ?declining, then I
will be able to say that likely Budwig worked, because my PSA results were
incompatible with knowledge about how bicalutamide works.
Apart, from the above, I also want to say that Bonnie and I intend to
continue following Budwig for good. We've adapted to the FO/CC well and we
believe our health is better in general since we've started the diet. So,
at this point we're very happy with Budwig and would recommend it to
others.
I also want to say that I think this a wonderful yahoo group, and I
greatly appreciate the very good information, encouragement and emotional
support created here every day. So, thanks to everyone for your good will
and contributions and special thanks to Sandra Olson, Denise Newkirk, and
Dana Mills, for leading the way in setting the tone and being so generous
in their sharing so much with the group.
Warm Feelings and Great Hopes for All of Us,
Joe Firestone
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