Hi cdcfbw,
Three years ago when my radiation oncologist told me that we should include Lupron as part of my treatment, it was the first time I had heard of ADT. When I looked at the side effects, I asked him if it was necessary. He told me, my Gleason was 4+4, that with the stage of my cancer cells adding Lupron will increase my chances of survival by 20%. I decided to check it out and the research I found verified that use of ADT and radiation did increase my chances of beating this cancer upto 80 some percent. Now for guys with cancer cells of Gleason scores less then mine, ADT is not as necessary and I met a number of guys at Mayo who didn't have the ADT treatment, but their cancer was less serious. I was 73 when I started my treatment and now am 17 months from the end of the ADT treatment. Somethings remain like increased breast size and added 5 lbs, but others are coming back including muscle strength, energy level, bone density and even my libido. Would I have preferred not having the Lupron treatment? Yes I definitely would have preferred not going through it, but my wife and I discussed it and she wanted me around.
So, whether to use ADT or not comes down to the risk of not using it. The risk is tied up in the level of your cancer. Pretty serious stuff.
It will take some time but your life will return to normal.

None of us asked for this.

Take care.