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Shrinking testicles

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User
Posted 07 Jul 2019 at 20:08

So, 2 months into my prostap my testicles definitely seem to have shrunk (unless I'm just being paranoid!), my question is after stopping do they start to return to normal as the testosterone starts to kick back in or is that it !?

User
Posted 08 Jul 2019 at 00:04

I was on bicalutamide and switched to Zoladex. Both caused testicle shrinkage, so I suspect all HT drugs do.

Testicle volume reduced by 65%, between months 2 and 8 on HT, but hasn't changed since. (This equates to reduction in length/width/height of about 30%.)

I asked the same question as you at the time, but didn't get an answer. (There's probably a lack of people who've successfully finished HT treatment and yet still remain in this forum years later to answer questions.)

Talked with my oncologist - my concern was not so much the reduction in size, but if that indicated a greater likelihood of failing to regain testosterone after treatment, and he didn't think it was that simple. Did some reading around and found almost nothing about this, but did see a reference to some part of the testicle atrophying on HT, which I presume means it may not recover size completely. Also, testosterone is produced in one area of the testicle (an alternative to orchidectomy for reasons of ADT is to just remove this part of the testicles). That's interesting because it probably means testosterone production is not necessarily restricted by another part of the testicle atrophying.

User
Posted 08 Jul 2019 at 07:54

My cancer is metastatic so I will be on hormone drugs to the end , now 4.5 years in they keep shrinking  as does my penis, thinner, shorter.  Does it matter to me? There is less in the way now when I run and personally, if they have to disappear so what if I am still alive .

i get the sweats, tiredness, don’t feel like a “man” anymore at times and feel myself getting irritated by stuff inside more however apart fro: the sweats have managed to beat therest with “happy thoughts”. I prepare these In advance , looking forward to a coffee with my wife, a holiday, a trip to the gym, seeing friends and as soon as I get tired, feel a mood coming I blast in a few happy thoughts and suddenly I feel tip top again, works for me anyway!

have a fab day

kev

Dream like you have forever, live like you only have today Avatar is me doing the 600 mile Camino de Santiago May 2019

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User
Posted 08 Jul 2019 at 00:04

I was on bicalutamide and switched to Zoladex. Both caused testicle shrinkage, so I suspect all HT drugs do.

Testicle volume reduced by 65%, between months 2 and 8 on HT, but hasn't changed since. (This equates to reduction in length/width/height of about 30%.)

I asked the same question as you at the time, but didn't get an answer. (There's probably a lack of people who've successfully finished HT treatment and yet still remain in this forum years later to answer questions.)

Talked with my oncologist - my concern was not so much the reduction in size, but if that indicated a greater likelihood of failing to regain testosterone after treatment, and he didn't think it was that simple. Did some reading around and found almost nothing about this, but did see a reference to some part of the testicle atrophying on HT, which I presume means it may not recover size completely. Also, testosterone is produced in one area of the testicle (an alternative to orchidectomy for reasons of ADT is to just remove this part of the testicles). That's interesting because it probably means testosterone production is not necessarily restricted by another part of the testicle atrophying.

User
Posted 08 Jul 2019 at 06:52

Thanks for your reply, same as you I couldn't find much information to go off. 

User
Posted 08 Jul 2019 at 07:52
John's balls got bigger again after he stopped the HT but he was only on it for a few months.

Ray or George are bound to see this thread and post their experience and I am fairly sure that Topgun reported his regained some substance during hormone holidays

"Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards." Soren Kierkegaard

User
Posted 08 Jul 2019 at 07:54

My cancer is metastatic so I will be on hormone drugs to the end , now 4.5 years in they keep shrinking  as does my penis, thinner, shorter.  Does it matter to me? There is less in the way now when I run and personally, if they have to disappear so what if I am still alive .

i get the sweats, tiredness, don’t feel like a “man” anymore at times and feel myself getting irritated by stuff inside more however apart fro: the sweats have managed to beat therest with “happy thoughts”. I prepare these In advance , looking forward to a coffee with my wife, a holiday, a trip to the gym, seeing friends and as soon as I get tired, feel a mood coming I blast in a few happy thoughts and suddenly I feel tip top again, works for me anyway!

have a fab day

kev

Dream like you have forever, live like you only have today Avatar is me doing the 600 mile Camino de Santiago May 2019

User
Posted 08 Jul 2019 at 09:46

Originally Posted by: Online Community Member
My cancer is metastatic so I will be on hormone drugs to the end , now 4.5 years in they keep shrinking as does my penis, thinner, shorter. Does it matter to me? There is less in the way now when I run and personally, if they have to disappear so what if I am still alive .

irun,

Shrinking penis due to HT is avoidable, if that matters to you. I managed to get an ED appointment early on (loss of such function was high on my concerns at the initial Holistic Needs Assessment (HNA), so they arranged the appointment), and to quote my ED nurse,
    "Use it or lose it",
which I've stuck to, even though surprisingly difficult with no libido. Length and circumference haven't reduced by even 1mm so far (10 months).

Having been transferred to a different hospital where my RT starts today, I did another HNA there, which had a lot of detailed sexual function questions. They made it clear why they were asking - if you are not sexually active during HT, penis function will permanently decline, in which case they would offer extra support to try and avoid this. (It doesn't say what that is, but I'm guessing advice to masturbate regularly or if you can't, to use a vacuum pump device.) The important thing is to have regular erections, naturally or artificially. They also asked if I was on a PDE5 inhibitor (which I am, daily Tadalafil, since starting HT). I'm guessing they might have prescribed them if I didn't already have them.

This issue won't be important to everyone, but when it is, it can be avoided. It seems many patients on HT are not told this and miss out.

User
Posted 08 Jul 2019 at 10:30

On HT (zoladex) for 47 months. Yes is the short answer. But it did take quite a long time and as at times now they start to reduce but never go as far as they did.

Ray

 
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