After Hormone Therapy

User

Posted 04 Dec 2019 at 16:54

So just had hospital on phone and PSA still low at 0.07 so don’t need to go to consultant appointment tomorrow. I have 36 days till the HT officially starts wearing off and I’m seriously counting down the days....

They will start measuring testosterone from the next blood test which will be interesting.

Doctor told me that my PSA shouldn’t rise after the HT wears off but I was expecting it to go to some kind of normal level as I still have a Prostate????? Is that right ?

Still suffering badly mentally and only have 3 more counselling sessions left so hoping I will feel better when the HT wears off.

I can’t think about not getting my mind back after HT. Wishing I’d had the opportunity to deal with childhood stuff when I was younger. Just burying it doesn’t work forever.

Ciallis 5mg still doing good but the wife going through the menopause and not interested at the moment. Not her fault but something I miss terribly 😢. So I’m lucky and unlucky 🙄.

Any updates on the journeys after HT guys ? Especially related to any mental issues...

Phil

User

Posted 04 Dec 2019 at 17:17

General thinking seems to be that however long you were on HT, it'll take a roughly similar length of time for the effects to wear off. I finish my HT in two months, so I'll be interested in putting the idea to the test myself.

Very best wishes for the future,

Chris

User

Posted 04 Dec 2019 at 17:35

Cheers Chris , I read your other thread and I’m trying not to imagine your chest .....

I was quite quick to get my issues so hopefully quick to lose them ....

Fingers crossed for you too.

Phil

User

Posted 04 Dec 2019 at 23:04

Originally Posted by: Online Community Member

Doctor told me that my PSA shouldn’t rise after the HT wears off but I was expecting it to go to some kind of normal level as I still have a Prostate????? Is that right ?

Doctor is wrong - you still have a prostate, some of which will probably start working again and generate normal levels of PSA. As long as your PSA doesn't reach your lowest measured level + 2.0, you are OK.

It is very good that they will be adding testosterone tests to the PSA tests when you come off HT. Without the testosterone level, you won't know when testosterone starts to return. Often that doesn't happen for some time, and then all of a sudden it will start climbing up. Reviewing your PSA level in conjunction with your testosterone level enables a much better understanding of the results, but it's not often done.

User

Posted 05 Dec 2019 at 09:06

Thanks Andy. I thought it would rise too.

I asked for the testosterone test to be added . They’ve not done it up to now.

Phil

User

Posted 24 Dec 2019 at 10:03

Merry Christmas to all and hope you have a Happy New Year too ...

I now have 16 days till my HT starts to wear off 😳. Have a meeting with my counsellor on the same day. Still suffering in the head and still on 45mg Mirtazapine. Hoping I can wean off after the HT starts to leave my system.

Have stopped the Tamsulosin completely now and all seems OK ...

Hope you guys coming off are doing ok ?

Good luck to all.

Phil

User

Posted 25 Dec 2019 at 06:18

Merry Christmas Phil.

Everything fine with me and I feel good since my HT finished.

My last 3 month injection of Prostap was in January 2019 and I am now on 6 monthly check ups.

Nothing to report which is a good thing I reckon and my next review date is 1st April.

Hoping that the PCA will not take me for a fool that day !!

Pete

Edited by member 25 Dec 2019 at 06:21 | Reason: Not specified

User

Posted 28 Mar 2020 at 01:16

Had my 6 month PSA check on Wednesday.

Still good at < 0.02

So still in remission 5.5 years after RP, 2 years after the end of RT and 1 year after the end of HT.

I can now park PCA at the back of my mind for another 6 months unless the Corona Virus gets me first.

They were very strict at the GP surgery on Wednesday. The reception and waiting room were closed and I entered furtively by the back door where I was met by people in masks who thrust hand sanitiser at me and watched my every move.

Totally surreal.

My hospital Oncology appointment on Wednesday 1st April will now be a telephone appointment which is good because I don’t want to go anywhere near a hospital right now.

Take care everyone and stay safe.

Pete

User

Posted 28 Mar 2020 at 01:32

Great PSA result Pete

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

User

Posted 28 Mar 2020 at 07:31

Great news Pete.

Ange

User

Posted 28 Mar 2020 at 09:02

That’s great Pete. Hope the oncology telephone appointment on Wednesday goes well. I can’t see why not with a PSA if 0.02 .
How are you feeling in yourself, do you feel the HT has left the system now ?

Phil

User

Posted 28 Mar 2020 at 09:13

I feel good thanks Phil.

Doing lots of exercise - mainly on my treadmill and feel fit.

I do get tired in the early evening but maybe that’s an age thing and I do get out of bed around 5am every morning - so not entirely surprising.

Still waiting on my testosterone score - I’m guessing it’s still low because my previously hairy legs only have a little bit of hair now. So maybe the effects of HT are either permanent or slow to reverse.

Not sure but at this stage I’m not complaining.

User

Posted 28 Mar 2020 at 09:15

I will find out the testosterone score next week and will let you know.

User

Posted 28 Mar 2020 at 09:32

Glad your feeling ok and will be interesting to hear your T score.

Mine was 0.7 last time - I was hoping for more 🤣🤣. Nurse wasn’t surprised and said it could take a year, and won’t measure T level for another 6 months. I asked her to add in 3 monthly PSA tests which she did.

Will be good to get the full Libido back etc. etc.....😉

Also feel that the HT has really affected my mind and I’d like that back too. Although as many have pointed out we are never the same after this journey.

Good luck on Wednesday.

Phil

User

Posted 28 Mar 2020 at 11:28

That’s true, we are permanently changed both mentally and physically after the radical cancer treatments and all the agonising.

My T score was 0.2, 9 months ago and 3.7, 6 months ago.

So it is definitely on the move and it will be very interesting to see the latest score.

I must admit, every time I get a good PSA result it feels like a further 6 months reprieve.

The alternative is a second biochemical recurrence which would put me on a much feared slippery slope.

Edited by member 28 Mar 2020 at 11:34 | Reason: Not specified

User

Posted 01 Apr 2020 at 12:22

Hi Guys

Had my telephone Oncology appointment this morning.

T Score was 8.7, up from 3.7, 6 months ago.

This is now about 1 year after the end of HT which I was on for around 18 months,

As previously mentioned PSA remains negligible.

Doc was happy and said that rising T Score with negligible PSA is a good sign although still early days.

I will certainly take that and wait a further 6 months for my next check up.

All good.

Edited by member 01 Apr 2020 at 12:23 | Reason: Not specified

User

Posted 01 Apr 2020 at 12:34

That’s great news ..👍

I see your T has taken a year to get back to 8.7 and was 0.2 at around the 3 month mark. So my 0.8 isn’t so bad at 3 months since HT was due to start diminishing.

Looking forward to my next PSA and T scores in 6 months. I do have a PSA only booked for 3 months but not sure if they’ll still do it due to restrictions , if any at the time.

Hope you can relax now all the signs are good. Keep safe.

Phil

User

Posted 01 Apr 2020 at 18:40

Thanks Phil.

Yes at this time I am quite relaxed about my Pca.

I’m more focussed on the Coronavirus crisis for the time being.

User

Posted 31 Aug 2020 at 13:00

Hey hey Guys and Lyn, I am a Newbie to the site. Ex UK and now living in Victor Harbor, South Australia, where it is currently the last day of Winter and … cold as!

Health-wise I am not too far down the road behind you guys [see my profile]. And most of my issues ( such as muscle wastage; now-tiny ttcles (like marshmallows); a shortened/narrower/often-hiding JT; breasts; flushes; sweats on exercise; mental fog and etc) have been covered by your previous discussions.

Anyway as grim - albeit laced with hope and optimism - as it is, there is comfort in knowing - as Government surveillance would put it - ‘You are not alone’. And hopefully for my part I can inject a bit of humour now and then, such as: Recently someone said to me: ‘Oh well, you’ll probably live to be 90+ ‘ … And I replied: ‘So you’re assuming I want to go shopping three times a week for the next thirteen years.’

Cheers all stay as well as you can be.

Regards, Julian

User

Posted 31 Aug 2020 at 14:36

Welcome Julian.
Sounds like the HT hit you hard physically. I was very lucky with the physical issues but had a hard time mentally. My last injection October ‘19 so still leaving my system for a little while. Hoping my counsellor will start seeing people soon as I am missing the sessions.

Next PSA & T test in 2 weeks and telephone with specialist nurse or consultant in 3 weeks......🤞

Always a worrying time, especially as one of my close friends Seed Brachy hasn’t worked and he’s looking at a life on HT now...

Take care and chin up 👍

Phil

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