After first shot of Lupron

Just an update, found on other blogs/discussions for endometriosis, and per oncologist office, lupron can created havoc on the cycle. Some are ok some are not sooo good. My bleeding/spotting ended 5 days after my suppose last day. Now into January and so far no period but then I am also in radiation now. Could be my anxiety putting that off?…not sure. But I did notice that my anxiety level has increased this month. Dont like this feeling or the 3x "teenager" hormone fluctuations. Going to ask Oncologist on alternatives. In hindsight, if I could have a sense on how I am "feeling" right now, I would have chosen chemo or no lupron or any drugs to induce menopause.

Agreed. But I think it was done mid-cycle, that was why I still had my period in December. But will be asking my MO to take me off this drug. It has increased my anxiety level super high. And I think that the anxiety level is contributing to my BP issue. I dont get anxiety from someone just coming over the house or someone pining me at work, but I do now.

Just wrapping up on this thread. Spoke with my MO yesterday and told him I know the risks on not taking the lupron. The emotional roller coasters, and the anxiety were from the lack of estrogen so it wont matter what I take for ovarian suppression. The other option he offered was doing chemo which I said no to. I dont know how I would tolerate chemo, with young kids at home, dont think it is a good idea for them to see mom not in "super" mom state. But with the blood pressure meds, the BP has been in normalcy this past two weeks. Could be the lupron wearing off but anxiety is way less too. Next up, have to start tamoxifen.

Going to use this to document my Lupron journey. Hope this will help others whom are going to take it or think about taking it.

Its been over 5 months since my first shoot of Lupron in December 14, 2023 (slow release 3 month) and I still don't have my period. MO order an estradiol lab in April and I am at 11 (still in menopause). But this month of May, my hot flashes are stronger and more frequent than last month. Anxiety feels like it WANTS to take over again, but I think the acupuncture and therapy are helping to keep that at bay. But anxiety is reminding me often that it is still there nonetheless. Negative thoughts are less. Appetite still bad and my weight looks to have plateau, which is good news somewhat as I am not 'loosing' anymore. Working with nutritionist on how to 'pack' back on the pounds, need to add more calories to my food intake. So food is not that enjoyable but more so as a chore these days. I do hope the period is back soon as that is the start of me getting back to 'square one'. I need the mentality I had going into this to continue on this journey and fight.

Thank you Mods. I invite others whom have had Lupron to write their experiences here. I found from a lot of Endo boards on how they were feeling. I personally have no good experience while on this drug, which is still working in me. Others may not feel the same as there is no 'one size' fits all in terms of any drug therapy.

I am feeling "better" these days but that could be it is moving out of my system. However, base on what other chatter have been mentioning online, even if I have my period, it does not mean all side effects will go away right away. It could take a year or more and some have mentioned that they have permanent side effects that stayed regardless. I wish my MO have giving me more warning or that I did do more research on it before agreeing to taking it. It took from Jan to March to get myself off blood pressure using holistic means. That was triggered by the anxiety that was induced, and my cardiologist have put me down as situational hypotension. Some days that still happen and I need to use coping skills to calm myself down before I reach for a BP pill.

Now I am working on diet as I feel my weight lost was triggered by the anxiety as well due to too many youtube videos on what to eat and not to eat. I need to find the right balance on everything to continue until we have a real "cure" and "prevention" on cancer, not just breast but all cancer.

Thank you for adding to this thread salamandra. I have seen from other forums (colorectal and endo) that the monthly shoot of lupron causes less issues than the 3 month. I think if I have had the monthly instead of the 3 month, it may not be as bad as I have it now. But then again, this is not a one size fits all.

But just a thought, from online searches the monthly shoots takes about 6-8 wks to work out of your system from your last shoot. The 3 month, could be 6-8 months to work out of your system from your last shoot. The working out of your system is the ovarian suppression not all side effects, inclusive of hot flashes. Those could take months to years to work out depending on the individual.

As of today, I still have not had my period and anxiety is still prevalent as I had a trigger last week and ended up in the ER. I thought I was having a stroke and all CT scan and lab says I was normal with no issues. Just my 2 cents. I want this drug out of my system sooo bad…I want my life back…

Got new labs today to check on FSH and Estrodiol numbers and it looks like I have moved out of menopause. No idea when period is coming though, hopefully in 2 weeks. Last night had something that I have not had for a LONG LONG time, like since March, an anxiety attack that triggered elevated blood pressure. Not sure if that is from the surge of estrogen getting back to my body, but it was not good and resulted in me having bad sleep. Waking every 2 hours and my heart rate was in the 70s vs the usual 60s (according to apple watch). I hate this drug so much. So lucky my acupuncturist has an opening today to see me. I need that so bad.

Thanks Mods and I will next week when I see my MO. But it will most likely be the same thing, he would offer me anti-anxiety medication. I feel like that is what all doctors do, they offer you a "drug" to treat your issue. Then this "drug" cause more "issues" and then you go back and they do the same, more "drugs". Great example is this Lupron. See where it got me so far. I was not like this before this drug. Before this drug, I could handle a datacenter down, and it hosts various financial companies operations across the globe without so much as a change in my blood pressure. It has reduce me to this. I expect more of this until my body gets use to the estrogen again. If this becomes a permanent side effect…I guess I will need weekly acupuncture for the rest of my life.

I think I am at an "angry" phase as I see cancer is the leading cause of deaths worldwide, accounting over 9 million. Yet I see most big pharmaceutical companies pushing thru drug therapies instead of working and funding and fast tracking vaccines to prevent and "cure" this. Is greed really that necessary? There are ways to make money and still do good.

Thank you for adding here choosinghope. I can't give you opinions on this one as I am not a medical professional but to say "it's been one heck of a year" is an understatement for us both.😶

I do want to point out that my journey is on the 3.75 mg 3-month slow release not the monthly shoot. Do check out other blogs on endo, colorectal and ivf boards (like on reddit) to see what others have said about lupron. There are other ovarian suppression drugs other than lupron. Also remember, not everyone will have the same side effects. That is why all these drugs, some can tolerate better than others. I am just one of those that cant tolerate WELL. I just really hate it and what it did to me and still doing to me. I can only say I am lucky to be able to find some relief in acupuncture. After I saw my acupuncturist yesterday afternoon, I felt SOOO MUCH better. The fight/flight feeling subsided. Today I am more "normal" so far.

I am 47 and still had regular monthly cycles before this shoot. When my MO asked if I want chemo or ovarian suppression, he did say that chemo would most likely put me into menopause. I think I was starting perimenopause before the breast cancer as I started having trouble remembering things or multi-task. I did think about having my ovaries out but then HRT is another issue. There have been some mention of using Testosterone (heard Jane Fonda uses it…)..which is not proven or accepted in most instances. HRT of any form also increases issues like blood clots, stroke, heart..etc

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8025725/

https://www.breastcancer.org/research-news/20130928-8

Just had my MO appointment today. He wants me to start tamoxifen even at 5 mg. He does not understand my hesitancy. He feels that I should take another drug to manage my anxiety and just start tamoxifen. I told him that I am using acupuncture to manage the anxiety and I dont want a pill to do it. For one, there are other side effects, for other, the effect is not instantaneous. With acupuncture, I feel like I am getting a "custom" drug and a boost everytime I go to my sessions. The custom is base on how I have been from last time to the time of treatment.

Right now I am in a good state, really scared on adding in something to my body when I still dont have my menstrual cycle. MO not understanding why I want to wait until I have it. I want that to "prove" to myself that this drug, Lurpon, is really out of my system. To me, just because labs are saying I am no longer in menopause, it does not mean lupron is still not active. Just a mental thing with me. ARRR, so hating this drug. This is making me so not me. It could be the hormones talking as I do get emotional around my cycles.

I cant remember whom, but a member mentioned the oncology DX report could be selected with menopause or premenopause when ordered. I asked MO about it today, he said he was not aware of it and even if it was, the score and the predictors would not change. If anyone knows otherwise, please let me know.

From 12/14/23 to today, 6/30/24, almost 6.5 months, I FINALLY have my period. I am SOOOO HAPPY that I am on my way to ground zero. Reason I am not there is the side effects from lupron, like anxiety and brain fog, have not disappear with the appearance of the period. Base on other online forums, it will not until possible months later. I just hope I have NO permanent SE left over as there were mention of some of those. This has been one hell of a journey that I will not want to ever go thru again. I think I would like menopause to come naturally or someway would have been discovered to not have it and reduce/eliminate our risk by then. Yes wishful thinking, but maybe the preventative vaccine is right around the corner😁. One can hope.

The next step now is debating on tamoxifen. That has a slew of its own SE. It may be less than what I encountered when I took them while still having Lupron in me. That is a debate/decision that I will need to evaluate carefully. On the good side, unlike this Lupron shoot, it will take 2 wks of stopping tamoxifen for it to clear out of my body vs this 6.5 months or 3.5 month from March (when the orig lupron should have stopped working).

The prior posts here could see when my estrogen did start to come back (June 10 post), the dip in the luteal phase (june 20 post) and the end on Friday's (post on 6/28). So it took from April 11 to beginning of June to move from menopause to follicular phase.

Hot flash have been almost none noticeable. Anxiety still somewhere in the back. Emotions are a little more in check today. These period symptoms, I never had them before this shoot. I have had no periods symptoms prior to this shoot. No cramps, no "down sides" this sever, no anxiety whatsoever. Only way I know I was about to have my period was from the tracking apps. Lets see how the flow is on this first period post lupron and the upcoming weeks/month will be.

Day 5 (yesterday) period has left me. So that was normal in a way. Physical items like hot flashes/headache are almost gone. Sleep has been better, no more waking up every 3 hours or so or few times throughout the night. Mood still has anxiety (less) but now I am in grief and gloom. Think these were always in me, but other mood took precedence or it was suppressed really good (which I am good at). Now they are all on the surface and I am facing them now, whereas I most likely would have faced them at the beginning of all this. I am waiting on my next meet with my therapist and social worker to work thru this. I think once I get more menstruating cycles in and therapy, these could also subside.

I consider these as my side effects from this 3.75 mg 3 month slow release lupron shoot. Many other boards say that it could be months or years for them to work itself out. But this 6.5 months have been a roller coaster of a ride. I dont consider this as the end of this journey until I am back to 95% of the old me. Right now, I think I am at 73%, still got some ways to go.