Posted 8/9/2017 2:59 PM (GMT -5)
Hey Mark -
I don't recall any studies about the ice-bag business. All we ever seem to hear is anecdotal, and one person's experience just can't be very conclusive. People vary in their responses to chemo anyway, and some may get more and some may get less irrespective of well-meaning countermeasures. I talked to a chemo nurse at one of my support groups about it, and she said the results were so inconsistent that she didn't recommend bothering with it. Maybe one of the forum boffins can provide links to something about it.
My ADT SEs were significant, and to me seem to linger to this day. I had no neuropathy, no muscle pains or joint aches from it, though it seems some do. Mine were relentless hot flashes, relentless fatigue, emotional fragility, some memory issues I think, shrinkage of the male equipment, lack of interest in doing anything at all. It's an Altered State, to be sure.
After the ADT "released", end of effective period, my testosterone rebounded pretty fast. For about six months I had the tender moobs too, as reported by FL Drifter. The best theory I came across is that your body gets used to a low T environment on ADT, so when the T comes back to normal it's too much to handle.
Your body converts excess T into estrogen, and the sore moobs come from its effects (oh and abdominal fat, too). Can get some breast growth from that too, so it might be worth talking to your doc to go on Tamoxifen to reduce that problem. I didn't have trouble with that while on ADT, only afterward. No one warned me about that, and my MO even more-or-less denied that it could happen. Tell that to my tender moobs! That tenderness eventually went away, though.
I still get about 1 hot flash each night, and maybe one or two during the day. Quite tolerable, but I'd be happier if they just went away. My workouts became satisfying as the testosterone came back, with my weights and reps returning to normal eventually, but that took months of regular workouts to regain my pretreatment ability. I don't get fatigued easily at all anymore, which is great. Still a little brain fog, with occasional memory glitches. That may be permanent, along with a low rate of hot flashes. Overall, doing fine.
I know you took on chemo to thrash the beast with everything possible. I'm hoping the best for you, that you get really good oncological control and years of low PSAs. All of these fights leave us with scars, some visible, some not so much, but they're there.