casodex ?

[alex1234]

Hi there,

anyone familiar with a medicine named casodex (bicalutamide 50mg) ?

does it work and how does it compare to other anti-androgen such as Androcur or Siterone (Cyproterone acetate).

Thanks

-alex

[bobbie]

Originally Posted by alex1234

Hi there,

anyone familiar with a medicine named casodex (bicalutamide 50mg) ?

does it work and how does it compare to other anti-androgen such as Androcur or Siterone (Cyproterone acetate).

Thanks

-alex

Have not heard of casodex in a long time. Seems like it is harder on the liver then other anti-androgen's. If remember right it was rather expensive. Did seem to work well in the castration effects.

[Paolo]

From drugs.com :

Casodex

On This Page

• Treatment & Uses
• Side Effects
• Treating Overdose
• Safety Information
• Before Using

Generic Name: bicalutamide (bye ka LOO ta mide)
Brand Names: Casodex

What is Casodex?

Casodex is an anti-androgen. It works in the body by preventing the actions of androgens (male hormones).
Casodex is used together with another hormone to treat prostate cancer.
Casodex may also be used for purposes other than those listed in this medication guide.
Important information about Casodex

Before taking Casodex, tell your doctor if you have liver disease, diabetes, or any other serious illness. Casodex is given as part of a combination prostate cancer treatment with another medication that prevents the testicles from producing testosterone. You should not start taking this medication until you have received the other medication prescribed as part of your treatment.
Your doctor may occasionally change your Casodex dose to make sure you get the best results from this medication. Do not stop taking Casodex without your doctor's advice. If you stop your treatment suddenly, your condition may become worse.
To be sure Casodex is helping your condition and is not causing harmful effects, your prostate and liver function will need to be checked with blood tests on a regular basis. Do not miss any scheduled appointments.
Call your doctor at once if you have a serious side effect such as chest pain, shortness of breath, swelling, blood in your urine, or stomach pain with loss of appetite, dark urine, and yellowing of your skin or eyes.
Casodex should never be taken by a woman or a child. Although Casodex is not for use by women, this medication can cause birth defects if a woman is exposed to it during pregnancy.
What should I discuss with my healthcare provider before taking Casodex?

You should not use Casodex if you are allergic to bicalutamide.
Casodex should never be taken by a woman or a child.
Before taking Casodex, tell your doctor if you have liver disease, diabetes, or any other serious illness. You may not be able to take Casodex, or you may need a dose adjustment or special tests during treatment.
Although Casodex is not for use by women, this medication can cause birth defects if a woman is exposed to it during pregnancy.
How should I take Casodex?

Take Casodex exactly as prescribed by your doctor. Do not take it in larger amounts or for longer than recommended. Follow the directions on your prescription label.
Casodex is given as part of a combination prostate cancer treatment with another medication called a luteinizing (LOO-tee-in-ize-ing) hormone-releasing hormone, or LHRH. This medication prevents the testicles from producing testosterone.
Casodex is usually taken once per day in the morning or evening. You may take the medicine with or without food. Try to take the medication at the same time each day.
LHRH is given as an injection or a tiny implant injected through a needle under the skin around your navel. LHRH injections are given at intervals such as once every 4 weeks. Follow your doctor's instructions.
You should not start taking Casodex until you have received the LHRH injection prescribed as part of your treatment.
Your doctor may occasionally change your Casodex dose to make sure you get the best results from this medication. Do not stop taking this medication without your doctor's advice. If you stop your treatment suddenly, your condition may become worse.
To be sure this medication is helping your condition and is not causing harmful effects, your prostate and liver function will need to be checked with blood tests on a regular basis. Do not miss any scheduled appointments.
Store this medication at room temperature away from moisture and heat.
What happens if I miss a dose?

Take the missed dose as soon as you remember. If it is almost time for your next dose, wait until then to take the medicine and skip the missed dose. Do not take extra medicine to make up the missed dose.
Call your doctor for instructions if you miss an appointment for your LHRH injection.
What happens if I overdose?

Seek emergency medical attention if you think you have used too much of this medicine.
An overdose of Casodex is not expected to produce life-threatening symptoms.
What should I avoid while taking Casodex?

Follow your doctor's instructions about any restrictions on food, beverages, or activity while you are using Casodex.
Casodex side effects

Get emergency medical help if you have any of these signs of an allergic reaction: hives; difficulty breathing; swelling of your face, lips, tongue, or throat.
Call your doctor at once if you have a serious side effect such as:

• chest pain, cough or trouble breathing;
• feeling short of breath, even with mild exertion;
• swelling in your hands or feet;
• fever, chills, body aches, flu symptoms;
• pale skin, easy bruising or bleeding;
• blood in your urine; or
• nausea, stomach pain, loss of appetite, itching, dark urine, clay-colored stools, jaundice (yellowing of the skin or eyes).

Less serious Casodex side effects may include:

• hot flashes;
• breast pain or swelling;
• weakness, dizziness;
• back pain, pelvic pain, joint or muscle pain;
• increased nighttime urination;
• upset stomach, vomiting, diarrhea or constipation;
• weight changes;
• impotence, loss of interest in sex, or trouble having an orgasm;
• dizziness, headache; or
• sore throat, runny nose or other cold symptoms.

This is not a complete list of side effects and others may occur. Call your doctor for medical advice about side effects. You may report side effects to FDA at 1-800-FDA-1088.
What other drugs will affect Casodex?

Before taking Casodex, tell your doctor if you are taking a blood thinner such as warfarin (Coumadin).
There may be other medicines that can interact with Casodex. Tell your doctor about all the prescription and over-the-counter medications you use. This includes vitamins, minerals, herbal products, and drugs prescribed by other doctors. Do not start using a new medication without telling your doctor. Keep a list with you of all the medicines you use and show this list to any doctor or other healthcare provider who treats you.
Where can I get more information?

• Your pharmacist can provide more information about Casodex.

• Remember, keep this and all other medicines out of the reach of children, never share your medicines with other, and use this medication only for the indication prescribed.
• Every effort has been made to ensure that the information provided by Cerner Multum, Inc. ('Multum') is accurate, up-to-date, and complete, but no guarantee is made to that effect. Drug information contained herein may be time sensitive. Multum information has been compiled for use by healthcare practitioners and consumers in the United States and therefore Multum does not warrant that uses outside of the United States are appropriate, unless specifically indicated otherwise. Multum's drug information does not endorse drugs, diagnose patients or recommend therapy. Multum's drug information is an informational resource designed to assist licensed healthcare practitioners in caring for their patients and/or to serve consumers viewing this service as a supplement to, and not a substitute for, the expertise, skill, knowledge and judgment of healthcare practitioners. The absence of a warning for a given drug or drug combination in no way should be construed to indicate that the drug or drug combination is safe, effective or appropriate for any given patient. Multum does not assume any responsibility for any aspect of healthcare administered with the aid of information Multum provides. The information contained herein is not intended to cover all possible uses, directions, precautions, warnings, drug interactions, allergic reactions, or adverse effects. If you have questions about the drugs you are taking, check with your doctor, nurse or pharmacist.

Copyright 1996-2009 Cerner Multum, Inc. Version: 2.05. Revision Date: 07/29/2009 3:14:34 PM.
;

[alex1234]

Hi,

Thanks for the information.. I did a google search too and found similar info about the drug itself. What I am mostly interested is how well it works to reduce all testosterone effects on the body.

I have just started on casodex 50mg per day. When I mentioned Cyproterone acetate and androcur to the dr, he said this is just the same thing... and that Androcur is just an old name. From what I can see theses are different drugs with maybe similar effects. Maybe androcur is no longer used here in canada. He didn't mention anything about the drug being harder on the liver.

From what I was able to read on the internet, casodex for cancer treatment is always used along with luteinizing.

I read several of the main threads about the effects of anti Androgen on the forum. If I understood correctly, anti-androgen blocks the action of testosterone on the body and will therefore reduce libido. luteinizing however stops the body from producing testosterone and has therefore more an effect on the sexual organs (such as testicles reduction over time) and would produce more permanent effects. Is this correct ? and what can I expect with casodex alone ?


If anyone has feedback about experience with casodex I would be really interested to hear more.


Many Thanks

-alex

[charlenebrown]

I would be very interested to know the difference too
i am on Siterone (generic androcur (125 mg )) and have noticed definite changes, though this may /will also be due to the action of estrogens too

Regds,

charlene

[fhunter]

Originally Posted by alex1234

From what I was able to read on the internet, casodex for cancer treatment is always used along with luteinizing.

I have found this in wikipedia:

Blockade of androgens receptors by bicalutamide in the brain will eliminate the negative feedback loop of testosterone on the release of luteinizing hormone (LH). This in turn will lead to a dramatic increase in testosterone and estrogen levels.[17] Bicalutamide treatment will block the effects of rising testosterone levels but the effect of rising estrogen levels will remain unopposed and lead to feminizing effects most notably gynecomastia which is often painful.[18]

[bobbie]

You can order from Inhouse Pharmacy



Casodex Caluide (Bicalutamide)

Here is the prices from Inhouse Pharmacy.


http://www.inhousepharmacy.com/mens-...casodex-m.html

Calutide (Bicalutamide) 30 TabletsUS $105.00
Calutide (Bicalutamide) 60 TabletsUS $200.00
Calutide (Bicalutamide) 90 TabletsUS $270.00



http://www.inhousepharmacy.com/mens-...proterone.html

Androcur 50 days at 100mg a day
Cyproterone 50mg 100 Tablets US $120.00


Calutide = $3.00 a day
Cyproterone = $1.20 a day.


Think the price difference is something to consider on switching

[charlenebrown]

Hi fhunter,

Interesting - so in fact (in my situation) it may be even better than Siterone/Androcur ?

Expensive though.... but worth it if it is as effective as it sounds !

charlene

[helsinki]

Anti-androgen drugs work in different ways.

1: By acting on the hypothalamus, to interfere with the negative feedback loop that controls the levels of testosterone in the body. The hypothalamus stops making GnRH (also called LHRH). This causes the anterior pituitary to stop making LH and FSH. In turn, this causes the testes to stop making testosterone. Examples: medroxyprogesterone (Provera), ethinyl estradiol, cyproterone acetate (Androcur/Siterone).

2: By acting on the pituitary, to stop it making LH and FSH. This causes the testes to stop making testosterone. Example: goserelin (Zoladex).

3: By acting on the liver to increasing levels of SHBG (sex hormone binding globulin). SHBG binds to testosterone in the blood, inactivating it. Example: ethinyl estradiol.

4: By acting on the androgen receptor, to stop testosterone binding to it, e.g. spironolactone, cyproterone acetate, bicalutamide.

5: By preventing the conversion of testosterone to dihydrotestosterone. This is antiandrogenic because testosterone is less effective than dihydrotestosterone at stimulating the androgen receptor, e.g. finasteride, dutasteride.

Notice that bicalutamide appears only in category 4 - it blocks androgen receptors, and is more effective than any other drug in doing so, but does nothing else. It does not interfere with the hypothalamus-pituitary-testes feedback loop. As a result, if bicalutamide alone is given to people who still have testes, the testes increase their output of testosterone, in an attempt to compensate for the blocked androgen receptors. Therefore, in people who have testes, bicalutamide in moderate doses is useless. Instead, bicalutamide needs to be given in such a high dose (150mg) as to block all the androgen receptors, so that however much the testes increase testosterone production, they cannot overcome this blockade.

High dose bicalutamide has an advantage: bicalutamide blocks androgen receptors in all of the body, except the brain. At the same time, because it raises the level of testosterone, it increases androgenic activity within the brain. So it is suitable for people who enjoy the mental effects of testosterone, but not the bodily effects. For example, prostate cancer patients who do not wish to become impotent or lose their libido, find that high dose bicalutamide works for them. The main drawback of high-dose bicalutamide is that it may be bad for the heart - that is why physicians have become less willing to prescribe it in the 150mg dose.

A further consequence of the elevation of testosterone levels by bicalutamide is that estrogen levels will rise too, as an enzyme called aromatase converts some of the excess testosterone to estrogen. This estrogen will cause feminisation, which may be a drawback or an advantage depending on your perspective. However the estrogen will protect the bones from osteoporosis.

Alternatively, bicalutamide can be used in moderate dose (50mg) in conjunction with goserelin or orchiectomy as a treatment for prostate cancer, in order to lower androgenic activity even more drastically than would be achieved by orchiectomy alone. Moderate-dose bicalutamide is not thought to pose as great a risk to the heart.

Cyproterone acetate blocks testosterone receptors (so that a given testosterone level has less androgenic activity), while interfering with the hypothalamus-pituitary-testes feedback loop so that testosterone levels fall instead of rising. That is why cyproterone acetate is so popular as an anti-androgen for those who still have testes.

However, cyproterone acetate has drawbacks. It has progestogenic activity, which may produce annoying side effects: e.g. breathlessness at rest, sleepiness and food cravings. Also, if cyproterone acetate is taken without estrogen, osteoporosis will develop. It also carries a small risk of even more serious side effects - I would hesitate to say that it safer than bicalutamide.

[charlenebrown]

Wow Helsinki, that is great and comprehensive information....

So what, hypothetically would you think to be the ideal AA estrogen mix to promote near total obliteration of the effects of, production of and action of testosterone with maximum feminisation, as safely as possible?

charlene

[alex1234]

Thanks for the information .. it is very useful.

I only take 50mg per day and I still have my testes. I am not interested by a feminisation effect. What I want is a reduction of my libido.

So what I understand of all this is that such a small dose of bicalutamide will only make my testes work harder to produce more testosterone to overcome the blockage and overall there will be no effect on my libido. on top of that it will have a feminisation effect that I do not want. Is my understanding correct ?

I have been taking casodex for just over a week now. I do feel some effect. My libido seams to be reduced a bit but not completely. I also seams to feel more join pain but I suppose this is an effect of the withdrawal of the testosterone.

If I understood correctly the post from helsinki, I should see an increase of my libido instead of a reduction .. and this is not what I am feeling now. I will continue to take it for now and see if it helps.

feel free to comment.

Thanks
-alex