Recovery of Testosterone

[Mgtd]

We all have heard about how long it takes to recover testosterone after you stop ADT. You probably also heard how age affects recovery time. The older you are the longer it takes and the T may never recover. The type of ADT you take can also affect recovery time - shot versus pill.

I am 78 and I have been on Lupron for 6 months with a Gleason score of 4+3. I am two months post Lupron and have my six month radiation follow up to the prostrate and pelvic area. As part of that my RO requested a PSA and a T blood test. I got the results today prior to meeting with my RO and MO this week.

Prior to radiation and Lupron I started resistance training and aerobic exercising everyday and lost 12 pounds on Lupron/radiation and had minimal side effects to both. I attribute that to my exercise/resistance program, diet change and good luck.

In two months post Lupron my testosterone is now in the low end of normal and my PSA is <0.01. My baseline testosterone was 694. I attribute this good news once to my resistance and aerobic training. Of course the PSA could go south in the future and the cancer could return but I will take the good news for now.

Hoping others have similar results.

[Hidden]

Seems good. PSA might bump up as your T improves, and then hopefully descend back down over time. Tall Allen calls this benign PSA, resulting from the fact you still have a prostate, that will react somewhat to normalizing T. Did you have a Decipher done on your biopsy?

[Mgtd in reply to Hidden]

I did not have a Decipher done. I did not know enough to ask and the Urologist never mention it. Bummer. I did have a genetic test through a group who was looking to build a trial data best. No abnormalities in the spit test I sent off to a company called Color. Same company that does the ColorGuard test.

[Hidden in reply to Mgtd]

You can still get one. Your biopsy is still there in wax. But your doctor would have to ask for it and there might be insurance issues. And all it would tell you is whether your cancer is higher risk or not to return. Since everybody's PCa is a little different. So you really wouldn't be gaining any useful knowledge, especially since you have already ended your short term ADT. If it was high risk, maybe the ADT term would be longer. Maybe

[Mgtd in reply to Hidden]

Thanks for the info. Greatly appreciated. I guess I am in the wait and see mode.

[Mgtd in reply to Hidden]

see below

[London441]

Prior to beginning your exercise regimen and subsequent weight loss, what was your fitness and strength like in the years up until then? How much of that time were you relatively inactive?

[Mgtd]

London I would say up until about 3 years ago I would say it was outstanding. I was never a weight lifter and I just relied on normal activities, gardening, pickelball, light jogging and hiking and training my dogs in agility, obedience and some protection work. Once Covid hit it seemed I was not able to do many of those activities as I had. So moved into the good category and slowly gained 10 or so pounds.

I choose professions that allowed me to have leisure time for sports, etc or demanded physical conditioning to perform the job - pilot, professor, general contractor.

Prior to Covid I had always been in great physical and mental condition. I guess I got lazy. No real medical or mental issues always did annual physicals and teeth exams. Other then this cancer I have really never been sick.

Weight wise I was 166 lbs at high school graduation and I am now 172.

When I look at my peers I honestly would say I am not your typical almost 80 year old.

Curious why you asked. Do you think there is some relationship to that a fast testosterone recovery or the ability to fight disease?

[Jaffa_2001]

I am 2 months into Lupron and so glad you posted this update as I am sort of wandering in a wilderness as to how this is going to pan out longer term. I have similar side effects to you, but so far, nothing I cannot cope with, but I am trying to exercise regularly and train with weights every 3/4 days. The ADT is the latest treatment after an RP and radiation but my PSA has taken a long time to get to where it reached levels that my UK consultant recommended that I start ADT. I am on a 6 month course and hope my PSA/ Testosterone will be at your levels in 4 months time so I can stop for a while. This site is so useful to us UK guys that just need some sort of idea whether these treatments are manageable. Big Thanks again - Brian.

[Mgtd]

Brian I totally understand your position. Been there and still am in many respects. I looked at your bio and did not see your age.

I regards to resistance training I would suggest you keep the weight’s light. I started with a reasonable weight and gradually increased it. For example I started the bench press at a total weight including the bar of 95 pounds. Did that for two weeks and did three sets of 10 reps. I added 5 pounds and increased the sets to four. Very short time in between reps. Currently I added an additional 5 pounds and increased reps to 15.

Hope this helps with my unscientific methodology that I used for each exercise. Because of very short resting between sets I can get my whole routine done in 30 minutes and then I walk for 5 to 6 miles. In good weather I would take the dogs hiking in the forest. This time of year the snow and temps limit that so I do my walking solo on the indoor track at the gym.

It is the most BORING thing in the world and I can not wait for Spring to be back in nature with the dogs.

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

Want to juice up your indoor track walks at the gym? Do them blind folded......

Good Luck, Good Health and Good Humor.

j-o-h-n Thursday 01/11/2024 5:08 PM EST

[conbio]

Congratulations! Took me about 4 months to get into the normal range after 18 months of Lupron. All good.

[Will60]

Everyone is different. I had 7 months hormone therapy treatment using Zolodex, and was/am a lot younger than you. Work out regularly both using weights and cardio and it took 30 months for my testosterone to return to normal. It was non existence 12 months after I started treatment before slowly creeping up.

[Mgtd in reply to Will60]

Just goes to demonstrate the range of verifiable difference this cancer has on individuals and on after treatment responses.

Talking with my radiation oncologist she seemed to imply that my response was not out of the routine.

Thanks for sharing your info it helps others understand the range of responses possible. Guess that is why we have the mean and range in statistics.

[Will60 in reply to Mgtd]

However, got to admit I did struggle, mentally, due to the lack of testosterone. This was something that I wasn't prepared for, but you do come out the other side.

[OldVTGuy]

Encouraging! I am one month post Lupron (12 Month duration) and am anxiously awaiting some kind of change. Meanwhile I continue to lift weights 3x a week and supplement with vigorous aerobic activity. I don't feel anything yet.

I wont get tested again until April but I wont miss the smooth belly I have developed, saggy skin on legs, and hot flashes.

Every day I tell myself I am getting stronger - eventually I will.

[Mgtd in reply to OldVTGuy]

Before I even had the T test after radiation, I could feel the difference in my stamina and overall health. Noticed that my weight training got easier and I started to slowly add weights. Like 5 to 10 pound an initially.

Even though I lost 13 pounds I still have a flabby waist even though I lost over two inches there. Went from a 34” to 32” waist. That took a little over 6 months. That is the last area on me that is slowly responding to flab loss.

[OldVTGuy]

Good to know. I have a number of endurance activities that I time myself on so I will certainly see it as I strengthen. I am hopeful that with my young(ish) age (61) and the fact I am in decent shape this will not take a year to recover. That would suck.

[OldVTGuy]

Just had my first test since stopping Lupron 2 months ago. Delighted that it was measured at 1.0 and my PSA still undetectable. I am on my way back to normalcy now - look forward to the July test.

[conbio]

Was on Lupron for 18 months. Too about 4-5 months for my T to get back above my pre-treatment level. I'm 67 yo, climb, mt bike, and backcountry ski. Had a trainer 1x week for 2 years and lifted another day on my own - THAT made a big difference.