Hi Bob,

I have a different type of cancer but have the hot flushes, bowel probs and tiredness plus rapid heartbeats and have been told I may have to have these injections. Just been having more tests to see whats happening inside and will get the results on the 24th March. I would also be interested in your questions. If I find out anything I will post again. Best of luck aemi.

Hello borderbob, 

We have some informtion about the side effects of hormone treatment for prostate cancer on our About Cancer wesite pages. You can find it by clicking on the link here. 

It might also be worth having a chat to one of our team of nurses about your side effects and how best you can manage these. You can call them Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm on 0808 800 4040 (free to call from a UK landline). 

Best wishes, 
Jenn
Cancer Chat moderator

Hi Bob,

About six and a half years ago I was also diagnosed with prostate cancer. My psa was 70 so had two years of hormone therapy (zolodex) and 37 radiotherapy treatments. With regard to you question about the side effects, I can tell you I suffered with all the ones you have listed and all the guys that were having treatment at the same time as me also experianced the same problems so yes I gues it is normal.

The guys told me dont expect any sympathy from your wife and they were so right. All I got was, "Well now you know what we women have to put up with". The hot flushes never gave me any warning; I could be sitting still and suddenly it was just like someone had thrown a cup of hot water over me. I finished the hormone treatment three and a half year ago but still get the flushes at night. You can get something from the doctors to help with this but I didnt bother.

The tiredness came mainly from the radiotherapy and eased of a few weeks after finishing r/t.

I did find the mood swings embarrasing as if I heard bad news or even on occaisions good news, I could suddenly find tears running down my face. I used to feign a big yawn as this makes my eyes water so I was able to hide some of this.

With regard to the bowel problems, I didnt suffer that much but this should ease of shortly.

Most men also suffer loss of libedo and erctile dysfunction as well.

Allthough the side effects are not nice, I looked at it as a small price to pay for the result I had for my psa eneded up right down at 0.01. I hope this give you some reasurance Bob and that you psa continues to stay low. Best wishes to you,Brian