Lupron and sleep

I had my first lupron injection last Thursday, Oct 14. Since then, I have been unable to go to sleep easily. (I have had occasional difficulty staying asleep for the past several years, waking up after just a couple of hours.) Since the lupron, I cannot even get to sleep without taking something such as benadryl+tylenol+red wine. Another interesting thing is that even though I know I'm not getting as much sleep as I should, I'm not tired during the day. I feel very energized all day long. (and it seems half the night as well.)

I was wondering if this is a common side effect of lupron that others may have experienced, or, possibly I have some lupron anxiety going on. (Most of you know how much I agonized over that decision for the last three months, since I posted a jillion questions about it...lol)

Anyway, I wanted to toss this out on the forum to see if anyone else has had a similar experience.

Thanks guys, I appreciate you fellows. You guys make a tremendous difference in the lives of people you touch....and you touch more lives than you know of.

k

I had the same issue and was prescribed ambien. It did make me sleep great but man is that a wicked sleep med. My family told me I would get up at night watch TV send emails and I never remembered a thing. I stayed on sleep meds until I was off Lupron.

peace to you
Dale

I never had a sleep problem on Lupron. Outside of total loss of sexual desire & function, many hot flashes & depression, Lupron was just lovely!

Don K.

K -- being active really helps with the side effects, which you should start feeling in an other week or so.  i take 20 mg of celexa for side effects and i only get pretty minor hot flashes and no depression.  i have gained 20 lbs tho and bloating and gas are problems but really not that terrible..

ed

 

kbota,
I did have multiple side effects with the hormone therapy, including sleep deprivation, but I got most of them under control including the sleep issues. I asked for a sleep aid and 15mg of Temazepam nailed it. I received a single prescription of 30 capsules and I took them only occasionally when needed until it expired by time. I did have periodic sleeping deprivation "events" but they were rare. All in all, I'm past that stage of therapy and things are going quite well.

It get's better my friend. Hang in there...

Tony

I did say that Julios, but I left out important facts. My apologies. My uro doc is planning on lupron shots every four months for the next two years, but then it takes another 1 to 1.5 years for the testosterone levels to return...

So my 3 year comment was referring to the total influence period. Had my PCa not been capsule confined, then he was planning on three years.

I do believe that the last few days, I have been under the influence of a testosterone flare. (Today is one week since first lupron injection.) I can't remember "wanting" my wife as much as the last few days....and my energy levels are off the chart....

Until dinner a few minutes ago, I had one meal today, which was a small bowl of breakfast cereal. I've been building a 16' x 32' deck on the back of our new home. It's fairly labor intensive, and I've been going at it almost non stop all day, and only stopped working around 7:00pm when our daughter came for a visit. Now, I'm not complaining at all. I rather enjoy this. I'm just fearful of when the T levels drop like a rock. It may get ugly.

k

I had my first Lupron injection in August 2009 and have been on it since then. From the time I began taking Lupron I had a lot of trouble sleeping. Ambien worked ok but none of the docs would give me more than a two week or month supply of the drug. Then a couple of months ago I was diagnosed with cervical stenosis, which is a narrowing of the spinal cord channel due to degenerative arthritis. In my case the channel has narrowed down to 0.7 mm and an operation is in the near future. However, to combat the muscle spasm that result from pinching of the spinal cord my physician gave me a prescription of a muscle relaxer called Tizanidine, and it is very, very effective at putting me to sleep.

Would also add that a testosterone inhibitor like Lupron has many other side effects that need to be countered, including bone density loss and general physical weakening. In spite of the fact that I exercise quite a bit there is no question but that I have much less strength and endurance than before I began taking Lupron. I am in China right now and just spent a week hiking up and down the steep hills of Huangshan Mountain, also called the Yellow Mountains. I found the activity here this year was much more fatiguing than on a similar trip I made to Huangshan a couple of years ago before I began taking Lupron. Some of this may be fatigue from being two years older but I feel that most of the fatigue is due to the effects of Lupron.

Sancarlos

compiler said...
I've never been on steroids but it sounds just like that (from what I've read), although you are not on steroids...are you?Mel

Mel, I have also never been on steroids, except for a short dose ten years ago, for a bad sinus infection. And I'm not on steroids now.

I'm not sure what's going on, but I'm paying close attention. I've spent all day today working outside, and loving every minute of it.

Maybe it's just this beautiful weather we've been having. 60 deg in the morning, 80 in the afternoon, with a gentle breeze and low humidity, (for a change) That by itself is worth getting excited about.

Carlos; I'll bet you are having the time of your life in China. I would love to go there someday. Be careful, but enjoy yourself.

k