Lupron Brain Fog

After being on ADT for nine years, brain fog is definitely an issue. I find I cannot remember the names of politicians, Medical people, Many people in movies and TV. The thing is, if somebody mentions the name, I see a picture of them in my mind in almost all cases. If I waited a few minutes sometimes 20 or 30 it finally comes back to me. I have that problem with drugs that I mentioned, Unless I mention them quite often, they will fog out, But I know where to find the names And I know which ones I want to talk about so it is just a temporary problem.

I never find it affects my doing things. I know exactly where I’m going and how to get there. If I’m doing something that requires a sequence of events, I remember them all. Walking into a room and forgetting why I want there is definitely a problem, But it usually comes to me quickly when that happens.

My wife will talk to me about a wide range of things, including People or events that occurred recently and I remember them all distinctly. Now if she goes back 30 or 40 years I may not remember, Though I frequently do. Women have this abilities to never forget some things, not everything, there are limits. At times there are things I remember that she forgot about.

Ahhhh memory!

It’s strange how this brain fog affects different people differently. I’ve even read that there is no brain fog from ADT. Must be somebody who never used it

I usually remember when I’ve told somebody something, So I don’t tell them a second time. Of course I’m only 78, It has gotta get worse as I hit the 80s.

@jeffmarc

" Women have this abilities to never forget some things," lol - it is 100% true 😆 !
It is just because brain has different wiring (OK , it is more complicated than that but lets not go into brain mapping now lol) .

I wish I can forget some thing *sigh 😋 and I am sure that my family members wish that to be case too LMAO.

Maybe you can ask his doctor to switch him form Lupron to Orgovyx ? It might help, many patients tolerate Orgovyx better for other SA in general. OR, perhaps he can be on Nubeqa ?

@jeffmarc - what do you think about that ?

@surftohealth88
I was at UCSF’s UroToday conference this morning and they were talking about Estradiol in place of ADT.

At one point it was asked whether People on Estradiol had as much problem with brain fog as ADT. The answer to this question was that the problem is due to low testosterone, not the specific drugs. This wasn’t something they really evaluated, but they had no other answer. There were at least four doctors there involved in this talk and none of them came up with a different answer.

I don’t think Orgovyx is really going to improve the situation, But I’m not doing clinical trials.

In my particular case, I don’t think it’s made any difference and I was on Lupron for six years and now Orgovyx for three and I don’t notice any difference.

@stage4lovolmetpc
You make a lot of interesting points. I’m going to ask a couple of doctors their opinion.

I am on Pradaxa And it tells me only moderate risk and a higher chance of bleeding. I get a blood test once a month whether I’ve taken tea or not, I barely bleed. At the most dot on the Cotton.

Find my oncologist with a question.

@jeffmarc

I think that you mentioned in one of your posts that people who are on Nubeqa as mono-therapy have less brain fog ? Maybe I mixed up your post with somebody else's .

In regard to estrogen, they have very little understanding about estrogen as ADT in a broader context in general. So far they only know that it works - one would assume that during clinical trials researchers would follow ALL of the parameters involved, not just the the ones pertaining to effectiveness of PC control 🧐 ?! How much extra cost it would be to involve couple of interns to follow and compare classical side effects between estrogen and Lupron ?

@surftohealth88
Just heard back from the guy that moved to South Africa , but is taking Nubeqa As his main drug now. He has started using three estradiol patches. He says his testosterone is now castrate level. At first, he was just on Nubeqa.

He says No brain fog, no depression/anxiety, no bone loss, no blood pressure or cardio meds, no hot flashes, sleeping great.

At that meeting, they did say this was not something they evaluated. When I search about estradiol and brain fog, they say it does relieve it, but that Orgovyx does not.

@kevtrav

Lupron seems to be the most powerful chemical castration drug so the side effects which are common with low testosterone will be the worst. I had to be given TRT to raise my testosterone after just 4 months of Lupron. At age 84 my testosterone did not recover and I am now hypogonadal. My side effects started dropping in about 5 days with low level TRT. Current research says that TRT does not raise the risk of cancer for most people.

@jeffmarc

Thanks Jeff for sharing this - we are considering that combo (Estrogen + Nubeqa) after 6 mos passes since UCLA top RO told us that being more than 6 mos on ADT might not offer much extra benefit so there is a lot to think about . Our MO suggested 18 mos of Orgovyx and Nubeqa which is very different approach from UCLA advice. Perhaps something in between could be a sweet spot - I do not know - ADT recommendations nowadays change on a daily bases it seems. 😣
My husband has no visible SA from ADT , not even hot flashes, his bloodwork is perfect 🧿 (so far) , but I worry about bone and muscle loss. He is exercising every day so I hope that this will help in that area a lot - hopefully ...

@surftohealth88
Definitely sounds like the estradiol Choice is a lot easier on people. So many fewer side effects. They discussed the breast enlargement problem, and radiation to try to prevent it, which has to be done before estradiol is even begun to be used. It doesn’t always work if it’s used after estradiol is used. It doesn’t always work if it’s used before, but it is more likely to Work then. They did say that the amount of breast enlargement for most men is minor.

It must be frustrating to have different recommendations for the use of ADT. Maybe it’s worth stopping to see if the PSA will rise. Trials did show it helps the most when radiation is being done as well as just after. With all the recommendations for ADT use, it sure seems like the best option is to just stop as soon as you can, and regularly test the PSA to see if there’s a problem. The last time you were on it the sooner the testosterone returns to normal.