Insomnia after hormone therapy for prostate cancer

I'm undergoing what appears to be successful treatment for prostate cancer. Had radiotherapy last December and now in the middle of extended hormone therapy. Side effects mercifully few but I find difficulty sleeping. Reading around, it seems that the options offered are sleeping tablets (not keen on that) or meditation. Has anyone else experienced this insomnia and/or have any advice?

  • Hello Buccaneer, 

    Good luck with your prostate cancer treatment - I hope treatment will be a success and I am glad the side effects haven't been too troublesome. Hormone therapy for prostate cancer affects your levels of hormones which can cause different symptoms and our page on living with the effects of hormone therapy for prostate cancer describes how this might affect you and how to cope with changes in the levels of hormones. As mentioned on our website, problems with sleeping (insomnia) do occur as a result of a change in the levels of sex hormones in your body and you will find on this page a list of tips to help with sleep as well as the different types of treatment that might be available to you. It explains that "hormone therapy can cause side effects such as hot flushes and anxiety and that this can make it difficult to sleep". It might be worth getting in touch with your GP about this to see what they can offer - if you are not keen on medication, I am sure they will be able to give you some suggestions such as meditation or relaxation techniques that could be helpful to you. 

    Feel free also to give our cancer nurses a call on this free number 0808 800 4040 - their line is open Monday to Friday from 9am to 5pm and they will be very happy to give you further guidance on this. 

    I hope that you will hear from other members who have experienced insomnia following hormone therapy treatment for prostate cancer. I hope you won't mind but to make your post more visible and attract relevant replies, I have slightly changed your title. I also had a look at past threads in our forum on the subject and found another member  who posted this thread only a few weeks ago and is in exactly the same position as you and is having trouble sleeping. Don't hesitate to respond if you wish and I hope you will be able to support one another and exchange good tips to help you fall asleep as sleep deprivation can really affect your physical and emotional wellbeing. 

    I will now let our members who have experienced insomnia after hormone therapy come and say hello and share their experiences with you. Hopefully you will find a way soon to tackle and resolve this issue. 

    Best wishes, 

    Lucie, Cancer Chat Moderator