Where have you gone Joe testosterone?

[Rockybullwinkle]

In November of 2019 my testosterone level was 409 even after a robotic prostatectomy 4 months earlier. Then I began a year of ADT therapy that included 37 sessions of radiation to the pelvic area. During the year on ADT my PSA became undetectable as my testosterone dropped to <6. My oncologist and I agreed to stop ADT after one year. It has been six months and my PSA remains undetectable but my testosterone has not budged and is still <6. How long did it take for your testosterone to start climbing back if at all?

[Rockybullwinkle]

I just turned 73. A year before DX it was 397 and actually was higher at 409 after. I don't have records prior to those numbers.

[Hidden]

Thats what I am afraid of-that it won’t come back at all. Mine was low to begin with. 300. Thats why I took Androgel for awhile from 2010-2016. I quit thinking it might cause cancer but quitting seems to have sped it up. might consider some Androgel if it doesn’t come back. With of course the risk ...well, you know all that

[Tall_Allen]

It can take a year. Here's what they found in one study:

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...

If it doesn't recover on its own, you can try clomid or HCG to jumpstart your testicles.

[Rockybullwinkle in reply to Tall_Allen]

In layman's terms por favor?

[Tall_Allen in reply to Rockybullwinkle]

That is layman's terms. "Jumpstart" is not a technical term.

[Rockybullwinkle in reply to Tall_Allen]

I was referring to the ncbi article link you posted.

[Tall_Allen in reply to Rockybullwinkle]

It shows how long testosterone recovery took.

[Steve507 in reply to Tall_Allen]

I can lend my jumper cables.

[TFBUNDY in reply to Tall_Allen]

Jump starting is always better than a kick start... 😀

[j-o-h-n in reply to TFBUNDY]

Now you're cooking LOL (9.5 on my giggle meter)....Thanks

Good Luck, Good Health and Good Humor.

j-o-h-n Friday 03/26/2021 2:32 PM DST

[Boywonder56 in reply to j-o-h-n]

Use heavy gauge jumper cables those cheap ones you lose amperage

[j-o-h-n in reply to Boywonder56]

You mean the one's my wife uses on me? Note: Never marry an automobile mechanic.........

Good Luck, Good Health and Good Humor.

j-o-h-n Friday 03/26/2021 2:51 PM DST

[Boywonder56 in reply to j-o-h-n]

I'm getting a strange picture in my head

[j-o-h-n in reply to Boywonder56]

Transfer those pictures to film.....

Good Luck, Good Health and Good Humor.

j-o-h-n Friday 03/26/2021 10:25 PM DST

[AlanMeyer]

There are several factors that influence the return of testosterone ("T") after ADT. These include:

1) Expected duration of your last injection.

If your last injection was for three months, you wouldn't expect recovery to even start until three months after your last injection. My impression is that the injections are timed in such a way that recovery from an X day injection (e.g., X = 30, 90, 120, etc. days) doesn't even begin until well after X days have passed. The drug remains fully active for the expected period and only slowly breaks down after that.

2) T level achieved during treatment.

Some men barely get below a T level of 50, most get under 20. With a T level of 6, I think your recovery will take longer than for men who had a T level of 20 under ADT.

3) Your age.

Younger men recover faster.

4) Duration of treatment.

Men who have had ADT for three years take longer to recover than men who had it for one year or less. Elderly men who have undergone long term ADT sometimes never recover to above castrate levels. I think your odds of recovery with only one year of treatment are very good.

I underwent four months of ADT via a 30 day Lupron injection followed by a 90 day injection at age 57. If I remember correctly (this was 18 years ago) , my T level went down to just below 20., though it's possible that it was well below 20 but my doctor just reported <20, meaning that I was at least at castrate level and anything below that didn't matter. It was only later, I think, that doctors and patients started to realize that small numbers matter. My first indication that T was returning was the reduction and then elimination of hot flushes that I had been getting about once per hour. A few weeks after that my libido began to return. My recollection is that the subjective return of libido began about 5 months after my final 90 day injection. My recollection is that I felt normal at around 5-1/2 months after that last injection.

Good luck with it.

Alan

[Rockybullwinkle in reply to AlanMeyer]

Thanks for this.

[GeorgesCalvez]

I would not regard the difference between 397 and 409 as significant in terms of the assay.

Patients and doctors get too tied up in the numbers that come back from the lab.

So your testosterone was around the 400 level before and after the prostatectomy, this is what we would expect because a prostatectomy should not affect the testicles in terms of production of testosterone.

A year on ADT is quite a long time at 73, I think you have a reasonable chance of recovering, but it is not a given.

I did nineteenth months on Firmagon finishing when I was 57 and mine is still creeping back eighteen months later.

Six months, 192, twelve months, 230, eighteen months, 300.

My testicles have gone from barely detectable to definitely there, the sweating, etc has disappeared and my body hair is back to normal, but my libido is definitely reduced.

[winkoliu]

The half time of Lupron is about 6 months. Please wait for some time.

[Tony666]

I was on intensive adt for 10 months, age 62. My t recovered 10 months after stoppage. Give it a bit more time. It’l come back I hope. And if your like me it’l be a bit of a high when it does.

[fireandice123]

It took about 6 months off of Lupron to come back. I don't know what my pre-Lupron T level was but at 6 months of being off of Lupron my level was 800.

[EdinBmore]

For whatever it's worth: pre-ADT T was 240s. Dropped like a stone to <0.1. Last 3 mo injection of Lupron (nasty stuff) was in May 2019. Told I'd start feeling better by fall. Nope. Didn't really feel better until late 2020. Had all the side effects. Ugh. T came roaring back (LOL) to 183 at last count in Feb 2021. Not optimistic it'll go much higher.

Good luck to you.

EdinBaltimore

[MateoBeach]

My testosterone did not recover well 15 months after completing PLN RT and 6Months of ADT. My PSA was low and stable yet detectable at 0.08. I have pretty severe hypogonadism symptoms so I decided to try Testosterone replacement as a short term experiment. This last month I did 200 mg of T cypionate per week for 3 weeks. Whoa! Did that feel good! Now I am on a two week washout period and will check my cancer’s PSA response at the end of the month. Will follow it for 3 months to determine if I am a favorable responder to consider modified BAT ( one month every 4 to 6) going forward. Will report initial results in another week.

Of course this precludes any natural testicular T recovery.

[Horse12888]

Given that it hasn't budged in 6 months, I'm concerned that it's not going to recover naturally. Per Tall Allen's suggestion, you can try to jumpstart it and, if that doesn't work, replace it with exogenous T.

[RonnyBaby]

At least one year because the 'half life' of many ADT drugs are equal to half of the time you were on them.

[Currumpaw]

Hey Rockybullwinkle!

Certain exercises, the multi-joint exercises, stimulate one's body to produce hormones including T.

If you can, try doing bodyweight squats up to 30 reps taking an extra breath at the top of each rep. Use weight to do back squats if you can. Proper form is more important than the amount of weight used. Increase the range of motion as you can.

Light deadlifts using high reps are also good as are cleans to overhead presses.

If your health allows you to, try these exercises beginning gently with just 10 reps concentrating on learning and using proper form. Increase reps as is possible. Your general health will determine if you can use these exercises in this way.

Best of luck,

Currumpaw

[Steve507]

My testosterone was <0.09 After one 3 month injection of Zoladex I Feb... PSA <0.01. Should I be worried about my NO T? I still have potency.

[Boywonder56 in reply to Steve507]

Consider yourself lucky

[j-o-h-n]

If you're looking for Joe...... check with Marilyn........

Good Luck, Good Health and Good Humor.

j-o-h-n Friday 03/26/2021 2:34 PM DST

[Boywonder56]

If you're looking for a Joe the president look in the basement of the White House heard he's putting puzzles together

[j-o-h-n in reply to Boywonder56]

LOL - and With Help.......................

Good Luck, Good Health and Good Humor.

j-o-h-n Friday 03/23/2021 2:57 PM DST