I got my first Lupron injection January 22, 2019, eight days after my RARP. I am on a four month injection cycle. My PSA has been <.1 since the first post surgery PSA about two months out from surgery, and recently <.01 on an ultrasensitive PSA. I was a G9 with lymph node and SV involvement. I also had 42 radiation treatments May-July. I have had a lot of difficulty maintaining my weight. Not weight gain, weight loss. I don't eat any dairy, red meat, and minimal sugars. With a diet of vegetables, fruits and fish only I tend to start dropping weight at 2-3 pounds a month. This is the case even though I am eating very substantial portions of healthy foods. To try to maintain my weight at around 180 (I am 6' tall and 69 years old) I have been eating a lot more carbohydrates than I would prefer to and even drinking some Ensures for fast calories. Any advice on keeping weight weight on with a PCa healthy diet would be appreciated. Should this tendency to lose weight on Lupron be concerning?
Difficulty Maintaining Weight - Advanced Prostate...
Difficulty Maintaining Weight
Lupron usually results in weight gain, not loss.. The radiation treatment is the more likely reason..You must figure out a way to increase your calorie intake..Try a late meal in addition to your regular meals..Are your bowels "normal" ?
Thank you for your thoughts. My bowels are normal, especially with all the fruits and vegetables I get. I have tried to increase the volume of vegetables and fruits with large portions and later fruit snacks , but that doesn't really help. The only thing I have tried that works is adding pasta to my meals. I maintain pretty well if I have pasta and other carbs with my meal, but that kind of throws me off a PCa diet. I was wondering about adding a lot of high carb beans . Would that be better than pasta?
After a year on Lupron plus chemo and radiation, I dropped 20 lbs.
A further 6 months on I have gained about 7 of those back. I do a similar diet to yours, but I have added a higher proportion of healthier fats like avocado, peanut butter, almond paste.
I have these typically on the Ezekiel family of breads.
I keep away from as much processed food as possible and refined sugar.
I think you are going to find that adding some carbs is essential.
I am slowly moving to a more Mediterranean diet rather than a rigorous vegan plus white meat diet.
Beans in moderation, or you will be needing a gas mask.
I cannot say enough about how important exercise is along with diet.
Your weight loss, as everyone has indicated, is due to too little calorie intake.
Just a suggestion: read a book entitled Anti Cancer: A New Way is Life. The author was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. He was an MD and researcher at Stanford and spent his life researching the role of diet in holding off cancer. By the way, he was told he had 18-months to live and he lived 20-years.
The book uses research to support his diet recommendations.
In addition, his life story is an inspiration to all of us with cancer. Here’s a link to Wikipedia where you can get a few details about him: en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dav...
His book is available on Amazon and other book stores. It actually has a page with food he recommends to eat and to stay away from, by cancer type. So it’s practical. And he puts his research findings in plan English. His life story was also featured in a movie named “The C Word”. I watched it on Netflix last year. Definitely worth watching.
Perhaps this advice may help you and other brothers here. His book and life story certainly helped me.
Best wishes on your journey!
James
I started lupron 13 months ago and have put on 90 pounds. I was losing 18 pounds a week before the Lupron.
In my case Lupron has porked me out. If you live where cannabis is legal or can go get some ... eat some cannabis cookies , or other cannabis edibles. For most people , doing that will supercharge your hunger again.
Best wishes brother ✌️
Are you exercising? Lifting weights? I wonder if your weight loss could be loss of muscle. Use it or lose it they say. Can you tell us if you've lost strength along with the weight?
Lupron is prone to adding weight for most. Your 175-180 is likely scientifically correct for your height. It can go much lower yet probably without any negative issues.
I'm about the same as you. Was 6', 215. Lost 55lbs before Dx in 2018. Have gained back 40lbs, (more than I wanted), because stuff started tasting good again and my appetite returned and I have gotten the chronic pain down to tolerable. Now I want to re-lose about 10lbs I think.
Do whatever "feels" like a good, healthy weight to YOU.
2Dee
I am taking 0.5 mg of decadron and gaining too much weight because of that. Also on an estrodiol patch (half of a 0.5) which also tends to make you gain a little weight but have other benefits like hot flash reduction and osteoporosis prevention. Talk to your dr about those 2 possibilities. If weight loss is serious, some doctors will put you on an estrogen called Megace. I tried that one too and gained horrible amount of weight very fast but stopped it after it did not slow my PSA. Quit Megace after 3 months and went on a diet.
Chocolate chip ice cream (two scoops)....
Good Luck, Good Health and Good Humor.
J-o-h-n Monday 12/02/2019 5:52 PM EST
^^ this. As much as I try to avoid dairy fat, it does stop weight loss in its tracks. I'm one of two men I know who lost weight on Abiraterone. The other is a 13 year survivor on this forum, so it might be a good sign.
Megace/megastrol makes you hungry all the time and helps stop hot flashes.t
I'm on Megace and can confirm it increases appetite. I have to struggle to keep my weight down.
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