Lupron Treatment Duration: How long were you on it?

I had the same Gleason score back in 2007 at the age of 63. was treated with two Lupron shots and 42 radiation treatments. To this day I have endured ED. Tried Viagra, Cialis and all prescription drugs as well as numerous non prescription, including penis injections. Today with a mixture of those drugs I can get about an 85 % erection and can only maintain for a short period with penetration being impossible. Back in 2007 this was the best way to go. For some. Unfortunately for me I fell in that 1-3% category where what can go wrong did. I still have hope for something to work. However, I have two doctor friends who in the past three years used a combination of seeds and minimal radiation treatment. Neither one of them has encountered any ED problems. Good luck to those of you who are dealing with Prostate Cancer.

Welcome ednh. Sixty-three is much too soon to have to deal with ED. You're not alone. You may wish to join these discussions:

- Prostate Cancer: sex drive after surgery or other treatments https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/sex-drive-after-surgery/
- I've lost all motivation, no sex drive, depressed. Ideas? https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/new-to-group-2/
- ED treatments https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/ed-treatments/

Did you know that the Urology department at Mayo Clinic in Rochester has a Men's Sexual Health Clinic? Have you sought advice at a specialized clinic?

Thank you for your words, si well said. I am just finishing my first year on lupron and have decided thats enough I want my life back. I am high risk gleason 9, but have faith its the right decision for me.

I did 18 months, the attached chart shows my clinical history. The side affects were mild fatigue, hot flashes, muscle and joint stiffness and genitalia shrinkage. I did not lose my libido. Throughout those 18 months I maintained my "normal" life, exercised, travelled, worked in the garden, walked my dog....I did keep an eye on my weight which rose about 10 pounds despite watching my diet.

There are various studies you can look for, some will say six months when you are ding it in conjunction with SRT, others will say 18 months is just as effective as 24-36. There is intermittent ADT and of course, "lifetime" ADT or at least until you become castrate resistant...

If you decide to stop AFT, consider basing it on response to treatment, as an example, in my case, PSA had dropped to undetectable and stayed there for the 18 months, then, if you do sop, have a plan to actively monitor your PCa and decision criteria about if and when to go back on treatment based on imaging, labs such as PSA which could provide doubling and velocity ties, any other clinical data such as cardiovascular health. I see my urologist every 2-4 months for labs and a quick consult.

You will find a wide variety of decision "triggers" for resuming treatment. Some will say when PSA hits 4, I've seen 10. As always the questions is, if advanced PCa is not curable, what do I gain if I start treatment back up "early? Does it increase my overall survival...again, you'll find studies all over the map. For me, I would want hard clinical data, imaging when PSA hits .5 to 1.0, labs spaced 2-3 months apart showing PSADT and PSAV, then treatment for a specified period, if the results are "favorable," go back off treatment and actively monitor, repeat.

One has to balance quality of life versus quantity, how one reacts to treatment (some experience horrendous SEs from ADT to include depression), the financial toxicity, life expectancy...It may be that we are entering a phase where we can "live" with PCa, like people who have AIDS and Diabetes then die from something else...That decision is yours as to treatment, what, when, for how long.

I chose to be aggressive in the face of aggressive clinical history and data, it has worked, almost four years of no treatment. I am not saying that I'm cured but the time off treatment has been great!

There is no one "right" decision. We must each make our own based on our specific clinical history and personal preferences.

I had 43 radiation treatments and took Lupron for 25 months. At about 18 months I wanted to quit Lupron but my urologist would not let me. I regret his decision because I have been off Lupron for 3 years and have never regained my testosterone, which is now about 15, and I am deplete of energy all the time. I took a testosterone replacement for 5 weeks but my breast started to develop and I terminated the testosterone replacement. I'm afraid I'm stuck this way for life.

We’ll said!

kujhawk1978 let me add a bit more to your excellent response.

First of all - as of this date Prostate Cancer is NOT curable. The cause is as of yet unknown. With no known cause there is no cure.

So with all the variables involved there is no simple single answer to the question of how much Lupron or when. All Lupron does is buy us time, it's no more than an insurance policy. Do you buy into it or not?? Lupron is your current insurance policy against recurrent cancer. It's your life and only your decision to make. It's not all that complicated. Do you want insurance or do you not want insurance. Once again, there is no current known cure for this cancer. You're the buyer so you decide.

My husband was recently diagnosed with prostrate cancer . I am trying to learn as much as I can joined this group and your post jumped at me. It described our similar situation and the dilemma we are going through His PCP immediately said surgery but my husband is going back and forth between surgery vs radiation. PSA was 12 and the Gleason 3+4. Positive effects of a course of action is good to know but I want to know the negatives of either procedure. - surgery /radiation. Your post brought reality to the picture considering his age (76) and quality of life. I need to be prepared for whatever route he chooses. Thank you again

There's a long time adage about PCa: "If you can cut it out [prostate/PCa] and put it in a jar, you've cured it". That 's long been my mantra and my anticipated choice while working in the prostate Ca field. And that seems obvious if you are highly certain your PCa is confined to the prostate. Yet, when my surprise turn came at 79 yrs, with 30 years of monitoring PSA, a rising PSA over 4 yrs to 7 ng, led to a Gleason of 4+5, but a clear PSMA PET scan forced me to review this long held idea of the choice I would make. My final decision was based on three things; Fewer side effects with radiation (although ADT is not benign due to side effects), greater confidence in ruling out metastases (PSMA PET), and significant improvements in targeting the radiation (5 days at higher dosage) and minimizing the likelihood of side effects (e.g. Hydrogel placement, etc). So, a comparison of side effects flipped my prior assumptions of my treatment choice. Note: Advances have be sufficiently rapid that I found it difficult to make decisions based on published data in the literature because my judgement was they often do not reflect these current improvements.

Good luck to you both.

I was told it is usually 18 months , but some go as far as 24.
Definitely different depending on individual case so discussing with your docs is key. Good luck to you.