I'm bracing myself for the side effects, haha. Wife is going away for a few days and she said when she returns she expects to see me in the kitchen, baking cookies and watching reality TV.
Wondering how long it will take before I feel anything...then again, I'll probably find out tonight when I roll over in bed.
I have been on lupron continuously since 2016, I think it took maybe two weeks. Then I had hot flashes,some bone pains and fatigue. Over the years I have learned to live with the hot flashes and fatigue. The hot flashes are usually at night. I go to a fitness center several times a week, this help with both fatigue and the hot flashes.
Go luck hopefully you won’t be on lupron as long as I have been.
ET51
It took a few weeks before I noticed anything, then it was slight fatigue. I'm now 15 months in, fatigue has ramped up and brain fog has gotten real. Working out throughout the process will keep the SE's away for some time.
BTW, with regard to the injection, I make sure the nurse doesn't just plunge it in, that stuff is thick and I've noticed that the slower they go, the better it feels afterward. In addition, I stand on 1 leg, taking the weight off the leg where the injection is going in. By relaxing those muscles, it allows the injection to spread more easily IMO.
Good luck to you, I've yet to turn on the Real Housewives!
I trying to imagine you standing on one leg while being injected 😂.
You are correct about the pace of the injection I've found the same, also mixing it well is important.
I have mine in the arm now , it works better for me.
Good luck 👍
Yes, if you haven't done so already get an exercise program going asap. It took a few weeks before my hot flashes and fatigue started. By the way, you won't be in the kitchen. You'll be on the couch watching The Hallmark Channel and weeping.
Are you on long term ADT?
For me, hot flashes about a month in. More effects began by 3 months ( “shrinkage”, loss of libido). Fatigue by six months, brain fog a year or so. Alarmingly, I became osteopenia, just short of osteoporosis, by 18 months.
So, from amusing, to alarming, to unpleasant, to actually risky, in 18 months.
I’m ow on permanent ADT for recurrence. And, I take estradiol (the active part of estrogen), stopping most of the side effects.
Not for everyone, but anyone on permanent ADT could find some symptom relief by estradiol. Just something else to consider.
Seems like 6 months for me then got worse over next 6 months. Mostly free of them now
8.5 years, non-stop for me. In all honestly, I don't know the side effects, other drugs are hitting me at other angles.
It took a month or so for the hot flashes to come on. Over time they have gotten stronger. My best friend a cold pad out of the freezer. Also loss of libido, shrinkage of the testes, loss of muscle tone and lost a good deal of hair on my body. I am off since April and hoping that some of hot flashes will go away as some T comes back. Never had the brain fog. Good luck
This is pretty much exactly what I have experienced. Body hair loss but beard still intact, which I found interesting. Hot flashes are fairly intense but usually only a couple of minutes in duration; so tolerable. Also, the hot flashes are completely random for me as to when they occur. I am on until next June. Good luck.
my side affects were minimal because I listened to my very knowledgeable MO. Hire a trainer to teach you how to properly lift weights to all body areas. 3 days a week an hour each time. Take viagra at least a couple times a week and manually make your self hard to avoid shrinkage. Works for me.
Schwah
For me it took 2 weeks, the first thing I notice was that my libido disappeared, followed by the hot flashes and lethargy soon after. My weight never changed, but my muscle mass was replaced with fat as my pot belly grew. My only exercise was walking our dog 4x per day, about 90 minutes total. Once on Lupron vacation 2 years later it took maybe 3 months for my symptoms to disappear…
Like the sense of humour. You have to have ways of dealing with it. It will take a while and it affects everyone differently because our bodies and systems are all different. Keep talking and listening though and try to maintain the intimacy in your relationship. I say these things in hindsight and with some regret.
I've been on Lupron since day one, the side effects kicked in quite quickly.
You can build up your stamina to help combat the fatigue. But the brain fog is another matter. When my phone tells me " no face detected " I've been known to look under the table or down my shirt to find it 🤫
I switched to 3 monthly jabs, it definitely helped decrease the side effects, something to keep in mind.
Good luck for the future and with the cookies 🍪.
A few weeks. Ask for 20mg Megace when the hot flashes set in. Hot flashes were brutal for me but Megace stopped it in its tracks. Exercise is a great idea, both cardio and weights. Start now.
After over ten years I watch mostly westerns. As for SE's, I can't remember.
I've been on Lupron for about 2.5 years. Only side effects I have are a mild hot flash about every 3 weeks. The other is no interest in sex. What works for me is I workout at the local YMCA about 5 days a week doing organized classes. I've lost 35 lbs. while on Lupron when you are supposed to gain weight. Mostly cardio until exhaustion! I'm in the best shape of my life at 59 years old. If you sit back and do nothing you will probably have a host of side effects. Commit to a workout regimen and stick with it. Side effects will be basically non existent and you'll look great and have a ton of energy!! It works..
Don't be foolish; nobody can tell you that. Just keep taking it and hope for the best. Whatever the side effects are they're almost certainly better than the cancer.
No one can guarantee you won’t have any side effects if you exercise on ADT. What is guaranteed is slowed metabolism and loss of muscle mass, bone density, cardiovascular fitness and worsening of any Co morbidities you have. ADT is at its core a aging accelerator.
It is also not guaranteed that you will have terrible side effects if you don’t exercise. However, it the biggest mistake you can make with your health when you’re older, and not exercising on ADT just makes it a much bigger one.
Some will say ‘every man is different’ with regards to side effects. Although this is true, side effects are proven to be lessened by exercise. The more you exercise the more they are lessened. How much more depends less on luck than diligence and your overall health and fitness habits going in.
Cardiovascular and weight bearing exercise is essential on ADT, and beats back side effects better than anything else by far. There’s your guarantee.
Modern medicine is miraculous for extending life but not health. That is up to you. You don’t want to outlive your good years!
Your wife has quite a sense of humor. The side effects will hit you within 30 days. Expect to experience hot flashes, lack of libido, erections will be a thing of the past, you may experience some fatigue and your breasts will probably swell some.
Other than that it's a piece of cake. I have been on Lupron for ten years now.
I was on Lupron for a total of 21 months; did not know much about many of the side effects. If you are aware of the things I provide disregard this message. If not then use ADT very carefully and with complete knowledge of what its doing. I looked at your bio but there is not much there for me to determine what treatment you have, your age, or other factors. If sexual health is an important feature in your QOL pay attention to what ADT will do. It can extend your life, provide excellent pre conditions for some treatments and do many other things; it also takes a wrecking ball to your sexual health.
healthunlocked.com/active-s...
...then the known side effects of ADT (note, NO MENTION of sexual health in this podcast)...
healthunlocked.com/active-s...
Finally, if you dont have them already get baseline blood work on all your markers; Testosterone, uPSA (ultra low assay not just normal PSA), Hemoglobin, A1c and Glucose; the works! If you have just started ADT you may have time to get these before ADT completely scrambles your bloodwork...if you dont know your baselines you dont have a basis, after ADT treatment, to know how close to "normal" you are...Dr's dont take baseline readings of bloodwork and therefore you dont ever know later on how far away from recovery you remain after ADT is removed (hopefully). If you have baselines on all these factors, great...
PS get a Dexasan now; know what your bone density is going into ADT...it can affect bone density and again, if you dont know where you started how will you know if you've been affected...
Again, if none of this makes any difference then no harm done... Good luck. Rick
My point of view is to anticipate a side effect increases the likelihood you will get that side effect.
That said get a list of percentage of men reporting those effects and recognize the most common you will get, hot flush & fatigue, and then focus your self on only those two. Manage them like others have said.
Yes takes some time in the first month but don't expect them to be severe if you do as others suggest.
They'll come. Like a lot of people have already said, but I'll second...exercise. HITT sessions, weightlifting all help with fatigue, mood and muscle wasting. And I got a ChiliPad bed chiller. Expensive but well worth it to calm the hot flashes at night. Turn that sucker down to 57° and it's awesome. It seems like everyone reacts differently to the stuff. My experience was pretty survivable. BTW, your wife will laugh at the hot-flashes because now you'll know what it's like.
Your testosterone should increase for the first two to three weeks, then it plummets. So probably 4 to 6 weeks before you start feeling the negative side effects. Some people don't seem to be affected much, others more so. Personally, I was pretty miserable once the side effects of ADT really kicked in, despite exercising, weight training, etc. It wasn't fun to have things become twice as hard to do as they had been before treatment. 🦊
Get a tape measure out and measure little willie now before you lose him.....(maybe even take pictures). A bra and high heels may be in order.....
Good Luck, Good Health and Good Humor.
j-o-h-n Thursday 08/24/2023 6:26 PM DST
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