Testosterone recovery after 6 mos Orgovyx

@bob1955

Congratulations, from one old guy to another. I'm 73, 4+4 with cribriform and IDC. PSA was 5.9. I'm curious how low did your testosterone drop at the end of 6 months? At 6 weeks on Orgovyx, unfortunately my oncologist is pretty adamant about staying on Orgovyx for 18 months:

Testosterone 909 (not a typo) dropped to 18.73
PSA 5.9 dropped to .82
And my prostate volume has shrunk over 50%, from 38 cc to 18 cc

I start RT either the 19th or the 26th of this month, anxiously waiting the phone call.

@carlsbadguy My testosterone went down to 2.5. cheers

@carlsbadguy Looks like you are responding nicely to the Orgovyx. Good results for 6 weeks. How did you know the prostate shrunk, did you have an MRI?

I know with Crib & IDC it puts you in a high risk category but I would look at some studies showing one year of ADT had not much difference than 18 months to 2 years. Did your docs mention anything about having an HDR Brachy boost along with the RT?

@copyman

Yes, I think even my oncologist was surprised. I had an MRI along with a CT as part of my Sim the day after they did the SpaceOAR and fiducial procedure which they compared to the MRI I had in April which showed a PIRADS5 x 3 lesion.

I convinced my oncologist to go with Orgovyx instead of Lupron and he did so without hesitation. But he is pretty adamant about 18 months due to the Crib and IDC. We'll see how it goes, I'll certainly lobby to get off the ADT train at 12 months, and hopefully even more studies/papers will come out justifying a shorter course is even more beneficial than a longer one.

@copyman

No Brachy boost, I'm having Proton Radiation at California Proton Center. My RO is Dr Carl Rossi, 28 fractions, I don't recall the total Gys, but during our consult he indicated each fraction would be slightly stronger to help deal with the Crib and IDC. I feel very fortunate that he took me on as a patient, and trust him implicitly.

I am 77, completed my radiation therapy March 4 and now starting my 12 month on Orgovyx. I was able to convince my oncologist that stopping the ADT after 12 of 18 months due to lifestyle concerns was appropriate and now looking forward to recovering muscle mass and returning to more activity on my farm.

@carlsbadguy
don't wait too long for the phone call. You call them.

Congrats! I was on it for six months and it took 18 months to break the low normal barrier. That was my single complaint about my treatment plan--no one ever told me that ADT could take a very long time to wear off.

@geneva26

Congratulations to you for being at the end of your treatment. Did you have a similar Dx as me, 4+4=8, with Crib and IDC?

@sowens2025

I would love to, but have specific, written instructions not to call them regarding start day schedule.

@scottbeammeup

Were you on Orgovyx, or Lupron? Most people take a lot longer to recover testosterone after Lupron than Orgovyx. The OP has almost recovered his pre treatment testosterone in 6 weeks after being on Orgovyx for 6 months. That was one of the major reasons I used to convince my MO to prescribe Orgovyx over his first suggestion of Lupron.

Really, though, I'm told I won't know for another five years if I'm at the end of my treatment, quite possibly not even then. As we can see from reading the stories here.