Posted 1/19/2011 1:23 AM (GMT 0)
Les,
I started Eligard last October. Within a week I started having some of the usual side effects. I started getting hot flashes, maybe a dozen or so throughout the day and night. At first they were not fun as they would come on very suddenly and I was hot, but never sweaty. Usually only when I was sedentary so I learned to stay busy! In the past several weeks they seem less sudden and not as hot....much easier to accept. My appetite seems stronger...but I have always been an eater. In preparation for all this I adopted the modified mediteranian diet, increased exercise, and lost 15 pounds. I think I picked five or so back up so I have to be more dilligent. I haven't lost sexual desire or ability, but in the last six weeks I had two HDR sessions so I was pretty sore and swollen for awhile, so very limited activity, but things are working.
I did have one unexpected and, I understand, rare side effect. A week after I got the Eligard shot and started a daily Jalyn I broke out with eruptive (guttate) psoriasis. I have a history of psoriasis, but never like this. My legs were covered overnight. Guttate is only 1-3% of psoriasis and it is most common in teenagers with a strep infection....that's not me. Second and third causes are emotional distress and endocrine system distress. That my wife was midway through breast cancer treatment, my father died the week of my shot, and I was dxd and treated for cancer, I qualified for the causes. The good news is that it never bothered me and my dermatologist got it cleared up in about four weeks. My docs had never seen it.
I have not experiened mood swings, depression, or lethargy and it is far too soon to have bone problems. Overall, the HT hasn't been as rough as I expected. If the side effects are no worse than I have experienced so far, I will have no trouble staying on for awhile. I expect to be on for 12-18 months total. One other thing. The shot is given in the tummy fat next to the navel. For about three weeks there was a knot like a very small marble and the area was sensitive. When they give you the shot...don't watch...it is a big needle!!
Overall I think you went through far more with surgery than you are likely to experience from Eligard, especially if you are on for four months.
Best wishes,
Jack