after lupron...when does libido return?

anywhere from six to 12 months after the last 3-month shot according to two of my doctors.  so i do understand the theory but i'm looking for firsthand experience.  and i'm not talking about the ability to get an erection but rather when did you become interested in sex again?

i ask because i got my third and last shot of lupron today, 3-month variety, which marks the end of my primary treatment.  i also had a PSA of 0 which is good news but expected.

thanx for your help!

F8 (ed)

thanks Don -- i think i can work with some stirrings .  Don have you been able to lose any weight yet...assuming you packed on some pounds?

ed

Sorry. I just reread your original post and noted that you are already on Lupron. So you already know all the stuff I mentioned.

Good luck with losing weight. I could stand to lose a little even before HT but it is hard to get it off. Luckily I dodn't put on any after starting HT.

A little less food and a little more excercise sounds like the key for both of us.

Don K.

zufus -- i know the theories and of course the worst case stories are the easiest to find on the internet. i will be on lupron nine months....i know there are guys who have sex again after lupron or at least regain the desire.  i have a beautiful, patient, young wife and all we really want is the desire to return ... for now.  baby steps .

so help me out HT guys!

ed

ed:
The answer to your question is complex. Age is one factor, as older men recover more slowly, as they do from every insult to the body. Younger men recuperate faster, as expected. The testosterone level reached under treatment is also relevant. Men whose T goes to 10 or so will take longer than those whose T lingered at 40-50. Time on treatment is also relevant as the longer the testes are out of commission the longer it takes for them to waken (if ever). Libido may recover before actual erections return, if that was part of your question. I am currently off treatment of 15 months, T=7 at nadir, age 63, and it has taken four months for T to recover to 200, libido has returned and nighttime spontaneous erections have begun, occasionally, though erections at will still have not begun, even with vitamin V and others.
At inititiation of treatment I noticed a small bump on one testicle. Diagnosis was a benign cyst, likely there for a long time though unnoticed until testicles shrank thanks to Zolodex.
Your age, and time on treatment argue for a return on the shorter end of the continuum.
With radiation some men have a delayed reaction and sexual performance diminishes due to this cell destruction over time. So recovery may be halted and reversed by radiation induced cell death at a later period, sometimes years.
You chose the right treatment in my opinion.

Four months after the expiration of the 84 day injection was when the tested T level was at 200 and I could already feel the returning "fullness of life", so to speak.

See here:

http://preview.tinyurl.com/2w7gsds

or

http://askdrmyers.wordpress.com/

As Charles Myers, Prostate oncologist has just posted about return of sexual potency after radiation on his weekly webcast.

Zufus:

Thanks for the words of warning. You don't know how much I appreciate that.

I wish I knew about the "openmindedness" of my docs. I am being treated by the prostate team at Denver University hospital. They really wanted to get me in their new Tomo external beam machine but I demurred and requested this HT route.

I don't know what my testosterone level was prior to treatment, but the 10 months of Lupron brought it down to 20. So I am starting back from castrate level.

My next PSA is in three weeks along with a "T" level. So I'll just have to sweat it out for a little longer.

And F8 - Sorry for the thread drift but perhaps some of the above info will be of help to you too.

Don K.

Livinadream:

Thanks for that info. It gives me some hope  that things will finally return to normal.

I'll bet that was a great day for you when stuff suddenly resolved itself.

It scared the heck out of me when I discovered the big time shrinkage of my testicles

The docs never told me that this would happen. But then, they skipped over the long term effects of Lupron such as bone density loss and cardio problems too.

Sorry to hear that you may have to end your vacation. My day of truth will come in two more weeks when the next PSA and "T" is performed.

I'm on Casodex only right now.

Enjoy yourself while you can!

Don K.

My 3 month term(12 month total) was up on May 7 and I'm having a harder time with hot flushes and insomnia then I had during my whole 12 month sentence. I'm also finding my eyes very sensitive to light as well. On the positive side, my golf game has improved....lol

Good luck to you Ed.

i started that thread almost two years ago and i'm happy to report that my libido is back in full force and i am fully functioning though i do take 10mg of cialis every other day .

in my signature you can see when my testosterone returned.  i have about 2.5 months till my next PSA test and i'm going to be very anxious about this one.

ed

 

I just figured out that the presence of PNI on my biopsy is a really bad fact - sending me from highly confident with my treatment plan and prognosis to very worried. I've now read all of the studies - the takeaway is that, if you have PNI, you do not have Gleason 6. Moreover, you are high risk, by definition. I asked my radiation oncologists about this, and they concurred I should start a course of Lupron for 6 months. They had assumed, previously, that I would not accept this course of action (!?) One says I would be her first Gleason 6 patient to accept, much less request, Lupron. Is it that bad? If you accept the premise that PNI portends an even worse outcome than the highest of high risk PCa (and some people do not), then the mortality figures are clear - it would seem to be foolhardy not to do it. I would be starting about halfway through a course of proton therapy. Not sure how that might affect things. Does anyone have any experience with RT, PNI and low grade PCa?

rr

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Age 64, Stage T1c, Gleason 6 with PNI
PSA level at treatment start of 3.9 no symptoms
CT scan and Bone scan negative 18 months ago w/w since then
currently finished 17 of 45 proton therapy sessions
two biopsies, each 3 of 12, low %, but completely different areas from 1st biopsy to second

I took Lupron to stop my puberty while taking HGH for bone growth (to gain height) monitored by a doctor. I got my first Lupron shot when I was 13 years old. I took Lupron shots monthly until I was 15. I stopped taking HGH when I was 17 and am 21 now. While taking the Lupron shots, I was never able to get fully erect. Once I stopped taking Lupron I was able to get more erect than usual but still not entirely. Has anybody experienced not being able to get a full erection after so many years? What tests would anyone recommend taking? Thank you in advance!

Have you thought of hormone replacement to speed up the process? If you are truly cured, it won't hurt you at all and you can get back to being a man a lot quicker than waiting for the effects of the Lupron to wear off....

If you are not cured, you might as well learn about it now and take things from there....