On May 19, Edmund Fitzgerald wrote:

The side effects of EBRT (was it actually IMRT?) might take a while to
manifest.

As for the "hormone series",  which I suspect is androgen deprivation
therapy (ADT), hot flashes (properly called flushes) are one of the many
possible side effects (SEs). The "doctor" (a urologist, perhaps?), if he
knows about them, should as a professional know what to do to alleviate
them. Or is he typically going to leave Ed to cope with them as best he can?

The SEs of ADT are well-known to competent medics. We patients must all
too often fend for ourselves in these matters, and there is no better
source of information than the Prostate Cancer Research Institute at
http://prostate-cancer.org/index.html
Search on Androgen Deprivation Syndrome (ADS).

Lastly, is Ed acquainted with the history of the SS Edmund Fitzgerald,
the largest ship on the Great Lakes, that sank with all 29 hands on
November 9, 1975? See, http://www.ssefo.com/

Regards,

Steve J

"I believe it is a mistake for many urologists to be
involved in the endocrine therapy of prostate cancer.  Let me state why.
Urologists are surgeons and many times surgeons rush to a treatment without
really understanding what they are doing.  The old joke in medical school
was that surgeons do everything and know nothing, that internists know
everything and do nothing, that psychiatrists know nothing and do nothing
and finally that pathologists know everything and do everything -- but it is
too late."
-- Stephen B. Strum, MD

On 19 May 2007, you wrote in alt.support.cancer.prostate:

Hot flushes are probably had by over 90% of the men on ADT. What type of
ADT (shots) were you given. I am on Lupron for about a year now and I have
had almost every side effect that Lupron can give me (unlucky me!)

Haven't had too much fatigue but occasionally I'll lie down in the
afternoon for a power nap of an hour or so ... the benefits of retirement!
I didn't have fatigue much from my 36 rad treatments either. The bowels are
another story hehe.

Maybe you might be one in that slim percentage that won't get the flushes
but it is early yet.

Russ

If you went through 40 treatments of RT without side effects, that is
remarkable.  All my side effects occurred during radiation and started
dissipating immediately thereafter.  I would say if you had none, then  you
will have none.

As to HT, I started getting hot flashes immediately.  I've been on the stuff
now since July 2003 and the hot flashes are now very mild and occasional.
However, I have gained a lot of weight and I think my joints hurt more due
to HT than to age.  My short term memory was just awful for awhile, but
having moved to a less stressful job seems to have coincidentally had a
positive effect on my memory.  I've lost almost all my hair on my arms,
chest, legs, and arm pits, but have more hair on my head -- go figure.  I do
not feel the fatigue as some here have experienced, but I walk 3-5 miles a
day, 3-5 days a week just to combat that.  I do have a harder time walking
up steps since I added Casodex to the Lupron regimen.

But, if  you have had no side effects, congratulations.

On May 19, 7:49 pm, edmund.fitzger...@illino.net wrote:

It takes a while for the Lupron to kick in,  maybe a month or two.
You'll know it when it happens.

Hope you had a full-up physical including blood chemistries.  That's
your baseline, you gotta know where you were to tell where you're
going.

The worse part for me was the getting foggy in the head.   I do
complex, software engineering and could tell that I wasn't running at
100%.

I hope the doc prepped you for the other side effect.  The radiation
will hammer your erections and the quality of your orgasms. Semen
production will drop off.

The fluid shut off is not as abrupt as with surgery but lush, wet,
rich, squirting orgasms buried deep in the foliage will likely be
history.   With Lupron and radiation, it's unlikely that there will be
enough firmness for that deep bonding experience.  A dose of Vitamin-V
should perk things up enough for penetration.

Vitamin-V, manual effort, and an active imagination will probably pay
off with a 2nd rate, better than nothing, orgasm.   Occasionally, it
could seem like old times so don't despair.

Look up the side effects on the web.  Essentially, it felt to me like
I aged 10 years in a couple months.

-kh keep pullin'

You should Google up Strum's Androgen Deprivation Syndrome. You'll
realize that your doctor omitted huge quantities of important
information and tests. Many PC patients have refused to continue hormone
therapy because of its side effects (SEs), and countless more have
suffered unnecessarily because they had SEs that went untreated. You are
extremely unlikely to escape them all, some are very serious, and all
can be treated with varying degrees of success.

I.P.

Thanks to all who responded to my question. Each of you provided
valuable insight into conditions that are likely to happen and some
means of dealing with them should they happen. I am very grateful to
have gotten this information. Again, thank you.