I have already detailed in gruesome graphic descriptive terms, just exactly what it was like to have that ginormous fibroid that I carried around….FOREVER!  So I shall spare you a repeat  summary of that horror story ~~ with one historical exception ~~ how my fibroid and I managed our life on lupron!!
Briefly, lupron tells your hypothalamus gland to stop releasing  the hormone  that  then dictates to your ovaries ((women)) or testicles ((men)) to ”stop producing  ALL sex hormones!!”  Having a life-long mantra of do-no-harm, both to others and to myself, I am a bit apprehensive to EVEN take an aspirin, let alone lupron.  However,I was at my wits-end AND at a complete dead-end, regarding my choices to put a halt to this ever-burgeoning/burdening  fibroid. Soooo, I gave lupron a whirl, even after my doctor warned me that the symptoms would be like those of menopause…hot flashes, fuzzy thinking ((huh?)) and bone loss. After receiving the shot, my doctor kinda winked at my husband, and  actually said, “good luck!” Whatcha talkin’ bout Willis? Why would my husband need luck with a  “drop-kicked-punted-into-menopausal-wife”…for heavens sake?!!? Well…..
I will tell you this, I chose NOT to read any pamphlets, blogs, or web sites that explained all of the many many possible symptoms associated with lovely lupron. To this day I have been ostrich-like regarding lupron and the possible side-effects, in-spite of my insatiable need to know…everything! I simply wanted to see-for-myself exactly what it feels/felt  like to be an android!!
Okay!! So I did have hot flashes and night-sweats. But I live in Africa-hot Florida and  just gardening or exercising  makes me sweat…even out of my eyeballs!! I am not kidding either!!. Anyway, what’s the harm with a  little bit of hot-flashing  when I am trying ((and succeeding)) to shrink  ms. fibroid?
Okay!! So I did have fuzzy-thinking now-and-again, too. So what!! I controlled that stupid-symptom with a mental check list…constantly!! My trips to lift weights at the gym, for example, went something like this: Phone?..check! Shuffler?..check! Towel?..check! Keys?..check! Dressed?..check!!!!! Yes, I actually made sure I was dressed!! OY!! Lupron’s fuzzy-thinking-side-effect symptom had me “carpe-dieming” like a Buddhist-champ!! Not a minute went by where I wasn’t fully conscious of where I was,  who I was, what I was doing and YES, if I was dressed!!! Fuzzy-thinking is…well…FUZZY, but who cares when you are on a mission to shrink a boulder-sized fibroid?!!!
They ((medical authorities)) do not want you to be on lupron for longer than 6 months in fear of bone loss that could occur in a hormone-less body. Just as menopause can increase your chances of osteoporosis, so can lupron. BUT, having lifted weights for decades, and knowing that weight-bearing exercises INCREASE bone-mass,I surmised that this particular lupron side-effect would not effect me.  Ha ha, I was absolutely correct. In fact, because no female hormones where racing around in my system, my muscles were so defined that I was often asked by my fellow gym-rats  if, in fact, was I in competition!!? After I stopped laughing, I assured them that this ol’ broad will never ever again compete…in ANYTHING!!
I did not mind in the least my “tour-of-duty” on lupron. Fact is, Iwas a walking neuter for 2 years ~~ way longer than “they” like you to be taking lupron. As my fibroid shrunk to a manageable size,  I simply became used to the OCD-like quality of checking and rechecking normal “stuff”…constantly…so as to combat the fuzzy-thinking. And, my lean-mean muscle-machine body was staving off bone loss, and lifting like a Ronnie Coleman look-a-like!! Yep, I guess you could say that chemical menopause was not all that bad. AND the trade-off of a shrunken fibroid was well worth the numerous side-effects. For me, it truly was a means-to-an-end, that is until… I went off of it! The fibroid grew back to its destructive size within a few months. The rest is “her-story!!”
Focused Ultra-sound was my final treatment ((a happy one, at that)) on the journey to the center of a fibroid”s eradication! But, up to that point, lupron did me just fine!
I would like to defend menopause for a moment. ((It really should be called “women”opause, not “men”opause, but I digress!))  I LOVE  being in menopause! You see, unlike lupron,  menopause has no symptoms for me…not even one! Hmmmm…now, uh…what was I saying?!!!