Hormone Treatment

Hello Ann

Sadly it's a side effect of Hormone Therapy and like most side effects no one tells you about it at the time you start the medication. The medical term is "gynaecomastia" and as far as I am aware the only "cure" may well be surgery. I would suggest he asks his GP for an appointment as I may be wrong.

At the start of my journey I was offered "Tamoxifen" to stop my moobs growing, however as I have plenty of other medication on the go and the Tamoxifen comes with other side effects i decided against it - wrong probably as i have a cracking pair of 38DD's . I have also piled on the weight in the 3 years even though my dog walks have been longer and longer.

I know for some men mentally is not good and I would be having a word with his GP. For me it was my choice not to take anything, however life is good and I am fine with the "new look me".

I do hope the above helps and he can get sorted.

Best wishes - Brian.

Thank you for your reply.

O/H also goes for walks and does some elastic band excercises due to muscle loss which is know to aid weight gain.

On his next injection we will raise some questions regards his boobs!

May I ask if they have started to settle down a bit since finishing HT or will you be going bra hunting!

Thanks Ann33

Hello Ann

Thanks for your post. It's hard on Hormone Therapy, you know you need to keep fit but fatigue's there as well so it's a balancing act.

I am the type who can have a laugh, at Christmas we were playing Charades with all the family, I can't remember why but one I was doing I whipped my T- Shirt off  for the game to come to a halt - my 38DD's were causing such amusement as they went their separate ways . 

I know I am stuck with them for life now and i am content with the "unfettered" look although out with two of my daughters in "Pretty Little Thing" they did suggest a couple of "upper deck flopper stoppers" that would fit - cheeky sods!!

Life goes on - as Mrs Millibob say - "at least you are still here".

Best wishes - Brian.

Hello Brian

Unfortunately there is always a trade off with treating C and I know we should be grateful that the good part is to beat the bugger however there is always some bad parts that come with that and you want to swear & shout back at PC for doing this to you but our aim to to have the upper hand.

O/H also doesn't fancy more side effects from meds, just wished that we had been more informed at the beginning as he may have been considered for zapping with some RT to nip it in the boob (so to speak !)

Thanks again and for the humour."You have to laugh or your cry!" is a good attitude to have.

Hello Ann (Ann33) 

My cancer diagnosis came as a shock - no signs at all, and it took me a couple of months to accept I had it - 1 in 8 men get Prostate Cancer, not me - how wrong I was.

I started to enjoy life again and thought this bugger isn't going to get the better of me so just accepted I had it and carried on as normal.

I've done a couple of meetings about Prostate Cancer and I have a couple of stories that are funny (not at the time) but unprintable and these get the meeting off to a good start and folk relax. I did a guest blog a couple of months ago and just in case you missed it - here's the link:

 ‘Cancer can’t take my sense of humour’- Brian's story 

There will be a part 2 later this year.

I am working outside the Community on a project to try and ensure more people are better informed at diagnosis - I didn't realise how much work was involved!!

Keep on keeping on, you are both doing great.

Best wishes - Brian.

I am on Hormone Therapy but have not developed "moobs".

Perhaps I am lucky, but I have a good friend who regards it as a waste.

She had a double mastectomy to defeat breast cancer, and was looking to give me all her bras.

Thankfully, I have not (yet) had to take her up on it. I don't do lacy.....

Weird - must be the heat affecting me today.

You mentioning not doing lacy suddenly made me realise you no longer see adverts for Cross your Heart!

Now you mention it......

Hi  Ann33 . It's nearly four years since my last Prostap injection and I still have the Moobs which developed in the first eighteen months of treatment. I was up to 86kg at the end of HT but that's back down to 79kg now.

One thing you probably won't be told by the medical professionals is the likelihood of him developing Type 2 diabetes from the HT. My HbA1c had risen to 58 by the time I finished three years of Prostap but has dropped back to 42 for the last two years, so it is reversible. Just be careful with with the level of sugar and carbs intake.

Hi Seamus47

Thank you for the added info about your side effects experience. Very little info was given about RT/HT side effects when the decision  was made that extra adjuvant treatment following surgery was necessary.

We hope that oncology follow up in late June will enable us to get answers to concerns that we have regards to if any further tests need to be made i.e bone density,diabetes, calcium deficiency etc.We do.feel as if we have been left a bit in limbo so pleased that this site is here for helpful advice and support.

Glad that everything seems to be returning back to normal for you (apart from the moobs) and hope it continues.