Posted 6/28/2017 10:10 PM (GMT -5)
I have been on ADT with Lupron for over 3 1/2 years, with the androgen receptor blocker Xtandi added for the past 7 months. I will be on ADT "for life", and am very grateful for it, for taking my original morphine level pain away, and helping to keep my disease in check for as long as it has. Overall, I have adjusted to living with the side effects of ADT, and consider them to be far better than the possible alternatives.
My hot flashes are comparable to what they were during the first year on Lupron. I still wake up 2-3 times during the night in a sweat, and sleep 100% of the time with a small fan blowing my way. I am very familiar with the sensations, and I just flap those covers off, and then put them back on again, knowing that in a few minutes it always passes. I am retired, so I can adjust my get-out-of-bed time, and usually do get some better REM sleep before I get up.
The initial 30 pounds of weight I gained peaked out at the 2 1/2 year mark, and I've been able to lose about 1/3 of it over the past year.
Overall energy level, peak energy, and sensitivity to overheating during physical activity continued in a slow decline, but seems stabilized now. The first year I was easily active. The second year I ran out of gas on a 6 mile hike at 7,000 feet in Yellowstone National Park. The third year I take slower daily walks, less than two miles, and still push my power mower to do my lawns, but do it slowly, and take 10 minute breaks, as needed, to ensure I feel completely rested or cooled down, before resuming any taxing activity. I do feel better on days I get some exercise than on days I don't.
Charles