Coming off ADT and side effects

User

Posted 15 Jan 2025 at 12:23

Taking Bicalutamide since March 2022. Last RT session December 2022. Only side effects of ADT were breast tissue growth with a lot of tenderness, some body hair loss and increase in pre existing IBS issues. Finished course of ADT in December 2024 and since then my moods seem to be fluctuating more than they did when I was taking it - far more anxious, emotional, tearful, foggy. Woke today full of anxiety.

Anyone else experienced similar ? Just my body/hormonal balance readjusting?

TIA

User

Posted 15 Jan 2025 at 17:47

You’re going through Puberty all over again? I’m not anxious, mind you that’s probably down the sertraline, but I would say I’m a bit more grumpy, the ‘Kevin’ syndrome,🤣🤣 People and ‘things’ annoy me more than they did whilst on Prostap but maybe I had just so much to deal with from side effects I just didn’t have energy to get angry? Of course the treatment basically turned me into a woman, so maybe I became a bit more tolerant?

good luck with your recovery, I’ m 9 months since my last poison jab and I can just begin to feel my libido returning a little.

Derek

User

Posted 15 Jan 2025 at 23:00

Aside from the clinical aspects of going through ADT I don't think there's enough attention to just how mentally huge it is to suddenly become a eunuch and then, after a couple of years [< or >] to quite rapidly experience the return of testosterone. Forget the cancer side of things for a moment. If we were offered the "life experience" of going through a change from man to woman and back over a couple of years we'd probably expect the experience to come with some sort of psychiatric guidance.

Have you had a testosterone level test yet Jed? Anxiety and emotional ups and downs seem to be part of the ADT process but it's hard to say where you are at the moment. The way you're feeling could be an indication of the return of testosterone or maybe, as I was suggesting above, the whole mental process of changing/losing/regaining your sexual identity is challenging your head? I suspect that second puberty is not quite as much fun as the first time around [though 1st time was so long ago my memory of it is probably inaccurate] and it can be a struggle.

Jules

User

Posted 31 Jan 2025 at 11:41

Yes, thanks. It's a rollercoaster and not one I expected really - or not in this way. I've only been off the Bicalutamide for about 6 or 7 weeks but I can see physical changes - breast tissue reducing so, libido coming back and ERs returning, hair and skin getting greasy. Quite grateful for all that *but* I already had M.E./CFS before PC. The Bicalutamide initially savaged my energy even more and post RT I was using a mobility scooter. That evened out and I was kind of OK (for me) but last few weeks my energy levels have fallen off a cliff. Had a hospital appointment yesterday (not PC stuff) - very quick and not stressful - and today I'm floored. There needs to be more discussion about all this I think. Doctor gave the impression you just stop taking ADT and return to normal but it's obviously not the case since lots of other people here struggle post ADT

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