Hormone side effects

Anyone on hormone therapy have slight anemia? My husband is slightly anemic and his white count is also lowered. Doctor said it was from the hormone therapy. He's always cold except for the hot flashes.

Thank you for sharing. My husband's red and white count are below the normal range but the docs don't say anything about it. I guess they figure there's not much choice here cause the hormones are necessary. His most recent PSA was 0.05 so that was a relief though I understand cancer can progress with a low PSA result.

I understand that Lupron (or it's equivalent) is necessary to treat cancer that has escaped the prostate capsule. It's better than the alternative, but it is truly the "devil drug"

We had a recent poster who chose a Brachy, plus external, plus 3 Lupron injections. I don't understand his choice, based on the numbers he presented. I do understand that it is his choice.
Perhaps his experience will be better than mine.

I got a Lupron injection after a pep talk by my first urologist about the wonders of Brachy. It was a Lupron Depot shot, supposedly good for 4 months. I finally got testosterone replacement to offset the effects 8 months later. During that time I was depressed, always cold, had constant hot flashes that disrupted my day and kept me from getting a good night's sleep. I suffered serious short term memory loss. My body tempertature was always 97 after the Lupron, and I have been a 98.6 man all my life.
I still had my erectile capability, but I had ABSOLUTELY no interest in sex -whatsoever. A trying time for my wife.

I'm still very bitter about my experience with Dr. Joe Schlockmeister, and I suspect that the recent poster is seeing the brother of my first urologist. This is an opportunity for the unscrupulous to take advantage of someone frightened and ill-informed, and it probably happens more than we want to admit.

Luckily, I didn't follow through with the Brachy. I had a robotic RP with fantastic results.

This site does a great job of presenting the options in a non-judgemental way. In the short time I have been here I have seen some newly diagnosed patients process the wealth of information plus the anecdotal experiences, and come to a logical decision. I wish I had this resource when I was initially diagnosed. Eight months is a long time to be unnecessarily miserable.

KeyWestPirate, Interestingly, my situation was similar to yours. My first urologist was going to do Brachy, Ext B, and insisted on giving me a Lupron 4 month shot. In the process of reading and ultimately visiting some other urologist, I determined to have DiVinci. My successful surgery was nearly a year ago. The Lupron effects (flashes etc.) lasted for nearly 5 months - well beyond the surgery. This I felt like effected ED recovery after surgery, but I cannot be sure how much. Here I am almost a year later, and I have almost no libido. I have chalked this up to the effects of surgery, but from what you have described it may have delt a blow to my testerone. This is something I have not checked and maybe should. Any additional thoughts. thanks. RB