Lupron Depot: Worth the Side Effects?
March 12, 2009 by Peggy Rowland
Filed under Women's Health
Lupron Depot is one of the few drugs that will cause your doc to say, “You will have side effects.”
Lupron is prescribed for women in cases of severe endometriosis (often referred to as endo), fibroids and sometimes before fertility treatments. For men, it’s used to treat prostate cancer, but I’m not covering that use in this post.
The medicine is given via an injection by a nurse once a month for six months. I took three injections of Lupron for severe endo several years ago.
If you’re thinking of taking Lupron for endometriosis or another reproductive problem, it’s important to realize that Lupron is not a cure. It’s a treatment, and if you have severe endometriosis, your symptoms may possibly come back quickly after treatment. Those with mild endometriosis may have longer lasting benefits.
I won’t get into all the technical ways that Lupron works. (This subject is complicated enough already!) Simply, it throws you into a very sudden state of menopause. Women who go through menopause naturally do so gradually. Lupron is a shocking experience, to say the least.
You can read more about Lupron’s side effects at WebMD or Mayo Clinic. (The Lupron Depot site is temporarily unavailable.)
In my next post, I explain all the side effects I experienced.
(This information is intended for educational purposes only. It does not substitute for medical advice from a professional.)
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My Lupron Depot experience was awful, but in a very different way… I am currently 23 years of age, I had to have had endometriosis since high school. I also had re-occuring cysts on my ovaries. My freshman year in high school, I got my first cyst, so they put me on birth control, and then when it came time to take the non active pills so I could have a period, during the time I was on my period I was developing a cyst so they had to put me on back to back birth control so I wouldnt have a period. No period, no cysts. I was always in constant pain and my flows were so heavy. The most embarrassing part was leaking several times on several incidents and unfortunately I was not the one to notice, it was fellow students who did. Anyway, in 2005 they finally did a lap. and that’s when they found endometriosis. The doctor suggested Lupron Depot as my treatment. Some people need the treatment for up to a year but I only needed it for six months. The experience was interesting. The depot throws you into straight menapause. It is important to know that the number one side affect of the lupron depot would be pain. It was explained to me that this is because the shot is dissolving the problem of endometriosis. I did feel a lot of pain and probably more than most. I assumed that all pain was from the shot. I also had all of the symptoms. Hot flashes, night sweats, serious mood swings and even fluid retention the fluid retention was bad enough to where I had to take medication for it. Now the next thing I am about to say might worry you, but as you read further I doubt you will be affected by this symptom if you do take the Depot- I had serious weight gain. But I thought that was just the menapause part. Again, keep in mind I was only about 21 or 20 at the time this happened. For the most part I just dealt with it, I thought to myself, “Jamie, it is only 6 months this could seriously change things for the better” and I just thought about all I had been through and how much I didn’t want to go through it anymore. There was a time where I was in never ending pain and ended up bleeding for 23 days straight, which was what made them do the lap to begin with. When it was finally over, my body was trying to get back to normal and everything was returning to normal, except the pain I had felt all throughout the treatment got more intense and it turned into the worst pain I had ever felt in my life. So I went to the ER they did a scan and found I had a cyst on my left ovary. For me, that was normal, so they sent me home but told me to follow up with my OBGYN, which of course I was going to do anyway because I felt I shouldnt have been in so much pain so soon and I shouldnt have had a cyst that early after stopping the depot, so I go. I tell him whats going on and he looked at my scans and said “if you are in that much pain, i think we should admit you to the hospital, send you straight there from here and go in first thing in the morning to see whats going on” oh I agreed because I felt like I was going to die. So the next morning as planned they go in, except when I came out, I had a C-section scar, and the doctor approached me to tell me that the Cyst on my ovary was not as small as they thought. It appeared to only be 2cm on the scan but it was actually the size of a grapefruit. It was so heavy that it had started twisting and cut all blood circulation and overall circulation to my left ovary off and when they went in, my ovary was dead. They had to remove my left ovary and fallopian tube. However, he did have good news, he was able to tell me that everything else looked pretty, my endomatriosis was completely gone. But in theory what we think happened is that, when I stopped the birth control getting ready for the lupron depot, I developed a cyst and normally my cysts are functioning ones so they rupture, but because of the shot and what it does, even though everything was trying to work, it didn’t causing the cyst to stay and grow. After is was removed, I instantly lost 20 pounds and over the course of three weeks my weight dropped drastically. It turns out my body was just swollen. So finally, after all is said and done and I am recovered, it was time to start my period. For the first time in my life, my period surprised me. Can you believe no pain at all? Or the heavy bleeding? It is amazing how much endometriosis affects you. That six months of the shot and the loss of an ovary and fallopian tube was so worth it. For a while, every time I had my period, I swear, had I been sexually active at the time, I probably would have thought I was pregnant. To me it was spotting, but apparently my version of spotting is a normal menstrual flow, go figure. So all in all, if you can relate to my story then this would be my advice: using the Lupron depot, although it comes with nasty side affects, in the end, it will be the best thing you ever did. The side affects are worth it. If you have a cyst issue like I do, then you need to be more cautious. I would still get the shot but arrange it so that you have one ultrasound a month to make sure you have no cysts and if you do then they can monitor it so you dont end up losing stuff like I did. Had I had an ultrasound once a month, I would have never ended up with a torsion. Ultrasound machines can even check the circ. to your ovary so it will be easy to monitor if you take the necessary actions. Whatever you may decide and whatever treatment you feel is best for you, I really wish you the best of luck. I can identify what you are going through and its a horrible thing to have but stay positive and make sure you have a doctor who knows what they are doing who you can trust completely! Take care friends.
Hi Jamie. Thanks for sharing your story. How long have you been off of Lupron treatment?