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How long for Lupron to wear off?

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Posted 12/27/2015 8:31 AM (GMT -5)
I get my last Lupron shot tommorow. How long for it to wear off so testosterone comes back, hot flashes stop and fatigue eases up?

Thanks
Tom
Posted 12/27/2015 9:27 AM (GMT -5)
I had a six month's injection and according to my RO, I should be free from side effects in about a year after the injection (for me it will be mid-summer.)
Posted 12/27/2015 10:55 AM (GMT -5)
My urologist says a half-life of six months, so it takes most men 12-18 months to get back to normal, though the side effects like hot flashes begin diminishing soon after the time frame of the last shot. The recovery appears to take longer based on age and the length of time you took the drug. The older and longer the therapy, the longer it takes to recover.
Posted 12/27/2015 11:18 AM (GMT -5)
My experience is similar to JNF's. That said, my testosterone has still never made it back to the normal range. But it's close enough that I can deal with it.
Posted 12/27/2015 11:59 AM (GMT -5)
As JNF said -

But now I am on them forever, so no longer a question ...
mad
Posted 12/27/2015 11:59 AM (GMT -5)
I had a 6 month shot almost exactly a year ago (Merry Christmas). T-level has obstinately stayed around 25 ever since. Still have the hot flashes, fatigue, poor concentration & motivation, etc. Not angry or depressed, but real unhappy.
Posted 12/27/2015 11:32 PM (GMT -5)
With a 3 year sentence on this devil spit, I've looked into the recovery quite a bit. The stats are not as encouraging as one might hope.

A while back, JNF had thread about this question:
www.healingwell.com/community/default.aspx?f=35&m=3394220

In that thread, I referenced a couple others about halfway down. This is a summary from one article I linked in there.

Redwing57 said...

Thread from last October: www.healingwell.com/community/default.aspx?f=35&m=3213559
This paragraph is in an article I linked in that thread:
medicalxpress.com/news/2014-09-shorter-adt-high-risk-prostate-cancer.html
With a median follow-up time of 84 months, 55.7 percent (161) patients in the 18-month ADT group recovered normal testosterone levels. In comparison, 44.9 percent (122) patients of the 36-month ADT group recovered normal testosterone levels. Additionally, median time to testosterone recovery was shorter (47.2 months; range 40.1 – 54.3 months), in the 18-month ADT group, compared to the 36-month ADT group (73.2 months, range 58.3 – 88.2 months.

It bummed JNF out (sorry!!), and me too. The recovery periods are sobering. The MEDIAN for the 36 month group to recover "normal" T levels is just over 6 YEARS. Holy crap. This is a cruel disease, with frankly inhuman treatments!

[Edit: to be clear, this article doesn't reference shorter-term ADT, like 6 months. But the point is still to be aware that testosterone recovery requires patience.]
Posted 12/28/2015 9:16 AM (GMT -5)
Good info. I get better answers on here then I do from the doctors. Lol. I get my fourth and last 3 month shot today. So I guess the half life of a 3 month shot is 3 months?

Thanks
Tom
Posted 12/28/2015 11:02 AM (GMT -5)
Tom, I'm not sure, but I understood that the 6 month half life isn't affected by the duration of the shot. I have understood that all shot durations had the same six month half life of the drug losing its effectiveness. Hopefully someone else can clarify.
Posted 12/28/2015 3:11 PM (GMT -5)
As I understand things;
  • You received three shots each intended to last three months = total of 9 months.
  • You are 62 years old.
  • Your most recent shot (three months ago) should be wearing off about now.

So you are fairly young and you weren't on the damñable stuff that long. There are no guarantees and there are about as many "rules of thumb" for this as there are thumbs (most experts have more than one). I'll go with the rule that is popular with bodybuilders and steroids -- it will take you as long to recover as you were using... and maybe add a few months for good measure.

... let's see...

... I think you should expect the hot flashes to be gone in four months and you should be pretty much back to normal for Christmas next year. Most guys do recover -- mostly -- after nine months of ADT. It almost always takes longer than they want it to.
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