How long will "4 month" lupron injection "last"

[FlyJ]

I received a 4 month lupron injection on 8/15/22 with salvage radiation to prostate bed and pelvic lymph nodes. (see profile for more details)

My question is how long will the lupron keep my testosterone at castrate levels (<50 ng). Note my pre lupron injection testosterone level was 906 on 7/22/22 at age 69 and on 12/12/22 it was 38 (4 mos after injection). Still having hot flashes. Interested in how long it took for testosterone recovery in those of you who have had the lupron injections. Thanks! I appreciate your experience.

[tango65]

It is very variable from person to person. It will a few weeks for the testosterone to reach levels above 50.

[fireandice123]

I’ve had numerous 4 month Lupron shots and am currently on them. I’ve never had any problem them becoming ineffective before 4 months. I’ve had two vacations. Both times it took 3-4 months before my T level started to rise and usually 6 months for it to come completely back. My pre-Lupron T is 800+. Both times it came fully back. Everyone is different though so you may have a different experience.

[Boywonder56 in reply to fireandice123]

How long vacations....what was your other therapy...ap,enz,etc....

[FlyJ in reply to Boywonder56]

check bio

[FlyJ in reply to fireandice123]

Thanks, that was my impression from reading that it took months for recovery. Sometime a few months sometimes > 1 year

[EdBacon]

Where did you get that?

[Hidden in reply to EdBacon]

lol, I think it was meant to be funny. .. that was my first thought as well.

[timotur]

I played around with time-dosing with one-month shots and found that at 5-weeks my T was still < 12, but at 6-weeks it took off to the races. So with some simple ratios, 5/4 is about 25% beyond the 4-week limit where the T stayed at castrate level. So applying the same ratio, you could probably go 5 months with a 4-month shot and stay at castrate level. I took all my shots beyond the 4-week interval to try to reduce SE's.

[Hidden in reply to timotur]

a while back, I remember someone saying their doc actually suggested going that extra month with out it and doing that the entire time if I am not mistaken.

[BanjoPicker]

I have the same question. I had one 4-month Eligard injection before 43 IMRT sessions. The 4-month duration ended on 11/25/22. My pre-treatment T was 432ng. A month into ADT my T number was 8ng. The Eligard was doing its’ job. I was curious after the calendar hit one month post expiration of shot, so I did a testosterone test privately ordered online. LabCorp did the test and the results were <3ng total testosterone. Needles to say, I was disappointed. Still 2 months before official PSA and testosterone tests will be ordered. Obviously in my situation, a 4-month shot is working overtime.

[Hawk56]

There may be a lot of factors that go into what you are asking...such as how long one has been on Lupron, some say pre-testosterone levels play a role, I have read some articles about how exercise may also play into it...I will only give my personal experience, pre-testosterone was 283 in Jan 17 (age 60 at the time), did 18 months of ADT, starting in Jan 17, 6x90 day shots, last shot was May 18 so "technically" would be "clearing my system by August. Labs in October showed T at 135, by February, 482, that's where it stayed. I have always exercised frequently, who know, was that a factor, study of one as they say.

[epfj3333]

My understanding is that prostate cancer cells feed on testosterone. Lupron starves most of the cancer cells of testosterone which helps keeps them from spreading. Stopping Lupron should allow the testosterone to rise which should feed the dormant cancer cells, allowing them to grow and spread again. Is this too simplistic?

[marlins1]

My 6 month shot actually lasted one year. T came back to pre-shot levels. Got all the side effects but I believe worth it, as PSA zero 4 years later. Good luck!

[LLWegeners]

I had one 4 month injection and I felt the effects for about 6 months. I didn't know my testosterone level before and it was months after the effect wore off before I checked it and I was in the mid 500s.

[Horse12888]

For most men, T recovers 4 - 6 months after ADT is over, and SEs slowly abate. I was still having hot flashes 12 months after treatment, but far milder.

[maggiedrum]

I still had noticeable side effects from a 3-month time release injection for an additional 8 months, for a total of 11 months, counting the two-three initial period after the injection before the side effect became serious. I don't know what my T level was during any of this time but my PSA dropped very low during the 3 months and for 3-4 months after that. I did request my T level checked after the 11 month period and it went back to normal. My T level fluctuates on a roughly monthly period though based on what I experience emotionally but this has never been really tested to associate this 100%.

[groundhogy]

i had a 6 mo lupron shot.

3 months after the shot was supposed to be over i got a psa test. PSA= 0.04

So it seems it can continue working for awhile? And still getting some hot flashes here and there

[cancerfox]

Don't know if I am an outlier or not, but I am noticing that the return of testosterone and abatement of ADT side effects are two different things. After 13 months of Eligard shots my testosterone came back to almost 600 in 3 months, and is now almost 800. My strength and energy returned, and no hot flashes, which in my case were never that serious anyway. But now, 10 months after the last shot should have expired, I still have very little libido, appetite, metabolism, and body hair. Some shrinkage issues are also still present. So it depends on which side effects you are most concerned about. 🦊