Prostate Cancer: sex drive after surgery or other treatments

I am not a doctor and just sharing my experience. Look at the symptoms of low testorone and see they relate to you. You can get an online test for like $30 to establish if it is an issue.

Do an online search for Lupron Ruined MY Life. And I think like 50% of people have the same issues.

Depending on your cancer state the doctor may not even prescribe it for you.

I bought the book. It’s excellent! Thanks.

I took 3 years of Eligard. Radiation and had surgery. My testosterone’s levels=21. No sex drive. Nothing. I expected it and discussed it with my wife. Agree that is a long road and I need to be patient. But I have to say I have been cancer free for 4 years. It’s worthy if you value life.

Good Mourning (not a typo!)
I was 68 when I asked my primary care doctor for a blood test to see what my testosterone levels were. She got me an appointment with Quest. A week later I had an appointment with a urologist. He said my T score was vey low and that his office would give me testosterone supplement shots. (needles). I was on the T supplement for about 6 months when I told him I was not seeing or feeling any benefits. So in early 2022 I underwent ultrasound, MRI, biopsy etc. I think it was Feb or March when he said I did have prostate cancer and that he would schedule a date at the local hospital (affiliated with Yale-New Haven) for prostate surgery.
I was not fond of this guy to begin with. Being his patient was definitely uncomfortable. He said prostate surgery was what I needed. I said:, well what about radiation?
No one close to me had ever been diagnosed as having prostate cancer. I tried to use Google and You Tube to educate myself a bit about my options. After 2 weeks I decided on the surgery.
Like the biopsy, removing my cancer-ridden prostate caused me NO pain. He said the ultrasound, MRI, biopsy etc showed that my prostate gland was fully ridden with cancer. No option to save any of the functions of the gland that is a vital component of erections and orgasms. I have had several pet cats over the years and I had all of them neutered (small 650 sq foot condo with 400 acres of woodland that abutted my back yard.) So I was somewhat familiar with the concept of neutering a male.
Not certain what pain-killers they gave me before the surgery, but I blacked out after a few minutes and then woke up a couple of hours later. Stayed overnight, asked one busty nurse if we could test out the end game. Luckily I still seemed medicated stupid and she smiled and said I should take that issue up with my wife.
Anyway, that all happened around a year ago. I was discharged, still had to wear a catheter for a month, and when the catheter was removed I saw so much blood in my urine that after a week post-operation I went back to the ER and told them that I was scared.
The operation causes incontinence. I'd wake up several times a night needing to piss but because of my bone on bone knee arthritis by the time I could get to my feet I'd already sprayed blood and piss all over the bedroom floor and 2 walls. This bloody incontinence gradually waned but I still saw blood in my urine for another 3 months.
Other than some antibiotics to be taken for a couple of weeks I was not given any medication specific to the prostate cancer. I had a couple of follow-up appointments and things seemed OK.
I reached 70 years of age a week ago. I began feeling "horney" after about 2 months post operation. I have experimented with masturbation about once a month. At this point I can still be aroused, but don't get an erection. I can sometimes achieve orgasm that seems to be the result of a combination of pulling my penis and rubbing my testicles at the same time. From the time of the operation to now I have had maybe 6 - 10 of these near orgasms.
I'm still incontinent but I've learned to keep a few empty jars around the bed to pee in. At age 70 becoming an a-sexual male doesn't rip my self-image as it would have if I had this situation years earlier. I do have a "common law" wife. We've been together for roughly 20 years. She is 15 years younger than me. She has health issues and so the lack of sex in our relationship is not as sad or traumatic as it could have been. We care deeply for each other but she's up all night working on her computer, while I get up between 4 AM and 6 AM. So our awake time is a few hours in the afternoon.

It is not how I expected my last decade of life to go. One of the hospital interns said that I probably had a good 5 years left to live. My severe osteoarthritis (OA), causes other problems such as the need to walk down a flight of stairs backwards, and continual pain that waxes and wanes depending on the weather, the amount of physical stress that I pushed myself thru since the time I woke up that day, and so on. In a store like a large supermarket with cement floors I can stand upright and get about 20 minutes of shopping done before my control starts slipping and the pain becomes too much to handle.

Being A macho male in New England, USA, 70 years old, has come with a great deal of pain, and like most people my age, comes with a variety of both physical, emotional, and psychological problems. I am on my PC about 8 hours a day, spend time with my 5 cats, and think about death and dying. I reflect on my younger life, and try to be helpful to my younger siblings, and my wife. Every so often I'll gaze upwards, and think of new ways to let the "Big Guy" know how disenchanted I am with the status quo.

Best wishes to all.