I have entered by 16th month on ADT - on Orgovyx daily. It kept my testosterone down between 6 - 9 during the first 12 months. I started a heavy weight lifting regiment about 3 months ago - tough at first but feeling great and visible muscle growth. Very happy with results. But on my recent 3 month blood test by testosterone suddenly jumped 22. Still not bad but concerning. Can this be attributed to the weight training? I have been feeling really good on those lift days. Does that extra muscle workout cause testosterone to be generated? Thanks to all of you sharing great info. Very helpful.
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dagreer
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I think I know the culprit. Now before you say I am crazy - which doctors have told me - I used to take very large does of vitamin D. I went back to 20,000 IU a day for a few weeks before my blood test. I try to keep my vitamin D blood levels 80-90.
It should be remembered that Vitamin D is a steroidal hormone (like testosterone, estrogen, progesterone, and cortisol) and there are receptors for it on virtually all cells, healthy and cancerous. It has far-ranging effects. It also is part of the human biochemical factory that inter-converts many different kinds of steroids. In fact, Anic et al. showed there was a positive association between serum Vitamin D level and the amount of serum testosterone - not an effect that a man who is taking androgen deprivation wants.
Given that Vitamin D has no effect on incidence of cancer or cancer mortality, that it has no cardiovascular benefit, and no effect on bone mineral density, there is no reason to take supplemental Vitamin D unless serum levels are too low (below 20 ng/ml).
I started this protocol (with my MOs agreement) 6 weeks ago to try to limit BMD loss but if it raises T, I guess I'll stop. I had a DEXA scan and have most loss in the hip.
I have had 2 T measurements so far on orgovyx only and before high dose Vit D: 6.5 and 10.3 (corresponding vit D levels were 32 and 36 ng/ml)
Now with adding Abi it gets a bit more tricky. Any idea what sort of T level I should have on orgovyx and Abi?
Update:
After investigating there seem to be contradictory studies linking Vit-D and T but I will discuss with my MO (we always decide these things together). academic.oup.com/jcem/artic...
But thanks for the heads up on the possibility and I will continue to monitor T and maybe come off the Vit D supplementation if there is an increase. And as you point out , it is a steroid and could have other implications.
Only missed one so far, recorded it in my phone but ended up with one too many at the end of the week (beat myself up about it for a week and am much more careful).
Bilateral Orchiectomy in April 2015 at almost 65yo. Currently T ≤ 2.5ng/dL. Bicycled 113 miles on Nov. 2nd to celebrate my 11 year Anniversary of 2013 Ironman Florida. Bicycled 30.03 miles yesterday with 17.7mph moving average.
I have been on ADT for 11 months, and have done daily exercise on 9 weight machines for 5 months. My muscles have increased, but for the past 9 months my testosterone has remained unchanged at <3 on the quarterly lab tests.
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