Does ADT ever stop destroying me

After 18 months since the first injection, and one year since the last injection, ADT is still destroying my muscles and my mind.
I work out daily walking, and every other day with dumbbells, and elliptical machine, and swim laps once a week . I have these episodes which will last about three days, and when it’s finished, I have lost muscle mass and my memory has gotten much worse.
Is my destiny to go into a nursing home Soon?

"After 18 months since the first injection, and one year since the last injection, ADT is still destroying my muscles and my mind."

I think ADT destroyed my mind 10 years ago and this is a test question that confirms it.

Thank you for the information. I will try and remain patient.

Skypilot56 said...
Been on Lupron for 2 yrs- Steady hot flashes which I have just accepted as a way of life, Lupron brain, tired all the time, but the darn trigger finger and pain in the joints is getting fricking old actually have started to wear braces on my little fingers to keep my fingers straight, helps a little. I read a report where they said it is impossible to build muscle mass when you have no testerone and I believe it just trying to maintain what I have. But the good thing is I'm alive and spending time with my family which I wouldn't trade for nothing!

Larry

I developed trigger finger on my right ring finger about 14 months in. My Dr recommend those squeeze strengthing balls. It's not completely gone but 80%, if I don't keep up with the exercises it comes back. He couldn't answer if it will go away since I have stopped Lupron (for now)

I am 7 months past the end of Lupron, and 10 months past my last 3 month shot. I was on ADT for 6 months total. LIKE YOU, weDavis, I have become very impatient. I’ve seen the hot flashes almost stop for a week ir two, than come back with a Vengeance. Right now, they seem to be slowing down. I don’t know if it’s another false alarm, or the beginning of T coming back.

What I do know is that I have no choice to be patient. I try to exercise as much as possible. Started yoga a few weeks ago. Haven’t consistently lifted weights, started a month ago, but stopped. I think we can help ourselves while waiting. I learned the hard way, I was lazy.
Try to stay active and be patient.

Also, I have lost the desire to do anything. ADT is a mean devil. The patient should be told what is about to happen. The urologist told me ADT had no Side effects.
I should have been told that I would be physically disabled and could not work, and that I would be mentally disabled and could not work, and that I would lose my career.

We_Davis said...
Also, I have lost the desire to do anything. ADT is a mean devil. The patient should be told what is about to happen. The urologist told me ADT had no Side effects.
I should have been told that I would be physically disabled and could not work, and that I would be mentally disabled and could not work, and that I would lose my career.

You haven’t shared details on your disease or your age, your posts have been about side effects only. I’m sure you have noticed from responses that you are preaching to the choir. All cancer treatments have side effects, some severe and life changing, with alive being the focus. Personally I find it hard to believe that any experienced doctor would say any cancer therapy has no side effects, I guess it’s possible. Have you discussed any medication for depression? Search here for posts about Venlafaxine, which also helps with Lupron side effects.

We_Davis I would be angry, too, if I were told Lupron has no side effects. I'm not shocked that you were told that. After close to 50 years in medicine nothing shocks me anymore. And surgeons are not famous for good bedside manor and sensitivity. But consider that maybe the urologist may have said something about side effects but you missed it amid all the other bad news he was giving you at the time. I second the advice about venlafaxine. If you don't have a good family doctor or internist you should find one. The venlafaxine helps with the hot flashes and the attitude, feelings of depression and discouragement. I take 75mg/day of the extended release type when I am on Lupron. My RO put me on it for hot flashes but it changed my life in other ways not only depression but social anxiety which has been a plague to me all my life. You have to start with a lower dose and spend a month or more working up to full dose or it will make you sick, at least it did me. It, too, is a powerful medication. I was not warned about that! Some people need more than 75mg/day. And there are many other such meds to consider for depression. Depression can be a killer, literally. Please don't let this get you down.

WD,
I think it’s very important for you to see a BH provider for medication that can help your depression, and some counseling to help you work through your anger and some of your beliefs. The sooner you do this the sooner you can get relief - instead of needlessly suffering.

It is tricky for doctors to decided exactly how much counseling to give a patient about occasional side effects of treatments the patient is definitely going to need. Not all patients have the same side effects or the same degree of severity. Some patients will promptly develop any side effect you tell them about and, for those patients, the less said about side effects, the less bother they will experience from the treatment. For ADT there are several different drugs with different mechanisms of action but, unfortunately, they all tend to have the same side effects, so it's not like they can be avoided. Many doctors only mention the most common side effects, or the most dire ones, and figure they will deal with the rest as (and if) they occur. Why spoil the surprise?
Whether or not your doctors told you about the side effects ahead of time, it is important for you to talk to him/her about the side effects as they emerge. Many of them can be mitigated. Antidepressants help, not just with depression but also with brain fog and some of them help with hot flashes, too. Venlafaxine is a good choice for those of you currently on ADT but those of you who are done with your ADT and are waiting for your sex life to come back online might want to consider something like bupropion that has fewer sexual side effects. Be sure to work with your doctors on starting and stopping your antidepressants -- they can have fairly dire discontinuation effects if you don't wean yourself off of them carefully. Some men who don't feel depressed but do experience fatigue, memory, and cognition problems find modafinil helpful. And of course, exercise and just keeping busy helps a lot.

I’ve never been on ADT. What I have experienced are feelings of unfairness (to the point of feeling cursed), no way out from long standing sufferings, anger, resentments, and hopelessness. It’s highly doubtful that there’s many (if any) anti-depressants I have not, at one time to another, tried.

Im finding, at the age of 61, that the thing that helps me more than anything I’ve tried to date, is meditation (I think it popular term for it now is “mindfulness”...although, to be honest, I’m not even sure if they’re the same thing or not). All I know is, what my perceptions and attitudes change better than anything is something that’s required by me...that I’ve never been big on...and that something is called “discipline” (to do it). So...I don’t do it every single day. Sometimes I may go a month and not do it. But, when things get bad enough, and I can remember to, and I actually do it, and I’m open to it...it seems to almost *always* works. Some mornings...just a couple of minutes can give me a perspective that lasts...well...not *that* long...but, it lasts longer than if I don’t do it at all. Some mornings...I can find myself doing it for 15/20 minutes because...the freedom and perspective it gives me...I don’t want that to end. (But...it can linger afterwards).

I’m not talking about sitting on the floor with legs pretzeling up. I’m talkin’ about just sitting in a chair, and breathing, and listening, and experiencing *this moment”. I don’t know if that’s meditation...but...whatever it’s called...it brings me into this moment...and in that place...this place...my trials and sufferings (I’m not sure that word is a stretch) seems to somehow...recede.


This is in no way a recommendation to not pursue medical help...nor is it an indictment of medication. All it is is something that can be *complementary* to other sources of help.

If I did it more, I’d feel better more. It took me some experimentation to find what works for me. Read all the books, blah, blah, blah...and if that helps you to do that...GOOD!!! 👍. But...that never helped me. What helped me was/is to just begin to do it...and, somehow...I can’t even tell you how...but, somehow...I found/find a way to some relief.

When I do it.

Good luck to you.