Anyone out there with stage IV bone mets chemo?

Hang in there
Hey Bill.. Sorry you going through all of that .. Please know that we are in this together and I will be thinking about you and saying a prayer or 2. As for me... I am gleason 6 and not sure what I will do as of yet. No cat or bone scan as of yet and that I gotta tell you scares me a bit. Anyways..enough..hang in there, keep a positive outlook and surround yourself with people who really care.

Fatigue
I too have had ADT3, Zometa and Keto fail. Stage IV, bone mets. I've also had docetaxel and mitoxantrone chemo, and I'm currently on paclitaxel (Taxol) chemo. The Taxol is being given once a week for three weeks, then a week off. This seems to be causing less severe side effects than the once every three week dosing I was on for the docetaxel, but I don't know how much difference there is between the two drugs. When I was on docetaxel, I learned that the first week after treatment, I was not much good. The second week saw a recovery from most of the side effects, but then the blood count drop hit. The third week was the best, so I would plan to do active things like skiing during that week. I'm only on the second cycle of Taxol, so I haven't quite got it dialed in yet.

There's always the day after chemo boost. One of the pre-meds is a good dose of dexamethasone, so the day after chemo you feel like Superman because you are, in fact, on steroids. Plan to leap tall buildings and such then.

2ndBase said:

Bone Mets
I have a psa of about 100 now and doubling every 2.5 months and have decided that I can live a better life without any treatment than the average person who takes treatment. I am now 58 and am still able to work, play golf, garden, and exercise every day. I got the stress out of my life after diagnosis and have lived many years beyond what I was told to expect. Maybe I'm the exception to the rule but I really think I have lived the best years of my life since I took the stress out. Treatment causes your body to go into stress not to mention what it does to your mind. Part or most of your severe fatigue is a result of dumping all the crap medicine in your body and you still feel like hell in spite of trying to save your life. WHY?

To Treat or not to Treat
2ndBase said; "I have a psa of about 100 now and doubling every 2.5 months..."

So in 10 months, you expect to have a PSA of about 3200. What will your quality of life be like then?

Last fall, I had a bone met on my hip that hospitalized me for the pain. My QOL got a LOT better after I got that treated. The docetaxel chemo last year reduced my PSA by about 80%. Yes, I suffered some side effects, but I was still active through it, and I felt much better after the treatment. That treatment substantially reduced the pain from bone mets in my spine that they don't want to treat with EBRT, so again, my QOL improved after treatment. Yes, I was scared and stressed out when I started chemo. That's normal. I got over it. Personally, I feel less stressed about my situation when I know that I'm doing everything I can to fight it and stay (relatively) healthy.

Chemo has its side effects, but so do narcotic pain medications like morphine. My QOL was much worse on morphine than it was/is on chemo! Chemo side effects also vary from person to person. I do fairly well with it, largely because I stay active as much as possible. Last month, I went skiing the day before chemo, and the day after chemo. I felt fine, and there's nothing like some good recreation to relieve stress. But if I had not had the chemo treatment, I would have still been doped up on morphine, unable to think straight, not eating, sleeping 12-16 hours a day, fatigued, lethargic, and constipated.

I wholeheartedly agree that stress elimination is crucial, not only for QOL, but for survival too.
So I guess that you should go with whatever works for you. But don't forget that there are several variables in the QOL equation.