Eligard shots: what are they?

The Eligard shot is leuprolide, Just like a Lupron shot. It is ADT and its purposes to drop your testosterone down as close as possible to zero. That starves the prostate cancer.

It also causes a lot of side effects, not everyone gets all of them But everyone gets some of them.

Due to their different mechanisms of action. ADT which includes Orgovyx, Firmagon, Lupron, Eligard, Prostap, Camcevi, Lucrin, Zoladex, Trelstar, Pamorelin, and Decapeptyl can cause numerous side effects. Actually due to a lack of testosterone.
Hot flashes
Fatigue
Muscle deterioration
Bone weakening
Brain fog
Depression
Weight gain
Difficulty in breathing

Not all of these side effects occur to everyone on the drugs. Most of them are just things you have to be aware of and circumvent. I walk on the track twice a day, 1 mile at least, to help prevent bone weakening, fatigue and muscle deterioration. I also go to the gym three days a week (usually) and spend an hour with all different types of weight exercises. One thing that happens is people get a beer belly from the muscle deterioration, I do a lot of sit-ups to offset that.

Some people get depression but it is not common. It is easily treatable, according to people that have reported it on here and on Online Meetings I have participated in. If he has that problem Come back and ask for help, Or see a psychiatrist about doing something to relieve the depression.

Some people get no hot flashes at all. Others only have a few hot flashes and they are very minor. I had severe hot flashes for the first year on Lupron. As a hot flash was hitting I would feel a lot of fatigue. After a year, my oncologist prescribed a depo-provera shot every three months and it really stopped those hot flashes on Lupron. There are other hormones that can do this, speak to your doctor.
I know one person that says eating tofu every day really controlled his hot flashes, another person in this forum said the same thing. Tofu does have properties similar to endocrine hormones but a lot weaker. Can’t hurt to try it. Seems they ate it daily.

Some people gain weight, I personally have not had that problem. I weigh myself every day and if I find I’ve gained a pound I stop eating lunch for a day, Or I just make a smaller salad.

As this graphic shows, radiation destroys the DNA strands in prostate cancer cells. Hormone therapy (such as Eligard) systemically lowers testosterone to starve cancer cells by keeping the androgen receptor inhibited or suppressed.

Radiation damage to cancer cells’ DNA can continue long after the radiotherapy itself has been completed. So by keeping the androgen receptors inhibited by hormone therapy, you can suppress the DNA repair mechanisms for months, and this is why hormone therapy is a very important component to kill prostate cancer cells.

@jeffmarc I just received my first injection. Those side effects were more concerning but you provided some good ideas to prepare for many of them. Thank you