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How has ADT affected your enthusiasm & motivation for life?
My 61 year old husband (I'm 55) has been on ADT - Nubeqa and Orgovyx - for over three months and will likely take both for two years for high-risk prostate cancer (Gleason 9, cribriform, visibly contained within the prostate per scans), and I'm trying to better understand what other couples have experienced.
For those of you who have been on ADT, how has it affected your passion, enthusiasm, and motivation for life? My question isn’t about libido, but more about hobbies, excitement about future plans, ambition, or simply enjoying everyday conversations and activities.
Did you feel emotionally flat and less connected with loved ones and life? If so, did those feelings improve over time or after ADT ended?
My husband and I are a team for life; we still play (shorter) tennis sessions (we’ve played together for 30 years). We still laugh, but I sense an indifference and apathy that I’ve never experienced before. He's also less patient. Of course, this is to be expected, but I guess I’m asking: how did you feel differently toward your significant other? Clearly, testosterone is there for a reason, hence all the “low T” ads.
My husband says other than hot flashes and fatigue, he feels almost normal, but I see a difference. I don't want to make this about me, and I know this medical journey won't fracture us, but it’s also hard feeling our relationship off-kilter.
Thank you.
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@chippydoo
Thanks for the check-in. My husband seems to gravitate to his favorite chair lately. Maybe the World Cup is also playing a role. His tone is also sometimes snappier than normal.
How many sessions of radiation did you have? My husband had the five SBRT blasts and seems fine so far (three weeks out from treatment).
I had 25 sessions of EBRT radiation plus ADT. ADT wasn't horrible but I did ease up on physical activity intentionally lowering my heart rate during exercise and shortening my mountain bike trail riding milage. Emotionally flatter than normal. Everything seemed to require more mental effort to get going but was always rewarded by feeling better afterwards. I found that radiation side effects worsened over time and peaked for me around 12 months and sought additional medical assistance which has worked out well for me. It sounds like you are all in on this journey and couldn't be happier for the both of you.
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What radiation side effects at 12 months out?
@mjm8491 Radiation Proctitis and Radiation Enteritis. Enteritis effects the colon and symptoms can be similar to Crohn's. If you get it, you will definitely know it. Both can be treated with various success.
@mjm8491 https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/proctitis/symptoms-causes/syc-20376933 https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/radiation-enteritis/symptoms-causes/syc-20355409
I never answered your question. I’ve been on ADT for eight years. I don’t get any fatigue from it so the only problems are having to exercise with weights and having to be much more active than I used to be, walking a mile twice a day every day at high speed.
I think it’s made me a little bit easier to get along with. I don’t have any negative emotional issues, but I am a little bit calmer than I used to be, More easy-going. I am getting a lot older, 80 in a year+ Seems to make a difference. I definitely was ADHD When I was young and I’ve always been a little bit hyper.
I have not lost the enjoyment for life or the desire to do things. I want to do even more things now that I have my incontinent problem resolved. I want to start traveling soon. My wife wants to also. I think we’ve actually been closer since I started ADT even if it has ended some intimacy.
ADT can have an emotional effect on a lot of people. Over time it gets a lot easier to deal with, his attitude may change. The fatigue is one of the big problems. It really is the one factor I have seen cause problems with people being depressed. I was just in an online meeting yesterday and one of the regulars was talking about how it was really beginning to get to him. The fatigue from the drugs he was taking had just become depressing for the first time in his life. In his case he is on Zytiga which can make things much more difficult than ADT. I Told him to ask his doctor to increase the dosage of prednisone to resolve that fatigue issue. That makes a major difference for people on that drug.
You might have your husband ask to work with a palliative care doctor. They work with a patient to try to resolve the issues that come up with treatments they are on, he may be able to get an answer to fatigue.