Regaining fitness during Decapeptyl hormone therapy

Hi Frank,

Have had the same struggles.  I was superfit until I started the ADT (Decapeptyl and enza).   Strength has been a big problem.  I have tried to maintain as much of it as possible by doing weights in the gym but my body shape and muscle to fat ratio has changed.   I have always hovered around 80Kg (6 ft tall) prior to treatment and was bench pressing 100Kg.   Now I bench press 60Kg and I am around 94Kg in weight nearly 2 years into the treatment.   My onco keeps on reassuring me that it is all related to the testosterone being almost 0.   My cardiovascular exercises have taken a big hit, these days I just do brisk walks but get tired after about 25 minutes.  I am hoping (subject to PSA remaining low) that things will start improving when I come off the hormone therapy in September.   Although I am aware that it can take quite some time for the testosterone levels to come back.  It is one of the toughest things of this treatment, going from being really fit to barely being able to do 50% of what I could before.    All the advice I have read and seen points to keep exercising, especially weights to keep the side effects of ADT to a minimum.

Jay

I agree with all the "aboves". My own measurable experience was that my cycling power dropped by some 20% plus my ability with weights also fell.

It's both harder to gain any fitness and easier to lose it in a short space of time. The body seems to have the rather perverse idea that it should be putting on fat and even stealing muscle to convert to fat so that you will be ready for your upcoming pregnancy, groan. Best practice is to exercise and go to the gym frequently, maybe even extend the type of activities you do to include some variety with an activity you didn't participate in before.

Also, if you're over 60, a protein supplement is important. Carbs. and sugars tend to assimilate as fat while protein has a better chance of becoming muscle. I've got some links on this in my bio. and it can help a lot. Initially I had problems with fatigue after say half an hour of cycling but protein helped with that. 

Hard to gain in this situation but possible to stop losses at a certain level, hopefully until the testosterone comes back.

Jules

Hi Les 

I started my 20 rounds of RT after 4 months of HT. By then I’d established a routine of cycling, walking and some gym work. I was definitely getting fitter despite the hot flushes and sleeplessness. I found The RT easy at first but as the weeks rolled I definitely got more tired and lost enthusiasm for getting out on my bike.

After it was over I carried on getting more tired for several weeks and lost a lot of sleep due to bladder and bowel issues (these cleared up over night about 4 weeks post therapy). Tamsulosin and solifenacin were both essential in this. I’m just now getting back to pre-RT levels of exercise but it’s hard work and as I’ve said before you gain a bit of fitness and lose it straight away again if you don’t keep at it. 

My advice would be to get as fit as you can pre-RT and to not let up on the activity during the RT and post-RT phases. I did and I regret that now (I think I was just feeling sorry for myself!). 
I can’t speak with any authority to the protein in your diet but I imagine getting into that now pre-RT and dropping some of the carbs would be good way to go. 

Good luck

Frank