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Ready to throw in the towel

Prostate Cancer | Last Active: Dec 5 3:55pm | Replies (102)

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@anselmo1

Scott, you sound exactly like me when I first started Lupron. I am an Internist and understand these things a bit more than most.
Please ask your Oncologist to drastically decrease your dose of Lupron. Try the 3monthly dose which is less than half of what you seem to be getting now. Decreasing the dose helped me tremendously without affecting the efficacy of the drug. I remained hormone sensitive for about three years and was able to continue to work 12 hours a week to date doing consults in my practice.
By all means see the Psychiatrist and the mental health team for all else they bring to the table.
Stop the starvation diet and find a way to accept the fact that your sex life will most likely never be the same. The brain is your most important sex organ and the diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer primarily robs you of libido. In my case, a naked woman or even erotica might as well be covered furniture.
I would quit the gym. Do as much walking as you can but don’t exhaust yourself.
Remember, we are very lucky to be living in this Universe at this time, the probability is in the trillions of trillions, so ride it out. You can still find some joy once your maintenance treatment is adjusted to manageable doses.

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Replies to "Scott, you sound exactly like me when I first started Lupron. I am an Internist and..."

Hi all, A reminder about the Community Guidelines, in particular guideline number 1.

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See the complete community rules here: https://connect.mayoclinic.org/blog/about-connect/tab/community-guidelines/

I think what upsets me most is that, when I asked about Lupron side effects, I was told "you will likely have some hot flashes" (I haven't had any) but that was about it. I read all the side effects on the brochure and when I saw the alarming ones they were downplayed. Depression wasn't even listed as one, neither was insomnia, though I suppose it can be argued that the cancer diagnosis itself causes depression and insomnia rather than the medication.