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Hi Tony,
My choice a year ago was a Viadur Implant (It comes out next week!). Viadur differs from the Vantas in that Leuprolide is the drug and Viadur comes in a rigid titanium tube whereas Vantas is flexible. I believe both are implanted under the skin above the inner, lower bicep. Insertion was painless other than the stick of painkiller that came with the insertion kit. I noticed no difference in all the annoying side effects during the transition. In Nov. 06 and Feb. 07 I had 3 mo. Luprons, the last two scheduled for my treatment are next week and Aug. 08. If I could do it over again, I would have just opted for two implants. The second just pops in where the first came out. You also have tha assurance of having the drug out of your system when the implant is removed rather than wondering if the big glob in your butt muscle went away!
Tony,
FYI there's good news and bad news about the implants. Viadur was discontinued as of April 2008 and Vantas is facing the same: http://pharma.bayer.com/scripts/pages/en/news_room/news_room/news_room45.php
The reason: over saturation of these drugs on the market. While the implants are both safe beyond a reasonable doubt, the price is just too high.
The good news is that there are talks of generic drugs taking over which should bring down the cost of ADT considerably.
I had my Viadur removed today, and the doctor said that rather than two more three monthers a four monther would suffice. Usually the depot form keeps LH absent for several months after discontinuation so I'm done with the treatments for now! Hopefully within a year things will start returning to normal. I just wonder if this means a second puberty. I'd also like to hear from others about their experiences once the LHRH analogs are discontinued.
Tony:
The Vantas implant is smaller, lighter, and non-radiographic, meaning it does not show on scans. It also is more likely to drift away from the insertion site because of its smaller size. This makes removal difficult sometimes, especially since it cannot be visualized by scans. A drug rep on another drug site said he witnessed a 20 minute search, with attendant discomfort, and worse, for the patient. There was also some discussion on the web forum used by drug reps as to whether doctors may be inserting implants which would be expired, or nearly so, with this discontinuation. This may all be related to a reduced payment for LHRH agonist drugs by the Medicare (over 65 year) government program in the US.
I have experience with Viadur, now discontinued, and have examined the Vantas and the size difference is less than half for the Vantas. Thus these reports may hold true. I cannot report the efficacy of the Vantas though my second Viadur worked for several months with T=20 then after a test at 6-7 months my T was at 52. I chose to have it removed, with the concurrence of my Onc (psa<0.01) and the uro said that failure for Viadur was with T>70ng! Check with your doctor if you go forward and investigate some of these issues.
My Vantas implant is about 1 inch long.
I can feel it under the skin running from the insertion site upward toward the shoulder.
I am a pretty active individual so I will keep a close watch on it to make sure it doesn't start to move around.
My last blood work showed my testosterone levels at 11.08.
I will check it every three months to make sure it stay where it should be.
If not, I will insist that the urologist take it out and put me back on Lupron injections.
It's already in there so I will give it a fair trial.
