Adverse Heart conditions from Hormone therapy

I was on ADT alone for 2.5 years and it did not affect my heart. Then I went on Zytiga And my blood pressure went up. That put me on three different blood pressure medication’s, and I had four directly connected afib events to Zytiga, the third one landing me in the hospital for four days. I did have Afib twice before taking Zytiga, 15 and 17 years before taking it. The fourth afib event was four months after stopping Zytiga, Then after waiting six more months, I did the same thing, that caused afib, multiple times, and it didn’t cause afib. Whatever Zytiga did it was mostly gone, still need to take blood pressure medication however.

Just started ADT with ARI a month ago but have been a heart failure patient for years. I asked my cardiologist a similar question, "Does my cancer treatment require any additional cardiac monitoring?" Answer...new doctor, a cardio-oncologist. I met him last week and apparently, he and my urologic oncologist are buds.
Anyway, it is now my cardio-oncologists job to monitor my heart health during cancer treatment. Annual echo and office visit, EKG, and blood work (heart enzymes) every 3 months.

I'm running out of room in my address book for doctors.

I was diagnosed with a bicuspid aortic valve in 1999 at age 38. I took the advice of an older cardiologist and did watchful waiting

eventually my aneurysm, caused by the aortic insufficiency, which was caused by the bicuspid aortic valve, got too big to ignore. And there were signs of deteriorating left ventricle function so I had my valve replaced in February 2024, 25 years after initial diagnosis.

I went years and years and years without worrying about this and it does seem strange that suddenly I need the valve replaced after going on degarelix for a year ending in October 2023, right around the time my cardiologist told me things had changed now I needed the surgery that I had hope to put off for my entire life and had put off for 25 years.

I cannot prove correlation and perhaps my old cardiology tests would show steady growth in the aneurysm. But I don’t think that was the case. I remember big stretches of 5 to 8 years when I didn’t think twice about my heart because my numbers were steady, and I was as a symptomatic as can be.

Again, I can’t blame the degarelix for the sudden deterioration in my heart metrics that lead to my surgery. However, it is quite curious that this ailment that never entered my mind for 20+ years suddenly turned into you need this valve replaced right now.

Btw the valve surgery was 15 months after having a stage three tumor removed my small bowel and nine months before I had my prostate removed.

I guess I’ll never know if hormone treatment caused the deterioration in my aortic valve function, but the timing was curious and the impact on my life of having three major surgeries in 25 months wasn’t small.

In retrospect, I should’ve been seeing my cardiologist every three months while I was on androgen deprivation therapy

Best of luck to you. I never think about my heart surgery. I worry constantly about my prostate cancer, but my heart is functioning so well I’m not even aware that I had the surgery.

Was on Arbiterone 28 months/ prednisone too. Stopped it in January 2025. Had cardiac stress test/ eco gram two weeks ago. No A fib, no ischemia, passed the test. My case may be different than yours. I am on Eliquis/ beta blockers/ Amiodarone for my stent installation -95% blockage in 2024 Easter Sunday 2024.

Some episodes of tachycardia where my heart rate would spike to 180 for 10-15 seconds, 3-4 times a month.

You should get a holter monitor for at least 24 hours. It will track your heart and give the doctor an idea of what’s going on. I’ve worn one a couple of times when I felt my heart was just having too many skipped beats, or rapid beats, but not nearly what you’re having.

This is something you really should be seeing a cardiologist about.

I had my cardiologist switched me over to metoprolol when I had problems with my heart rate going to 120 just walking 20 or 30 feet. I had been on Coreg but talked to a cardiologist friend who mentioned using metoprolol to prevent afib if he felt it might be coming on.

I had an afib event where just standing up my pulse would be 175 or higher for three days. Spent all three days in the hospital, 3rd day they gave me metoprolol and within 30 minutes, my afib stopped, pulse went back to normal.

You need a doctor to tell you what what’s going on.

It has been 2 years now since I ended treatment, part of which was 2 shots Eligard and one of Firmagon. After receiving the shots, I had to have some other procedures done to continue treatment. I’m in the pre-op getting set up and ready, when the nurse gave me a last look over before, then her face goes white and she runs out to get some help. She looked at my EKG as saw the afib squabble. Procedure canceled, call the cardiologist and proceed to be admitted to the ER. Never had any issues before and all of a sudden afib. I had read a side effect was missing with the heart’s electrical signal. Naturally, I’m concerned and freaked out and I kept asking is this from the shots? I’m told over and over, no it’s not. Before all this I had a stress test, no problems, then I get some shots and bam, afib. Other than the extra squiggle, I haven’t experienced and symptoms. The solution, another prescription, I was put on Eliquis, twice a day. And it’s never been discussed by my doctors again. I really suspect that those damned shots did it. Another joyful side effect to have to deal with.

If you’re on hormone therapy (ADT) and have cardiac concerns, your choice of ADT might matter. Which ADT are you on?

Thanks Jeff, that's a good idea. I haven't had it happen (that I've noticed) since about a month after stopping ADT so just attributed it to an ADT side effect but maybe it isn't. I have to see a cardiologist at my cancer center soon so maybe will bump up the appointment.

I can't say unequivocally cause and relation, but...
I was on ADT for 18 months, Jan 17-May 18,
In 2021, I developed Afib, medication wouldn't control it, neither did a cardio conversion,
We wound up doing a cardio ablation, problem solved, no further incidents since.

Kevin