What if he has high cholesterol before started hormone therapy?

I understand your worry. I was so (quietly) against ADT. Cholesterol, yes, but the specter of depression scared me the most. But just two months of orgovyx reduced the tumor by almost half. Maybe he won't be on it long and someone will monitor the cholesterol. A small weight gain was unwelcome, but there was only a small rise in LDL. It would be better if the medication didn't have these downsides, but sometimes the advantage is worthwhile. I hope they want him on a short course. He's lucky to have you worrying for him. I would ask about orgovyx( a pill instead of an injection) thought to be more effective with the benefit that it disorders the tumor's dna as well as starving the tumor.

Thank you for the reassurance.
Yes, I have orgovyx on my notes to specifically ask about as it seems it has less side effects.
Thanks so much!

Is your husband on a statin. A number of doctors, with prostate cancer, on one of the prostate cancer forums I attend, discussed this and all agreed that even if they weren’t having high cholesterol, they would be taking statins. They’re supposed to be good for prostate cancer and also good for your heart.

You never know how it will affect you, until you actually start taking it. I was on ADT for eight years and have very local cholesterol, it doesn’t affect everyone the same

Hi @jeffmarc, he went off it for a bit to see how the levels looked last year. Oddly it dropped but not enough so will be going back on it. You’re right -everyone is different so we will just keep an eye on that too. Thanks

I had been on Repatha before ADT because I couldn't take statins. I continued taking it and my LDL got even better than before. I was on ADT for one year, now off for about one year.

I was on Simvastatin throughout my hormone therapy (Eligard). My cholesterol level was not adversely impacted at all.

That said, I did greatly ramp up resistance training and cardio programs, and also improved my diet prior to, during and after treatments ended. The purpose of ramping up my resistance training routine was to minimize most side-effects of hormone therapy, but that also might have improved my bloodwork results as well. (I had no moodiness, crankiness, etc. Later, I asked my wife about that. She said that she hadn’t noticed any. She said that except for my complaints about mild warm flashes and muscle atrophy, that she wouldn’t have noticed I was getting radiation treatments or on hormone therapy.)

With the increased exercise, cardio, and dietary modifications, not only did I not gain weight, I actually lost 40 lbs. (and 3 waist sizes, and had to buy new clothes that fit better). Most side-effects of hormone therapy can be minimized with resistance training.

With the enhanced exercise program, ADT was no big deal at all; and cholesterol levels were unaffected. Go with it.

Throughout my time on ADT, 18 months on Lupron and 12 months of Orgovyx, I was on statins:

40 mg Atorvastatin
10 mg Ezetimibe

Those in combination with diet and exercise, nothing extreme, kept my cholesterol where my medical team was happy.

Latest results:
Total 171
Triglycerides 32
HDL 94
LDL 70
VLDL 6.4
Non HDL 77

I have seen in this and other forums about statins and their role in PCa, discussion tends towards the positive but not sure sufficient evidence to say definitely.

Discuss with his medical team.

Kevin

@brianjarvis that is great to hear!
Hopefully we come through this together as well as you. Will be amping up both our workouts too so looking forward to a reason to buy more clothes as well haha. Nice to know your extra efforts paid off - congrats! Did you have to push through when tired or that didn’t impact you much? I am a little unsure when to encourage or when to call it nap time.

Good to know! I guess if you’re on a statin the concern isn’t much as it’s already being managed. We have an appointment soon so I’m sure he’ll be on a statin then since it’s a bit high. Thanks!

Everyday immediately after each proton radiation treatment I headed straight for the gym to lift weights. (That prevented me from being at home and having any excuses to miss working out.)

In addition, every other day, I also either swam laps for 35-45 minutes or ran a 5K.

My change of diet included a protein/fruit smoothie every morning, and a protein bar & two energy bars every day. I think that was helpful in sustaining energy and endurance during the months of low-testosterone.

Also important was for the radiation not to overshoot the prostate. The more otherwise healthy nearby tissues and organs that get hit with unnecessary radiation, the more fatigue will set in as the body has to deal with that.