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Energy Improvements After Resuming Testosterone Replacement Therapy?
Prostate Cancer | Last Active: Sep 18 6:49pm | Replies (5)Comment receiving replies
I wonder if the purpose of ADT is to compromise the body's capacity to produce testosterone in 'normal' amounts ever. For a person my age (74) it would kind of make sense, except for the concerns that I have about muscle loss. I would like to know if there is a way of significantly slowing muscle loss. I've seen some things on YouTube, that I've since lost track of, that involved taking supplements. Does anyone have any knowledge on this question.
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As much as I hate ADT and initially resented how it was presented by PC YouTube education websites, I learned through experience that it has a profound beneficial impact on treating PC.
I'll address only one part of ADT -- i.e., the one that I experienced for purposes of making PC radiation treatments more effective.
When I received my Gleason 4+3 unfavorable intermediate cancer diagnosis I reluctantly decided to immediately stop my TRT. I had read and seen the statistics that PC recurrences for Gleason 4+3 were about 50% better by eliminating testosterone before starting radiation treatments. Here's what happened to me:
Day #1: Total testosterone (TT) = 950 and PSA = 8.1
Day #15: TT = 350; PSA = ??? (PSA not tested at that time)
Day #30 TT = 51; = PSA 1.9
Day #60 TT = 48; PSA = 1.2; this was the last day before starting my SBRT radiation treatments
Day #90 TT= 50; PSA = 0.10
Day #180 TT = 22; PSA = 0.11
What did I learn? Removing testosterone prior to starting radiation weakens PC and makes it more capable of being destroyed by the radiation. Radiation oncologists label the use of ADT in this context as a "radiosensitizer".
Of course ADT has other uses in treating PC. For my situation, however, the ability of ADT to function as a radiosensitizer and improve the effectiveness of the radiation treatments made it worthwhile to endure for a six-month period.