Lupron[R]: If It Kills Prostate Cancer, What Does It Do to Women's Health‪?‬

HERE AT THE NETWORK, WE OFTEN RECEIVE EMAILS or calls from women seeking health care information about specific procedures or tests. Something different's been happening recently, however: we've received several messages from women asking the Network to explore the safety of a drug commonly used in fertility treatments: Lupron[R] (leuprolide acetate). This drug was originally developed for advanced prostate cancer patients, but is now commonly used to treat women with endometriosis and fibroids, and to aid assisted reproduction procedures. Lupron is a Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone Analog Agonist (GnRH); these drugs shut down the pituitary gland, thereby reducing the amount of testosterone produced by men, and estrogen produced by women: For women, this causes the rapid and artificial onset of menopause potentially with incapacitating and long-lasting effects. "My own story is that after taking Lupron [for endometriosis] I now have bone loss, severe bone and joint pain requiring heavy painkillers to get out of bed, chest pain, tachycardia, fibromyalgia and horrible memory loss, hair loss, and weight gain. Prior to Lupron I ran and boxed everyday. I was healthy even though endometriosis caused significant pain. It has now been a year since my Lupron treatments and my life is in medical shambles."