bobbie (imported) wrote: Wed Dec 05, 2007 4:49 pm Between chemical castration and the real thing I have not ejaculated in years. I am not on any HRT. The most I have is a little precum once in a great while. Precum is not produced by the prostrate gland anyways, so it does not count. I had a complete physical a few weeks back and included the digital prostrate exam. Doctor said small and soft where it was large and firm in exam years before. The PSA number is >.1 or in another words can not be detected. PSA is the blood test to detect possible prostrate cancer. Doctor said my chances of getting prostrate cancer are extremely small now. Well that is one less thing I can catch.

im back on T and im having prostate problems from the shrinkage, it seems the other glands making semen dont shrink, just turn off from the lack of T. I had also not ejaculated since CC year 3 to 4... My adult size glands are overloading my child sized prostate. I wont go into the gory details of treatment.

i have been on androgel a long time now...10 years?

my prostate and psa have stayed very small for lots of years

The doctors see no increase in my prostate at all .....it was the size of a large walnut and shrank to the size of a marble in a month after my hormones were gone.

semen dried up...the androgel has not increased it at all.If it accumulates for a month there is a little ...otherwise nothing...

androgel does increase libido off the scale

there are a few minor hormones that TRT does not replace that by mainstream endocrinology are thought of as no significance. For some reason, and it may be related, BPH, prostate cancer, and the like are much more rare in men on TRT than men on natural T. It may be these minor hormones are the actual cause of the problems, since the adrenals basically dont put them out at all. Its also thought bad E2/T ratio as seen in many older men can be the cause also. Many TRT patients keep E2 controlled so this has been taken notice by current urology.

Ill have to get their names, its been a LOOOONG time since school..

I too have had a similar experience to Allan above with most of the same consequences. I had the da Vinci machine (surgical robot) which was supposed to minimise damage. Net result was that everything healed up very quickly and I was walking around the day after the surgery and mobile at home in two days albeit with a catheter. Was advised that both nerve bundles remained undisturbed so potency and continence were expected to return quickly. Not the case so far. At 6 months out, potency remains very occasional even using Viagra, Levitra, Cialis I havent yet tried the injections. Intercourse is difficult but not entirely impossible. Continence has just about fully returned but I have to keep up the pelvic floor exercises to stop the occasional dribble. My orgasms when they occurred, fortunately manually induced, resulted in climacturia (ejecting urine instead of semen), usually emptying the bladder quite forcibly. I am told this will disappear but so far no sign and very inhibiting on activities. However the advice is that it typically takes 18 months for things to come back to reasonable function. The accompanying sensation is directly proportion to the fullness of the bladder further complicating any sexual activities. So still working on it. Am nearly 70 so should be getting over it anyway I suppose.

Am I sorry I went the way I did? No but I am not really all that sure. I looked at all the options and really made an informed decision that fitted my particular situation. Radiation didn't appeal since it can result in radiation burn damage to adjoining structuresand is particularly bad if the bowel gets affected. Also there is no real assurance of total cure and once radiated, a prostatectomy cannot be done safely.

There was the option of doing nothing and trying to slow it down so that it didn't get too serious before something else got me. That would have required T suppression with lifestyle consequences of loss of muscle mass, osteoporosis etc.Also if the cancer wins, it is a verrrrry painful way to go.

The real deciding factor that tipped the scales in the end was that mine was an early stage cancer and once the prostate is gone is out the threat of prostate cancer disappears completely forever. I agonised over it all, though, for about three months before I went for the final solution.

Right now I am in good health and reasonably fit so getting along all right with most of my activities. I am using T gels to offset my damaged testicles (extensive banding and piercing plus ravages of time not a consequence of the surgery). I think my strength has picked up a bit so overall am happy with myself and where I am at. Life goes on. Still think about removing the balls though but not as strongly as I once did. Maybe a bit more abuse will shut them down all together and I could then get them surgically removed D:D I did think about asking the Surgeon to take care of them along with the prostate but chickened out.

Hope this helps any one else who is in this position. Life continues at a little slower pace and is still enjoyable even if some of the peaks are shaved off. One thing I would say to everyone here, if you are over 40, get annual PSA blood tests so that you will know if your prostate is acting up in time to do something about it. If you have family history of prostate cancer start the testing at 25. If you get it early enough you will be reasonably OK and functional. If not, PC is a terrible way to die.

With that I will get off my and leave you all in peace

Thank you Francis,

A good post and not a bad thing to bump this very informative thread. I'm 54 now and you've reminded me that it's a few years since I had either a psa test or a digital rectal exam. I'll ask for an interview with my doctor on Monday.

I hope you continue to make good progress.

Best wishes

Riven

Francis, interestingly enough I'm having da Vinci surgery tomorrow in Philadelphia at Presbyterian Hospital on the University of Penn Campus. My surgeon is Dr David Lee. He's ranked among the top three PCa surgeons. He told me to expect about 4 to six weeks of mild incontinence (drips). Impotence will take a bit longer but he says he will spare the nerves. In fact the first thing he said as he described what he will do is "move the nerves out of the way" then he'll remove the prostate, urethra, the bladder sphincter, the pelvic lymph noses, the seminal vessel and the flap of fat that lies between the prostate an the abdomen muscles. The whole op takes 45min to an hour.

I'll have an overnight and then home with a catheter for six days.

I hope I won't be too drippy with the catheter because I have two back to back dog shows at Leihigh University in Bethlehem PA this weekend! I guess I'll see how good his prediction is that I'll be up and about in two days.

I too looked at external and internal (seeds) radiation with chemotherapy. The long term chances of nearby organ damage as well as the side effects of chemo pushed me to da Vinci.

I'm 65yo and sex has become less urgent that it was even ten years ago.

Good luck. I look forward to hearing how you are progressing.

M