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Worsening hot flashes after one year on Lupron?

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Posted 8/30/2017 10:01 PM (GMT 0)
Has anyone had a mild first year on Lupron and then felt worsening hot flashes and sweats? Is this an indicator of change in cancer's response to ADT?
Thanks, David
Posted 8/30/2017 10:16 PM (GMT 0)
no, just shows your body doesn't like Lupron.

Everyone reacts to different degrees on this stuff.

Andrew
Posted 8/31/2017 3:43 AM (GMT 0)
My hot flashes peaked during the second year..Now, at year 5 + I barely notice them..They are not an issue any more..
Posted 8/31/2017 2:15 PM (GMT 0)
My Dave's at 3+ and also doing much better with hot flashes after real trouble with them a year or so in. I would be surprised if it had anything to do with cancer response.

They tell us women that there's a significant mind/body element to how much hot flashes bother you. From personal experience, once I started paying attention to the earliest sign of one coming on (rather than trying to ignore it), things got better. For some goofy reason if I can cool down the inside of my elbows early on, it just sort of goes away. It probably just works because I think it'll work, but that's ok.

-- Carolyn
Posted 8/31/2017 2:30 PM (GMT 0)
They have drugs that may suppress them, some guys have luck with that...But my MO said no, the potential side-effects from those drugs are worse than the hot flashes...
Posted 8/31/2017 3:10 PM (GMT 0)
Initially my RO refused my request to prescribe Venlafaxine and instead prescribed a synthetic progesterone (Majestic or some such). Fortunately my GP did not want me taking the hormone, saying it could cause blood clots, and he did prescribe the Venlafaxine. It has reduced the intensity, frequency and duration of the hot flashes, plus it has done wonders for my emotional state and the moodiness brought about by the HT.
Posted 8/31/2017 4:27 PM (GMT 0)
My MO put me on Venlafaxine. It helped with the hot flashes and like Rob said considerably helped my emotional state and attitude. No side effects that I could tell. I am still on it a year after finishing Lupron shots.

Carl
Posted 8/31/2017 10:33 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks to all for your responses. It will help me try to ignore them as much as possible. No new meds, don't need new side effects.
David
Posted 8/31/2017 11:09 PM (GMT 0)

RobLee said...
Initially my RO refused my request to prescribe Venlafaxine and instead prescribed a synthetic progesterone (Majestic or some such). Fortunately my GP did not want me taking the hormone, saying it could cause blood clots, and he did prescribe the Venlafaxine. It has reduced the intensity, frequency and duration of the hot flashes, plus it has done wonders for my emotional state and the moodiness brought about by the HT.


You're probably thinking of Megace (megesterol acetate). I was on it for over 2 years to help with hot flashes from Lupron+Casodex. The first year they came on after about six months, and stayed at about the same intensity for the remainder of my time on HT. Megace didn't eliminate them entirely, but reduced the number and severity by about 2/3, maybe more.

Oddly, today, I'm about 18 months after "release" of ADT, and I still get 2 or 3 hot flashes a day, and usually one at night. Onco has no explanation, says "can't happen". Well, it does, thank you very much. I know what they feel like, having had probably thousands of them (say average 6/day for 3*365 days, over 6000). How many has my onco had? Zero.
Posted 9/1/2017 1:11 AM (GMT 0)
Yes, it was megesterol. Fortunate that it worked for you, but for me I needed the emotional support as well, what with both of us having cancer. My hot flashes started almost immediately... I know they were nearly intolerable after the first month. The venlafaxine has helped in more ways than one.

BTW I see your PSA is rising this past year. Do you have any sort of action plan?
Posted 9/1/2017 2:40 AM (GMT 0)
Hey RobLee - At first, my PSA rose at an alarming rate, but it wasn't clear if that was real or just my existing remaining prostate tissue "waking up" in a testosterone environment after HT. The curve slowed, and in July actually showed the same level as May. By a math projection called a Gompertz curve, it's following a limiting function I mapped out in March.

With any luck, when we check it again in October (3 months) it will still be 0.8!

My MO is kind of waiting to watch the trend (good now), and the level. If it goes above 1.0 at a significant rate (which is possible), then he said we'd talk about what next. Various studies have commented on someone in my situation, and it's likely that renewed HT is the prime path. Not looking forward to that for reasons discussed in this thread!
Posted 9/1/2017 4:21 PM (GMT 0)
I started on Lupin again on 3/14/15 and find that right about the time I am supposed to get a new injection and then about two weeks after I get severe hot flashes. Right now I feel like I am in a subtropical climate.
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