prostate cancer feeds on testosterone, so they generally like to keep your T level as low as possible if it looks like the PSA is going up after primary treatment (surgery or radiation).
Early research showed a clear link between testosterone levels and prostate cancer. But increasingly, that association is being re-thought. Several studies on pubmed explore this change. The link below is to a 2018 study from Johns Hopkins on the "shifting paradigm":
Thanks for the reply. the Link was very informative and I've copied it for my Urologist to review. After all he asked me to stop taking my GNC [T] supplement. I liked the results I felt when taking the testosterone supplement especially due to me doing "Mon - Fri" hour of a Box Fit class. This is a very intense cardio and of course the glove work out. too
The Article leans toward checking testosterone levels. That Doctors have been following the 1940's by John Hopkins University Studies and it won them the Nobel Prize.
But that was then I have to deal with now. The remainder of the article leans in the other direction - testosterone replacement therapy may be a positive treatment under the correct circumstances, if I correctly understand it. I believe it needs to be scrutinized for our benefit (the PC patients).
I'm not good at being herded in a direction just because. I like a little support for following the direction.
PCa does not "feed" on testosterone [T]. T is necessary for PCa growth, but men who are not hypogonadal, i.e. are above 350 ng/dL have all the T the cancer needs. If T were to double to 700, or triple to 1,050 ng/dL, it should not have any effect on PSA doubling time [PSADT].
For men below ~250 ng/dL, the androgen receptors [AR] may not have all the T the PCa can use. If AR is below Morgentaler's "saturation" point, it's akin to being on weak ADT. Adding T will likely shorten the PSADT. But once T is above the saturation point (~250 ng/dL), additional T should be irrelevant. Dr. Myers has said that patients in the off-phase of IADT do not see a further PSA boost once T achieves normal levels.
You do not say what your T is. Did your doctor know what it was before telling you to stop?
I used to think it strange 15+ years ago that doctors didn't seem to care about T levels. A man has a high PSA & the doctor says: "Let's see what your T is. Maybe it's too high & we should bring it down a little." Never happens.
The fact that castration can temporarily stop PCa growth, should not be construed as proof that T "feeds" PCa.
Nugenix is not testosterone. There is no testosterone in it. It is a “testosterone booster”. If it works as advertised (and many supplements do not), it enhances the testosterone you are producing. There isn’t a drop of testosterone in the stuff you say you’re taking. Look at the label.
But I did know it is designed to help your body produce it's own Testosterone. That is works better when taken with Omega 3 fish Oil ( I use "Oceanblue Omega-3" because it has all 3 omegas in it).
A lot of "nutraceuticals" don't actually do what they claim to do so be careful. If you think it is helping you, that's fine but know what you 're putting into your body, especially since you have PCa.
You really don’t want to increase T production. Knock it down to under 5 for best results. However, there is a program that I have followed for about 13 years, that seems to help. Should I ever need it, I might try. There are some in this group, that do.
I am a sample of one. My PSA has been undetectable for the last 3 years. “T” has average 11ng/dL during that time, never going above 15. Sounds good. Castrate level seems to be keeping the PSA undetectable. However, my Oncologist suggested TRT in the form of Androgel, due to a nonexistent quality of life. He recognized it, but I didn’t. I began the TRT about 10 months ago. First month after T rose to 387 ng/dL. Next month it was around 800. But after the first month of TRT, PSA became .1. Second month, .2. Since the introduction of testosterone my PSA has been increasing by .1 each month. Scary, and I’m not sure how far to let it go. Will ADT slow the rising PSA again? No idea. A quandary to be sure. I didn’t realize how poor of a QOL I was living until I began having one.
But the empirical evidence of one (my case) does indicate a relationship between castrate levels of T and PSA.
Now that you said that I remember taking GAT which similar to the GNC suppose to promote your body to make its own Testosterone. It was after that I\my PSA went to.1THEN .2
When I read your question, the first thing that popped up was - did they miss something
during surgery ?
Published stats indicate that about 1/3 of RP patients end up with a second bout, although these are older stats and some assumed that it was because the surgeons didn't do as good a job as the 'public' would like to believe they did.
You might want to consult with an oncologist to be sure you aren't about to rejoin the club.
Content on HealthUnlocked does not replace the relationship between you and doctors or other healthcare professionals nor the advice you receive from them.
Never delay seeking advice or dialling emergency services because of something that you have read on HealthUnlocked.