More Some Side Effects of Prostate Radiation that Oncologists Kind of Tell you About; or, Welcome to the Land of Lupron (Pt I)
Edward Munch.
More Some Side Effects of Prostate Radiation that Oncologists Kind of Tell you About; or, Welcome to the Land of Lupron (Pt I)
Now for the potential side effects of hormone ADT therapy, the polite way of not saying Androgen Deprivation Therapy, emphasis on the word “deprivation” the lack or denial of something considered to be a necessity, like sex. Once again, I was informed that they could include “but not be limited to” hot flashes, fatigue, weight gain, decreased libido, gynecomastia, CVD in those with a history, osteoporosis, dysuria and liver enzyme elevation not to mention the usual suspects of low libido, ED and the possible curse of penile atrophy. You can choose which of these side effects might be less appealing than the others, but this is the soup du jour. Of course, it was implied that I would know what dysuria, CVD, gynecomastia and liver enzyme elevation actually meant without referring to one’s handy Physician’s Desk Reference, as if everyone has a handy PDR and knew how to read it, but what’s a cancer-stricken fella supposed to do? I was also informed specifically about Lupron, seemingly the Cadillac of ADTs. For those of you who don’t know much about Lupron, I’ll say a few words. Lupron is an injection, taken in the butt cheek, which is supposed to last at least three, maybe four months, and which “commands” your testosterone to “shut down.” That’s the polite way of putting it. Actually, by shutting down your testosterone (which kills cancer cells) you’re being “chemically castrated” (in the good old days, they actually cut them off), but when the testosterone shuts down lots of other things shut down in one’s body. The reason oncologists want the testosterone to shut down is because it excites the cancer cells to reproduce and one doesn’t want that to happen because there’s nothing worse than having an orgy of horny cancer cells fucking out of control. So, the last fucking thing you want to take is something like Eugenix. More on Lupron in the next posting.