Lupron or Firmagon

I am seven weeks into Lupron therapy along with starting Casodex on Jan. 9th.  My testosterone tested at less than 3 last week.  My side effects so far are some joint pain, night sweats and some fatigue.  All in all I am lucky and feel like it is manageable.  If I had to work, I think I could manage with some concessions.  Obviously everyone is different, but I will say it is not the end of the world.

Mike 6 Months on Lupron is doable and I doubt you will grow boobs.  Also you may find you are more emotional rather than gumpy. However you might gain weight if you don't watch your diet and up your exercise. Also treat sex as a job during treatment even if you are not interested.  It helps your wife to0.  Most important is to continue with intimacy regardless of your sexual desires.  The combination of the radiation and ADT will also cause fatigue.  I did a regular running and started resistance training. I had a knee injury about month 4 which resulted in an extra 10 lbs of fat around my waist.  I am two month post treatment and still have a drag on my running and hot flashes and sweats at night. However I am noticing improvements. I tested out sex a couple of times with gnetic viagra and cialis and that still works. So after 6 months on Lupron I can say it was a drag, but this is cancer treatment. I went to MD Anderson too but ended up getting treatment locally. I believe the MD Anderson protocals prior to treatment were excellent and I used all of their recommendations. Good Luck!

Hi Cralco,

That is the million dollar question.
Often it will be in the prostatic fossa, this is the place where the prostate gland was, or maybe there are some cancerous cells assocaited with the urethra or the bladder.
This is the area that primary slavage radiation tends to focus on.
After that the lymph nodes close to the prostate are a good place to look.
This is for low grade cancer, Gleason 7's and maybe 8's.
Higher grade, 9's and 10's maybe there or they may be a lot more ambitious and head off for the bones, a likely first stop is the long bones of the upper legs, but internal organs, sternum, ribs, etc are also likely stops.
You can go a long time post operation before it rears it's ugly head again.
The longer you go the less likely it is but if you are NED, No Evident Disease, you will have PSA tests for years after.

Best wishes,

Georges

wondering why can’t you do surgery again to remove it Would rather do that then hormone therapy and radiation trust me on that one

Hi jm,

Lupron is an agonist, this means that it works by overstimulating the endocrine system. Thus for a few days the testicles produce more testosterone, a so called testosterone surge.
Then that part of the endocrine system shuts down and the testosterone level falls away. The Casodex blocks the receptors for testosterone during this period.
Effects do vary from person to person; some men on short term hormone therapy see only a small fall in libido, others drop away quite dramatically.
I have now done a year on degarelix aka Firmagon and I would say that some effects arrive in a few days to weeks while others take months.
I will be glad to see the back of it, I will be really ecstatic if my testosterone reappears but the cancer does not.

Best wishes,

Georges

I was also on monotherapy with leuprolide (Eligard, Lupron). ADT started with one month of antiandrogens to avoid flare and then stopped, continuing the treatment with three 6-month shots for a total of 18 months.

The side effects were numerous, gradually felt but mild, many were unnoticed, being fatigue the one firstly to be felt at about two months into the treatment. It was also at that time that I experienced mood changes but no vision impairment (pituitary disturbance). The body hair started to become thinner at the three months time together with the loss of muscle mass. The ocasional hot flashes (1 minute if that long) also started to kick in but very seldom. Going to pee at night 3 times became more frequent too, having to get up 5 times some nights.
Libido less come at six months and was followed by shrinking balls, turning into a pair little spongy. At the tenth month I noticed sort of mild gynecomastia but never had sensitive nipples. By the end of the treatment (14th month on) I had sort of rheumatic pain in my joints and arthritis in my feet for about two months at the end of ADT.
I only realized that some side effects were present after recovering from the hypogonadism at the 24 months when the symptoms started to dissipate. The most annoying effect experienced along the treatment was fatigue. Peeing at night become sort of natural and one never knows if such is a cause of ADT. Some effects were present but unnoticed.

One year post the end of the effectiveness of the last shot, all major symptoms have gone. I become more energetic and the testicles become bigger together with libido. Mood changes are more noticed now as I tend to cry easily in the movies. Apart from these symptoms, ADT affects the way our systems function. The kidneys are affected and the thyroid gland is forced to be more or less active helping in gaining weigh (Michelin tire around the waist). Muscle turn into fat for the period that estrogens have replaced the testosterone while on castration, that is hard to recuperate if one stops physical exercises. Overall I feel much better off-drugs than when I was on them.

I hope the above answers your question.

Best,

VGama