LUPRON and effects doctors don,t know about...POWERFUL MED''''Talk 2 me if u like....

Yes, a very powerful drug. I'm five months into my first six month shot and will likely be on it thru the end of this year and possibly all of next year as well, depending on how radiation goes.  The hot flashes are the most annoying. I've started on a couple drugs that were supposed to help.  Initially there seems to be a reduction in frequency and severity, but then that seems to fade.  I think now there may be fewer and they are shorter but definitely still there.  The mental fog or "Lupron brain" is perhaps the most troubling.  My wife blames her ditsiness on chemo brain - she had lymphoma.  Between the two of us we barely rememeber what we're doing.  Other effects... yes, elevated BP and blood work.  When my doctor confronts me about them I mention the Lupron and it seems to go right over his head.  Either he doesn't know about it or thinks I'm making it up.  But it is real, isn't it?   I mean, if it did not really affect those things, then how is it that I know about it?

There are really a LOT of men on this or a similar drug, but no one cuts us any slack.  If someone says they're getting chemo they at least get a little sympathy (maybe no slack, but it counts).  If you mention hormone therapy people think you're taking testosterone pills.  I mentioned that I may start to lose body hair and someone said "shouldn't it be the other way around?"  For those who are on this therapy it can be so devastating, yet to society in general you might as well be saying you just got a flu shot.  No... at least they know what a flu shot is! And the really sad part, because it's a shot that sticks with you, you can't just stop taking it when it becomes inconvenient.  And you don't have to get it every month so no one thinks you're really being treated for anything, at least not anything serious.

BTW I now have a blog here on CSN. Check it out.