Hot flashes gone with Megestrol Acetate!

Since taking two 20 mg. tablets daily, no more hot flashes! Awesome med which should make taking Lupron for an extended period a lot more palatable. Eureka!
Bob

Watch your diet carefully. I gained a lot of weight on Megestrol, and had to stop taking it.

Megace is used as an appetite stimulant for certain types of patients. But, that's done at something like 400mg/day. Our anti hot flash use is at only 10% of that level. It seems its appetite stimulant properties are likely pretty minimal at our level.

It works well for me, though for me it doesn't completely eliminate hot flashes. I get 2 or 3 a night that wake me up perspiring. But, importantly it minimizes the daily ones to where they're barely noticeable.

After using it for 3 months, I tried tapering off for a month, and the hot flashes came right back full power.

Megace works ok for me, but it's a mixed bag and for some it helps a lot, and for some it doesn't help much.

I'd encourage those struggling with hot flashes to consult their docs (urologist in my case) to see if they think it could help them. Seems worth a try.

"Would" and "should" - my uro tried the Megestrol with me. My appetite shot up - could not even pass a snack. I was not warned about that SE, so it wasn't somehow a subliminal trick.

The pounds jumped on by the day.

My pharmacist was the one who noticed and made the connection.

Just be aware.

Megace has worked extremely well for me - hot flashes reduced to occasional nuisance ones at night, none during the day. I tried to go without once, but the hot flashes came back with a vengeance within 48 hours. It's just part of my daily routine while on Lupron -now for 33 months :( .

JNF, you cracked me up. I know the feeling. My RO thought my weight gain was primarily attributable to the lack of testosterone, and Megace may or may not add a layer of icing to that particular cake. (He said their experience is a typical weight gain of 30-40 pounds over 3 years of ADT - yikes, I hope not! I fight it every day, hoping to slow the process if nothing else.)

It seems from the responses here that Megace may or may not help hot flashes for any given individual, and may or may not aggravate hunger and over eating. It's sure no secret that side effects vary greatly by individual for many pharmaceuticals.

One of the greatest things about our forum is the variety of experience. This helps anyone considering something like this get a reality check on the good and bad of both effectiveness and side effects.

Jerry