Had last Prostap 3 injection last week....what next?

User

Posted 24 Aug 2020 at 16:06

Had my last prostap 3 injection last week so it should run out around 21st Nov. I've read different articles on testosterone recovery but wanted to see how fast it has recovered from you guys. I've had chemo, 37 fractions and 18 months Prostap, 53, slim and fit (if that makes any difference).

The hormones acted quite fast on me when I first took them.

I also wanted to know if there were any changes mentally as well as physically that made you know that your T levels were getting higher.

Thanks in advance

Stal

User

Posted 24 Aug 2020 at 18:15

Stal,

You may see recovery in anything from 3 to 18 months, although most likely somewhere in the middle.

When you get PSA tests done, you might also ask for a testosterone test to be included, as the PSA test is much more meaningful if you know how much your testosterone has returned.

You still have a prostate, so you expect your PSA to rise as your testosterone recovers. Looks like your PSA nadir was undetectable, so you are fine providing your PSA doesn't rise beyond 2.

User

Posted 24 Aug 2020 at 21:16

The general rule of thumb is that it takes as long to completely leave your system as the time you were actually on it, so in your case 18 months. On the other hand, there are predictions of doom and gloom if someone is late having their injection so there must be reason to think that the testosterone could start production immediately after the last injection ran out. The common experience is that if the side effects came on quickly, then they tend to wear off quickly and if they took a long time to build up then they will take a long time to completely wear off.

Based on members here over the years, the earliest signs of returning testosterone are feeling randy and regaining body hair.

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

User

Posted 25 Aug 2020 at 09:21

Thanks for the replies, sooo looking forward to getting my testosterone back, I'm the impatient type. I've been having regular fun in the bedroom throughout all my treatments (with Cialis + cockring and regular pump rehabilitation ) but its took a lot of mental effort, focus and I'm finding it mentally draining after 18 months, I find it very very hard to orgasm nowadays and can only do it through masturbation so really only having fun to keep intimacy levels up and give my partner pleasure, because she's worth it. I can empathise with the few members on here that have stopped HT for quality of life but if it came to the crunch of lifetime HT I think I would be really disappointed but do it and try my hardest to keep up intimacy as best I could even if I 'wasn't in to it'.

Stal

User

Posted 25 Aug 2020 at 10:38

Hi Stal, was it your decision to end the HT after 18 months? I've been on it 2 years and find the side effects debilitating.
I asked my Onco at the last consultation about an HT holiday as my PSA was undetectable but he recommends I continue with the treatment.

John

User

Posted 25 Aug 2020 at 11:07

Hi Jasper, no not my decision. All through this I have had no decisions to make really, my consultant has been really good communication wise. It was a sort of - you have this type of PCa + mesorectal lymph node involvement so surgery is a hard no and to cure you we will do this, this and this because its your only option if you want to be cured. I am relatively young, fit and breezed all the treatment's and he said there's no real data that says 3yrs is better than 18months of HT however he did say I will be monitored closely due to metastases to a mesorectol node.( which was included in my full pelvic RT plan) The last injection date has been something I've been looking forward to like a birthday 😂

Stal

User

Posted 25 Aug 2020 at 13:56

Jasper,

Looking at your profile, you were metastatic at diagnosis. This would normally mean continuous hormone therapy. You had CT scan for the met, but I can't see if they thought it was no longer there and no longer metastatic.

You had radiotherapy which would not normally be given if metastatic (although some advantages recently identified).

Duration on hormone therapy depends if you are metastatic or not, and I can't tell from your profile.

What bad side effects are you getting on hormone therapy. Many can be helped with self-help or prescription drugs.

Edited by member 25 Aug 2020 at 13:58 | Reason: Not specified

User

Posted 25 Aug 2020 at 15:42

Latest research indicates no survival / recurrence benefit of 36 months v 18. Definite QOL benefit identifed for 18 month though.

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