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Hormone Therapy Fatigue

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User

Posted 15 Aug 2024 at 19:52

I'm just completing an investigation into the biochemistry of Fatigue seemingly affecting those having hormone treatment.l have not seen any detailed analysis of this awful side effect.Nor any substantive suggestions for it's elimination. I'm a Biological Researcher specialising in PCa Cellular and Biological development of PCa cells. My most relevant qualification is an MSC in Molecular and Cellular Biology of Prostate Cancer. I'm also a PCa patient with The Christie Hospital in Manchester currently having intermittent hormone treatment. Most studies attribute the fatigue to very low testosterone levels eg at .7 created by Androgen Blockade. Muscle mass or lack of it is blamed for the fatigue with a cure offered to engage in resistance exercise. My study shows that this is too simple an explanation and other processes are involved eg the Mitochondria.The average loss of muscle during hormone treatment is about 60 per cent so why does almost half remain . Also a woman has a testosterone level upward of 0.7 and she can have normal muscle mass. By a process of deduction one can establish that hormone treatment and massive testosterone loss is implicated with the Fatigue because when hormone treatment is discontinued the fatigue generally lifts. The argument that it takes months for the hormone treatment to wash out it's more like a couple of days as Leuprolide Acetate, the common chemical in hormone treatment has a half life of just 9.5 hours that's less than a day to be eliminated. It's the lack of increase in testosterone that's the problem which rarely if ever returns to normal. The problem is that few Trusts use testosterone levels tests just relying on PSA figures. This causes sexual disfunction with low testosterone levels as normal testosterone reacts with nitric oxide to facilitate erection and increased libido. When the body is incapable of production of testosterone it eventually stops.. The truth is patients just accept this as the price of a cure and are usually elderly with other age related problems.

User

Posted 16 Aug 2024 at 01:07

Originally Posted by: Online Community Member

The truth is patients just accept this as the price of a cure and are usually elderly with other age related problems.

You raise an issue that does get mentioned here occasionally but while the solution for those who've completed HT could be testosterone replacement therapy, the problem is not so much patients accepting life without testosterone as doctors being reticent to prescribe TRT because of fears that it might lead to recurrence. As to whether TRT does lead to recurrence, the jury still seems to be out, though studies that are in progress now haven't come up with negative outcomes, yet. There's a similar problem for women in that hormone therapy is often prescribed for getting through menopause but it's usually for a limited period only. There might be a re-think happening on that too.

The loss of testosterone is in a sense feminsing for men and many of the changes that happen are as though their bodies are preparing for pregnancy. Connective tissue weakens, hips widen, body decides muscular development will get second priority to putting on a bit of weight.

You mention T levels in women but it's also true that menopause causes women to gain weight and lose muscle.

Yes, the fatigue is shocking but the levels seem to vary between different people. Some go through HT and hardly notice it while others find it seriously debilitating.

Care to share your own PCa details with us?

Jules

Edited by member 16 Aug 2024 at 04:20 | Reason: Not specified

User

Posted 16 Aug 2024 at 10:40

Hi Top Kat,

I have been on hormone therapy since early 2022 and have experienced fatigue and muscle weakness.

I don’t have any medical training and I’m not a dietitian but I have found that taking creatinine has made a significant difference to my energy levels, I don’t have to go to bed in the afternoon anymore.

However, I’m not sure that it’s safe to take, so if anyone can give any information and advice, I would appreciate it.

Edited by member 16 Aug 2024 at 10:41 | Reason: Missed a word out

User

Posted 16 Aug 2024 at 14:34

ADT injections are a brutal treatment they use Zoladex Lupron etc on women too, many of whom say their lives have never returned to normal one young woman was given it in UK for endometriosis she then had a baby which has multiple deformaties due to the injection

But Big Pharma wants these brutal ADT injections to be taken without question and people trust Drs advising it

Men could be castrated by estrogen or phytoestrogens in fact they used to be until Big Pharma insisted on ADT injections

By the same principle women could be treated with androgens or phytoandrogens for breast and womb cancer

Big pharma dont like us knowing about hormones bc hormones are key - they want to treat hormonal problems with drugs instead of hormones

Edited by member 16 Aug 2024 at 18:58 | Reason: Add more info

User

Posted 16 Aug 2024 at 23:10

Originally Posted by: Online Community Member

The average loss of muscle during hormone treatment is about 60 per cent so why does almost half remain

Having given the OP the benefit of the doubt, I have to say that this thread is really rather odd. The extract above being fairly typical. The question posed seems to be "why doesn't hormone therapy remove all muscle mass?" Umm, well if that happened we'd be dead.

The argument about Leuprolide acetate having a half life of 9 hrs is in contradiction to its effects lasting for up to three months. What does seem to hold true is that it takes roughly as long for testosterone production to return as the period for which the HT was given. Following on from that, a study I quoted here recently shows that for nearly 50% of men treated with HT, there is no natural recovery of testosterone production but just as women survive menopause and re-adjust to live with changed levels of hormones, the same is possible for men.

As to the fatigue, yes, from personal experience I agree that it's fair to say that significant fatigue corresponds with the active period of HT. Post HT without testosterone recovery, the HT fatigue goes but men are left with lower muscle mass and the consequences of that. Top Kats' reference to mitochondria goes nowhere, so I'm left wondering what's the point of the thread?

Jules

User

Posted 17 Aug 2024 at 15:11

Btw - testosterone doesnt cause prostate cancer - Dihydrotestosterone ( DHT ) does

Approx 10% of mens testosterone is converted into DHT by an enzyme called 5 alpha reductase as men get older testosterone declines and DHT rises

So why arent 5alphareductase inhibitors used more often to treat prostate cancer ?

Here is a link to a list of 5alphareductase inhibitors - including herbal and dietary sources

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_5%CE%B1-reductase_inhibitors

Edited by member 17 Aug 2024 at 18:13 | Reason: Add more info

User

Posted 18 Aug 2024 at 12:15

What is REALLY needed here is an in-depth study of WHY some menu get off lightly with side effects and others have a terrible time whilst on HT. I never suffered too badly from fatigue and yet I managed to blag my way into getting a testosterone test before my last HT jab…it was undetectable.

I really don’t think there is enough support going through what for some is an awful treatment. Yes, it does the job but it really can have a serious effect on your QOL, and the thought that some day I might end on it for life is VERY scary!

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