Eligard - 1 mo. , 3 mo., 6 months: any difference in side effects?

Posted by stebro @stebro, Nov 22, 2022

I have read on another forum (Inspire) that the side effects of Lupron Depot are easier to take with the shorter durations. I'm scheduled for a six month injection of Eligard next week. Can anyone confirm what I've heard? Would a couple injections of Eligard 3 month (I'm assuming it's just like Lupron) provide fewer or less harsh side effects than the six month shot? I'm willing to make an extra trip to Rochester if it will have any significant improvement. Monthly would involve too much travel time.
Bless you all. Great forum!

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Just an FYI, and I’ve commented on this in previous posts, Mayo @florida appears to have changed from Lupron (leuprolide) to Eligard (leuprolide). I had been getting Lupron for the past 10 years and found it easy to tolerate, and it worked well for me. Lupron is given IM and in my opinion, not painful at all. Eligard, on the other hand is given sub Q, and is extremely painful on injection and for as much as an hour post injection. My understanding is that Lupron has been difficult to obtain currently, and that may be the reason why Mayo switched to Eligard. Just be aware of the discomfort you’re probably going to experience with Eligard as opposed to Lupron. I was getting every 3 month injections routinely.
Just as an aside, I just simply couldn’t tolerate the Eligard and decided at 82 years old to go ahead and have a bilateral orchiectomy so no more ADT shots. Yay!!

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@rxharleydude

Have you ever had a six month Eligard shot? Why did you choose three month injections?

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I've been on 6 mos dose of Lupron for 9 mos. and Abiraterone for 3mos .
I have enough HOT FLASHES to keep a room warm in the Yukon.
Don't Care.
PSA is down from 80 to 0.1 ng/ml . Looking to the future so I'm enduring the present.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYBODY

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@stebro

@rxharleydude

Have you ever had a six month Eligard shot? Why did you choose three month injections?

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No, but were I to have decided to stick with Eligard I would have certainly looked at a six month injection as opposed to three month. Getting the Lupron every three months was never an issue. The injection was “easy peasy”, and it was controlling my PSAs effectively, so we saw no need to change.

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I'm on 3 mos injections of Zolodex What is difference to Lupron or Eligard?

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@melcanada

I'm on 3 mos injections of Zolodex What is difference to Lupron or Eligard?

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got my answer Life on ADT Is there any difference between Lupron and Zoladex? The two most common drugs used for androgen deprivation therapy in North America are leuprolide, which is sold under the names of Lupron and Eligard, and goserelin, which is sold as Zoladex. Both drugs are synthetic hormones with similar molecular structure and biochemical functions.
Is there any difference between Lupron and ... - Life on ADT

http://www.lifeonadt.com/life-on-adt-blog/2018/10/29/is-there-a…

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@melcanada

I'm on 3 mos injections of Zolodex What is difference to Lupron or Eligard?

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Therapeutically they are essentially the same. Chemically and/or structurally there are slight differences. The supply of Lupron has been often on in recent months and sometimes it’s just not readily available so options like Eligard
and Zoladex are great.

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@rxharleydude

Therapeutically they are essentially the same. Chemically and/or structurally there are slight differences. The supply of Lupron has been often on in recent months and sometimes it’s just not readily available so options like Eligard
and Zoladex are great.

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Correction! Eligard and Lupron are generic equivalents, that is the same drug generically. Zoladex is structurally or generically different, but does work the same

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@spryguy

I've been on 6 mos dose of Lupron for 9 mos. and Abiraterone for 3mos .
I have enough HOT FLASHES to keep a room warm in the Yukon.
Don't Care.
PSA is down from 80 to 0.1 ng/ml . Looking to the future so I'm enduring the present.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYBODY

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Yeah! Don’t you just love those hot flashes! I tried counting them one day, gave up, just too many to count!

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Yes, Eligard is generically the same as Lupron, but let me warn you, Eligard is given subcutaneously and not IM like Lupron. In my opinion, it was an extremely uncomfortable, painful injection, so you may want to stick with the six month shot. I have never used six month injections in the 11 years I’ve been treated so can’t comment on the greater frequency of side effects with the six month injection.

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