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I have been on Lupron for 22 months now. On a scale from 0 to 10 with 0 being no side effects and 10 being very significant side effects, I'm probably a 7.5. As far as I can tell there aren't many differences Lupron and Zoladex as far as side effects as they both do the same thing to the pituitary. For hot flashes, I have been prescribed megace and it really seemed to help for the first six months but the flashes are coming back at night and waking me up again. I have not monitored my bone density but would have if it had been an available option to me. I do though supplement my diet with Calcium and Vitamin D3. I have also taken to bike riding both on a stationary cycle and mountain bike - I have found this to improve several other symptoms I have experienced such as shortness of breath and fatigue. Resistance exercise has been shown to remediate bone loss. One much watch calorie intake as the drug alters the way your body metabolizes fat. Several methods help out with ED but nothing yet to jump start the old libido. My experience has shown that it takes several months of the magic pills to get any results. Sometimes I feel as if my IQ has taken a nose dive. Recovery after treatment ceases seems to vary due to age and duration but there really isn't much info out there in the way of younger patients (I'm now 55) and long term GhRh agents. You didn't say what exactly your husband's initial PSA, Gleason, or staging were or if he has had any other treatments which would correlate to the duration of his ADT. Feel free to read my experiences at http://www.yananow.net/Mentors/PatP.htm
or contact me via email. I expect to update next month after appointments with Urologist and Radiologist which will also mark the end of my present treatment.
Best of luck - Pat P. (Alaska, USA)
It is simply not possible for anyone to make any firm prediction about the outcome of any treatment or indeed what the side effects will be. There are simply too many variables.
Whoever told you about an "average" time for efficacy should also have told you what the range of his or her predictions were, because there are many men who have lived a good deal longer with aggressive prostate cancer after treatment with what is called hormone therapy - more correctly called ADT (Androgen Deprivation Therapy) Read TRUEMAN SEAMANS’ story His initial PSA was 4,212 ng/mg, his Gleason Score was 4+3= 7 and he was staged D2 (this is the equivalent to T4) with the disease meatstasied to his bones. That was in 1999. His update in March this year shows that he's still going strong - that's a good deal longer than three years.
I guess you may not have read the information on the website at HORMONE THERAPY where you will find good information about some suggested ways of dealing with the side effects that some men have and also some more detauled information about this treatment option.
You can also link to the index of men who have had ADT and read their stories.
In passing I ahve been on Zoladex for the past 12 months. I had no serious side effects, my PSA is down from 40 ng/ml to 0.20 ng/ml and I reckon that's successful. I was diagnosed twelve years ago and intend to live at least another 8 years to make it 20 from diagnosis (of course I won't refuse more than 20 years......)
You don't say what your husband's initial results were on diagnosis.
My own were pretty bleak: PSA 182 with a T4 staging.
I was immediately put onto Zoladex. That was almost 3 and a half years ago. Now I am on no meds whatsoever and my PSA stays at around 1.0 while my testosterone is once again that of a healthy male.
Terry is right, take a look at the mentor experiences here and you'll be very pleasantly surprised to see how many of us have defied the medics' gloomy predictions.
I was told about the danger of bone thinning so I asked for a DEXA Scan. This showed I was reaching low levels. Luckily I was able to stop the Zoldex after 2 years, and have supplemented with VitD3 Chloecaliferol ever since.
I never once suffered hot flushes, and I believe this was down to the fact I completely changed my diet one month after diagnosis, following the Jane Plant recommendations strictly.
However, I did experience extreme tiredness and could never keep warm during the time my testosterone was down to castrate level.
Gooid Luck, and all the best,
Never Give Up,
George
England.
PS. Terry? Those results are yours are looking GOOD!
You'll definitely surpass your 20 year target :)
I'll betchya!!
