Testosterone: Is everyone's level in the low numbers?

First day of fall is officially tomorrow, the 22nd this year.

The problem with getting a three month prescription is that the drugs are a special type order. For some reason, they can only give you a 30 day prescription. I know that here, while I get most of my drugs from the post office, Orgovyx and Darolutamide come by UPS. Could be it’s due to the high retail cost.

I can order Orgovyx refills soon enough so that I have about 3/4 of a bottle plus a new one

Yup, just have to see how the math turns out; went on it around Aug 4 so I will probably just hit the 8K max for the 2024 calendar year. Then another 2 months in ‘25.
Even my surgery was 2 months before I turned Medicare eligible😫 so that was a BIG out of pocket expense since the surgeon I chose did not accept my insurance. And now Sloan tried to get me financial aid for the Orgovyx and that went nowhere as well. Talk about not getting a break, huh? But I am more than grateful that years of hard work ARE paying off and my ‘savings’ are indeed being used to save my very life. Can’t complain!!

They won't give me more than 30 days, but I haven't asked for travel purposes. It might be because I'm in the patient-access programme, too. 🤷‍♂️

I was the first person at my pharmacy, and probably one of the first in my city to get Orgovyx, since it was approved so recently in Canada (pharma companies often seek approvals for big markets like the U.S. and EU first, and leave us mid-sized markets for a year or two later).

I'm glad there are ways many of you can get Orgovyx without breaking the bank. In Canada Firmagon and Orgovyx cost the same, so the only issue is that Orgovyx is so new; are they priced comparably in the U.S. as well?

I was given a prescription for 6 months Orgovyx just by asking (but I am in a different country).
I have been getting them filled approx monthly anyway (prescriptions are valid for 6 months here).

No harm in asking...

Light exercise and 10K daily steps are great for overall health. But, for offsetting the side-effects of hormone therapy requires resistance-training (weightlifting, TRX, etc). It’s important to start rigorous resistance-training well before starting hormone therapy; if you wait until side-effects are already occurring, you’re already way behind.

When I was on Eligard (my testosterone dropped as low as 3.0, then remained in the upper-single and lower double-digits), I lifted weights daily, jogged every other day (and ran in 5K races), swam laps on alternating days), and swam in my state’s Senior Olympics that year. Yes, staying very active while on hormone therapy is quite doable.

Excellent point about resistance training to maintain muscle and bone mass on ADT. If weights are too much, even inexpensive Therabands can do the trick (that's all I was able to use unassisted when I first came home in a wheelchair). They are also convenient when travelling, because they take almost no suitcase space or weight when they're rolled up.
https://www.theraband.com/

In case there's any confusion, I have a single prescription for a year of Orgovyx, but have to refill it every month. I don't have to get a new prescription every month.

As of today I am on two hormone therapy tablets; Orogovyx and Erleada. After all tests (sadly a high decipher score), my prostate cancer is contained (as per PET scan) but is intermediate level 3. I am 77 and new to this. I may not be insured for erleada as my cancer has not metastasized. In which case, the dr will prescribe Xtandi. I'm on these two tablets (insurance permitting) and on Nov 6 at CT scan. About that time I think the dr will schedule radiation. He also suggested I be open to seeds (single implant...permanent seeds) after radiation. Has anyone gone down this road? Encouragement welcome! Thanks.

Don’t worry about Erleada vs Xtandi. They work very much the same. Side effects similar. If you have too severe of side effects see if you can get Nubeqa (Darolutamide) which has fewer side effects and fewer conflicts with other drugs. Again works very much the same.

What was your Gleason score? It also tells how aggressive your cancer is.

Lots of people get the seed treatment (brachytherapy). It works well.