Your doctor has ordered the drug leuprolide to help treat your illness. Leuprolide comes as a solution (Lupron) that is injected subcutaneously (just under the skin) and is usually given once daily. Leuprolide also comes as a long-acting suspension (Eligard) that is injected subcutaneously and is usually given every 1, 3, 4, or 6 months. This medication also comes as a long-acting suspension that is injected intramuscularly (into a muscle) and is usually given once a month (Lupron Depot, Lupron Depot-PED) or every few months (Lupron Depot-3 month, Lupron Depot-4 month). Leuprolide is also available as an implant (a small, thin metal tube containing medication) (Viadur) that is inserted under the skin and is usually given once a year.
Leuprolide is used to treat:
- symptoms of advanced prostate cancer in men
- endometriosis (condition in which cells normally found in the uterus become implanted in other areas of the body) in women
- uterine fibroids (noncancerous growths in the uterus) in women
- central precocious puberty (a condition causing children to enter puberty too soon, resulting in accelerated bone growth and the development of sexual characteristics) in girls usually younger than 8 years of age and in boys usually younger than 9 years of age
If you receive leuprolide long-acting suspension (Eligard) as a subcutaneous injection, you may notice a small bump when you first receive an injection. This bump should eventually go away.
If you receive leuprolide as an implant under the skin, keep the area where the implant was inserted clean and dry for 24 hours. Do not swim or bathe during this time. Cover the area with a bandage for a few days until the wound heals. Avoid heavy lifting and physical activity for 48 hours after receiving the implant and avoid bumping the area around the implant for a few days.
Leuprolide prescribed for children with precocious puberty will likely be discontinued by your child's doctor before age 11 for girls and age 12 for boys.
Leuprolide is in a class of drugs known as gonadotropin-releasing (GnRH or LH-RH) hormone agonists. It decreases the production of testosterone (male hormone) in men and estrogen (female hormone) in women. Decreasing the production of these hormones is desirable because they stimulate the growth of the diseased cells involved in prostate cancer and endometriosis, and they stimulate the development of sexual characteristics in children with early puberty.
Your doctor will tell you how long your treatment with leuprolide will last. When used to treat advanced prostate cancer, leuprolide controls the symptoms of prostate cancer but does not cure it. Continue to use leuprolide even if you feel well. Do not stop using leuprolide without talking to your doctor.
If your doctor has told you or your caregiver to give a subcutaneous injection of leuprolide, follow these steps:
- Wash your hands well with soap and water.
- Look at the liquid in the container. If the liquid is cloudy or contains particles, do not use it and call your pharmacist.
- If using a new container of leuprolide, flip off the plastic cover to expose the gray rubber stopper. Wipe the metal ring and rubber stopper on the container with an alcohol wipe, just before each use.
- Remove the outer wrapping from a new syringe. Pull the plunger back until the tip of the plunger is at the right mark for your dose. If you do not know the right mark for your dose, call your doctor or pharmacist.
- Carefully pull the cover off the needle. Do not touch the needle. Place the container on a clean, flat surface and push the needle through the center of the rubber stopper of the container.
- Push the plunger all the way down to inject air into the container.
- Keep the needle in the container while turning the container straight upside down. Check to make sure the tip of the needle is in the liquid.
- Slowly pull back on the syringe plunger until the syringe fills with liquid to the right mark for your dose.
- While keeping the needle in the container and the container upside down, check for air bubbles in the syringe. If you see any, push the plunger in slowly to push the air bubbles out of the syringe. Keep the tip of the needle in the liquid and pull the plunger back again to fill the syringe to the mark for your dose.
- Remove the needle from the container and lay the syringe down on a clean, flat surface without touching the needle or touching it to any surface. Carefully recap the syringe if it will be left for a period of time.
- Choose an injection spot and clean it with a new alcohol wipe. Use a different injection spot each day.
- Hold the syringe in one hand and pull up skin at the injection spot with the other hand.
- While holding the syringe like a pencil, quickly insert the needle all the way into the skin at a 90 degree angle.
- Push the plunger in to inject the complete dose of leuprolide.
- Pull the needle out from the skin at the same angle it was inserted. Dab an alcohol wipe on the skin at the injection spot.
- Throw the syringe and needle away in a puncture-resistant container out of the reach of children. Talk to your doctor or pharmacist about the proper way to throw away syringes and needles.
- Do not try to get every last drop of medication out of the leuprolide container. There is extra medication in the container so that you can withdraw the recommended number of doses without drawing air into the syringe.
- Ask your pharmacist or doctor for a copy of the manufacturer's information for the patient.
This medication is sometimes prescribed for other uses; ask your doctor or pharmacist for more information.
- Eligard®
- Lupron®
- Lupron Depot®
- Lupron Depot®-3 Month
- Lupron Depot®-4 Month
- Lupron Depot-PED®
- Viadur®
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