My urologist prescribed megestrol 20mg 2x daily for hot-flashes. I'm on about day 4 of them. So far no huge side-effects and perhaps the hot-flashes are lessened. Found the following papers:
My husband was prescribed it to help increase his appetite. It was prescribed by an oncologist who was filling in when his regular one went on holiday. He took it for about a week and it did increase his appetite. But when his onco came back he told him not to continue taking it because it is a hormone based drug so he is against patients with hormone driven cancers taking it. Instead he suggested that he start building up THC/CBD in his system to help his appetite.
I have talked to a few patients who use it as a transdermal. It will increase your appetite. I think transdermal (patch or cream) estrogen may be a better choice. Two men I know are successfully using acupuncture. Some are successful with venlafaxine.
I used megestrol for hot flashes and it worked. Increased my appetite as a bonus. They took me off of it when I started on Casodex because of potential clotting problems.
Are you on Lupron??.... I thought one of the side effects of ADT that disturbed many men was weight GAIN.?? This is the first I am hearing of appetite problems with ADT... this is , apparently, common??
I’ve been using estradiol patches prescribed by Dr. Myers for about 4 1/2 years now, they work very well, in fact I think they may help me feel better overall. They trick your body into thinking it’s got some testosterone since some of the testosterone produced in men is converted to estrogen.
I started taking the dosage you are taking and it helped 95% with hot flashes...After a month I reduced it to 1 megestrol per day..works fine and less meds.
In some cases, health care professionals may use the trade name eligard or other names lupron or lupron depot or viadur when referring to the generic drug name leuprolide. rug type: Leuprolide is a hormone therapy. It is classified as an "LHRH agonist." For more detail, see "How this drug works" section below).
Awesome, thanks for the info. I was kinda wondering how long it was going to take to kick in. Waking up every night at 4 am feeling like you are lying in a wet cold ditch is getting old.
Even on Lupron, I haven't gained weight - just redistributed it on my body. What used to hold my pants up (butt) no longer does, it now is in my pot-belly. Very odd thing.
The thread you are on here is 4 years old. Also, for hot flashes Venlafaxine works for me, recommended by my MO. I'd be leery of Megace (aka progesterone.) My hormones are mucked-up enough by ADT/Abiraterone.
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