How much have you read about it, here and in the many books and GOOD web
sites? How well are you tolerating the hot flashes? Other SEs? How's your
bone density? Willing to risk permanent SEs and increased (HT-INDUCED!) risk
of higher-grade recurence (at two years on HT there's already risk of
those)? How's your QOL now? Your PSA DT is apparently infinite (OK, well >
24 months, thus quite encouraging), so what's the doc's motivation for
inducing SEs for the rest of your life? Are you on meds to suppress the
flashes? To protect your bones?

I.P.

"Maurice" <oatesm@visuallink.com> wrote >

Maurice, ask for Eligard in lieu of Lupron. Eligard is relatively new and
very few people have hot flashes as a side effect.

First shot of Lupron (3mo) caused 5-6 hot flashes and nightly night sweats a
day. I have been on Eligard (3 mo) for 7 months and have yet to have a hot
flash. I average 2 night sweats a week.

Best of luck,

Mike

First, lemme welcome you to our club knowing that it was not your intent to
do so.  Second, lemme assert that since your doc has already spoken, I feel
uncomfortable providing a counter opinion.

Assuming your Gleason is 4+3=7 and your Stage is T2c, you are at the
borderline for decisions leaning away from surgery and towards radiation
and/or homone treatment.  However, once accomplished, I do not see anything
that would keep you on hormones.  At least not until you've determined there
is still something growing in you.

Unless your doc has evidence that cancer cells survived the radiation, I
would have him back off on the hormones and get quarterly PSA tests for a
couple of years.

I'm not a doctor and don't want to play one on the Internet, but I
personally have doubts about a hormones forever strategy.  Here's
why:

First, you may not need it.  It is possible that the therapy you had
has already defeated the cancer.  You have no way of knowing that
one way or the other because you've never seen what your PSA is
in the absence of Lupron.  If you take no more Lupron, then wait
to see what your PSA does, you may find that it stays relatively low
even without the Lupron.  With the Lupron gone it may well go up
some, but my radiation oncologist told me that as long as it stays
below 1.0, then there's nothing to worry about.

Second, even if the cancer is not under control, you may actually
benefit more from intermittent hormone therapy than from
continuous HT.  The idea is to wait until the PSA reaches some
threshold (don't know what that should be and I don't know if there
is any scientific consensus on it), then knock it back with HT, then
wait again for it to reach the threshold.  Some doctors believe that
intermittent HT provides longer survival as well as fewer side
effects as compared to continuous HT.

Hormones _do_ have side effects and hot flashes are not
necessarily the worst of them.  Bone weakening and osteoporosis
are possibilities.  Joint pain is a possibility.  Loss of libido is a
certainty.  Muscular weakness and tiredness are possibilities.
Some doctors seem to take the view that hormone therapy is
no big deal and it provides protection against growth of the disease.
But the side effects are real and the protection is limited.

   Alan