Surgery or Radiotherapy? Decision made!

Hi AW,

It's interesting that you haven't had any fatigue issues whilst on HT, & something just clicked in my brain regarding that.  I seem to recall that athletes & other sports people used to train at high altitude before major events as a way of improving their stamina (they may well still do this).  Something to do with the lower oxygen levels at altitude I believe.  Putting 2 & 2 together to make 5, I'm making a guess that your hiking trips in the mountains have actually been a real benefit in keeping fatigue at bay. 

Maybe we should all be heading to the hills? 

It’s exactly 2 years since my first PSA test - taken quite by chance when I visited the GP on a completely unrelated matter. A newly qualify locum noticed that I hadn’t had a PSA test since a “well man” check 8 years previously!  Unbelievably, the first words my usual (friendly) GP said to me when he had to refer me for further tests was “what were you thinking?  You have no symptoms, it’s probably nothing!”……,,,,,my PSA had risen from 2.6 at age 58 to 11.0 at age 66. I can still remember the feeling of panic when the word “cancer” was spoken and I entered the whirlwind of MRI, biopsy, CT, Bone scan etc.  I am in a very different place now.  Undetectable PSA and feeling optimistic for the future after RT & HT (brachytherapy boost).   However, I am not complacent- but I feel that I’m safer than the untested man in the street.     AW

It’s also been 6 months since my last HT jab.  I’m still having hot flushes (completely manageable), but apart from that I feel pretty normal.  Just back from two weeks hiking in the Italian Alps, with 1,000m ascents & descents, so no fatigue.  I expected a long time until the effects of HT to wear off, but as I have no libido I’m content to wait. Still maintaining the “use it or lose it” mentality and no ED once things kick off in the bedroom.  What’s next?  Austria for two weeks hiking, and continue enjoying life.  The rest - hopefully- should return in time. 

OK, so if you have been following my story so far, you know that I am currently waiting for “Tommy T” to return.  Despite the near miraculous return of testosterone for Millibob in a relatively short period of time , I think I can relax a bit if I am going to fall within the “typical” timeframe:

Great Post, thank you Alpine Wanderer. 

The more I think of my situation, the more I see "odd" things, for a start PSA182 and no spread. I could never get my PSA below 0.29 on 3 years HT. I had my last 6 monthly jab on 7 June 2024 and by the end of February 2025 I know my testosterone is back in full . (I haven't had a test but trust me - or ask Mrs M - it's back!! ).

I just think I have a strange set of results - even on my recent scan there was no sign of the cancer even though I have a rising PSA!

Anyway, you and Mrs AW have something to look forward to!! .

Kind Regards - Brian.

The important lesson here is that when you’re signing up to “12 or 18 months hormone therapy”, that isn’t the full information.  Hormone therapy will take you down to “castrate” levels of testosterone. But these levels will persist way beyond the “12-18 months”, as testosterone takes a long time to recover.  However, as I’ve said before, this is accompanied by a lack of libido, so you don’t miss it as much as you would think.  Bedroom action can still happen (with encouragement).  But - lack of testosterone can also have other effects in some men (fatigue, bone thinning, weight gain etc) so it’s important to go into this line of treatment fully informed.  Hence this post.  AW

Hey AW, I recently took a T home test and at age 72 mine came in at 12.7nmol/L 9mths after cessation of my ht.

Home test kit was easy and not expensive. 

Hi Budd - how long were you on HT?  Was that 9 months after your last jab, or 9 months after the 3 months effectiveness of the jab (ie 12 months after the last jab)?  AW

I was on ht for 7mths and it is now 10 mths since the last jab

Ah, only 7 months - so that’s pretty much in line with the survey.   AW