New to the site

[menew123 (imported)]

I am 77 years old and am considering castration as a why to prevent prostate cancer. I have an appointment with my urologist the first week in March. I've been seeing him for many years. My PSA tests have climbed into the high 6's over the past several years, a jump from the low 2's previously. My urologist is not concerned. I plan to approach him on being castrated at my next appointment. I'd rather not take a chance by ingnoring the PSA results and hope it's nothing to be concerned about.

My mother died or ovarian cancer and her side of the family has cancer issues. I'm pretty healthy now and figure I've got a good 15 years left. I don't want to spend the good years I have left in radiation therapy or taking drugs that my do in my liver. I read through the posts on older people being castrated, but didn't see anything that would apply to me. My wife is supportive of what ever I choose to do. If Angelina Jolie can take drastic measures, why not.

I'd sure appreciate any advise you can pass along.

[GordonGG (imported)]

Welcome to a good forum.

[cutnbulls2ox (imported)]

Welcome to a great site for your situation. There is a post on the forums here asking how many men are on here to look into getting castrated over prostate cancer worries. Many men responded on that post and talked about thinking of getting themselves castrated for exactly your reasoning, or had been castrated with your motivation as part of their desire to get castrated.

II agree that at your age, long done making babies, and with your very thoughful wife fully supporting you, that you looking into getting steered makes a lot of sense. When you weigh and compare the pros and cons of getting castrated in your situation, the pros look pretty convincing ! And the cons are not nearly what they were when you were a younger man. I hope your dr grew up on a farm or ranch and knows that some men do need gelding, sometimes more than most livestock do. And you re certainly old enough to make such a life changing decision for yourself. You re not some teen young buck who doesn t know what he s doing. You ve gotten a long life of use, reproduction, sex, masculinization, muscles, and enjoyment from your gonads. Those are all decreasing naturally with age now. And age is slowly turning off all of your balls functions, no matter what you do now. You sound like a prime candidate for a beneficial voluntary castration.

This website contains tons of great information on castration itself and how its done. And on what to expect in changes in your body and mind after your balls are gone or if they stop working with age naturally. Us men will all get castrated by age if we live long enough. No avoiding that. How many more years of gonad function can a man realistically expect at 77 years old anyway ?

The biggest question is how effective castrating you now will be in preventing or slowing any prostate cancer. That s tough to answer. There are some past studies of that question posted on past forums that you can search for on here to read them yourself.

Testing your current testosterone levels to see how much your balls are producing is a good and smart place to start checking your prostate cancer risks. Maybe the dr can get your testosterone level tests covered as medically necessary for evaluating a high risk of getting prostate cancer patient. But your castration costs probably won t be covered by your insurance unless your dr finds something wrong with your balls or prostate to make it medically necessary to castrate you. Otherwise you might have to pay for your castration costs and work out a lower price with your dr before he gelds you.

Good luck with your dr. I hope he sees the wisdom of what you re thinking of doing. Welcome to a great website.

[cutnbulls2ox (imported)]

Read the recent posts on this forum about Tagamet, the over the counter stomach acid reduction medicine that you can buy at any drug store with no prescription. It sounds like a do it yourself castrating pill. Check that out if your dr says no or he costs too much to castrate you.

[cutnbulls2ox (imported)]

Look under surgical castraion and prostate cancer in these forums to find my past post on this topic. Lots of men commented on it for you to read their different thoughts and castration experiences for prostate cancer risks.

[Cseriess (imported)]

At 55 my psa jumped to double digits. My father, uncle and cousin were all dead within 12 months of diagnosis of PC. A 12 point prostate biopsy didnt find any cancer. I was told, and my research agreed, castration does not prevent pc. If you have a testosterone fueled pc( not all of them are) it will slow or maybe stop its progression Trans females still get PC. There seems to be a real gulf between mens reproductive health and females. The medical profession have no problem doing hysterectomy surgery as prevention, but I was looked at as though I might need mental help at asking my urologist about castration and prostatectomy as prevention for what I feel is inevitable. Please keep us posted on your experience.

[menew123 (imported)]

Thanks for all your replies. My urologist appointment is the first week in March. I'll know more then. The research I've done makes castration appear to be the alternative with the least side effects. The statistics show a 98% 10 year survival rate if you do nothing. However there is a 43%+ chance the cancer will spread. Then the survival rate drops to 26%. Not worth the risk to me. A good friend had his prostrate removed after only a PSA of 3.5. The side effects are awful from what I've read. He is still in recovery so side effects remain to be seen.

[hans-europe (imported)]

Hi, saw your posting and have similar mind. Especially if cancer in the family happened. A look for your health is very important. Hysterectomy and prostatatectomy is a good method to prevent. Of course a guarantee you will never have. Often it’s too late. Nobody like such a way.

[Paolo]

From the list of serious side effects listed at webmd:

Tell your doctor right away if any of these unlikely but serious side effects occur: mental/mood changes (e.g., agitation, confusion, depression, hallucinations), trouble urinating, muscle/joint pain, breast swelling/soreness in males, decreased sexual ability (with very high doses of this medication).

[menew123 (imported)]

Have not seen the urologist yet. He cancelled my appointment twice. I have since found a new urologist. Appointment is March 17th. He is a DO rather then an MD which I prefer. The issues with my current urologist started when I began calling other U's for a second opinion. I requested my current PSA test include testosterone and estrogen levels. He denied my request - not germane to my case. BTW my Feb 24th PSA was 6.3.