Post hormone therapy

[ramsaybob]

OK I had the seeds (iodine), no big deal, and the hormone shots. How long after the last shot before the hot flashes go away? Hot flashes through the summer are getting old.

[shoxx]

Time will heal... My husband has done intermittent hormone therapy with a year between shots and he says his hot flashes last about 3 more months.. yours should be better soon.

[tumbleweed]

Did you have the homone shots after the seeds? If so why? I thought the hormone treatment was intended to shrink the prostate to an acceptable size before the seeding?

[ramsaybob]

It is supposed to shrink the prostrate but all so kills off any stray testosterone that is generated outside of the prostrate. The cancer feeds on testosterone, so, with the seeds, it's a double hit

[IADT3since2000]

Originally Posted by ramsaybob

OK I had the seeds (iodine), no big deal, and the hormone shots. How long after the last shot before the hot flashes go away? Hot flashes through the summer are getting old.

I'm a newbie, and by this time you may no longer have flashes, but I thought I'd chime in for the record as a veteran of nearly eight years of intermittent triple blockade therapy.

My experience pretty much matches that of SHOXX's husband: "Time will heal... My husband has done intermittent hormone therapy with a year between shots and he says his hot flashes last about 3 more months.. yours should be better soon."

I have gone off full therapy twice now, including off the LHRH agonist drug (Lupron for me) that causes the flashes. The first time I was on the drug for 31 months, then off for 34 months. The second time I was on for 19 months, and I have been off therapy for 11 months at this point and do not anticipate going back on for at least a few more months.

Both times I substantially recovered from the flashes, which had been moderate to mild (always fairly tolerable), in about three months, matching substantial recovery of testosterone to the normal range. Both times the flashes had completely disappeared by about the six month point.

My understanding is that men usually recover from flashes faster if they were on triple blockade and are continuing either finasteride or Avodart during the off-therapy maintenance period. This does appear to depend in part on how long the patient was on blockade, and on the patient's age. The longer on blockade and the older the patient, particularly over 70 and over two years on blockade, the longer the recovery from flashes and recovery of normal testosterone, with a few patients not recovering. I'm saying this based on what I've experienced, read, and heard as a survivor with no enrolled medical education.

Jim