Low testosterone

I had the Urologist test for low testosterone, and just had a call from his Nurse, I was right, it's very low. We had spoken about it, and he felt that as the Pca had not spred, and all my PSA results have been undetectable, he would not have a problem with treating the low testosterone. I am set to visit a Endo Doctor, but wondered has anyone else been down this road? My first research would lead me to think that at 55, the problems from low levels may outweigh the negatives?

Beachbum

Life's a beach!

Hello – I’m doing some research on hypogonadism (also known as Low Testosterone or Low T) to better understand how the condition impacts men who have it and how they treat it.  I would appreciate any and all responses to this very quick survey. http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/NNT6JBZ

Beachbum, I too had low testosterone at about the onset of my PCa (all docs insist it is coincidence and not my body reacting to the cancer). I believe it contributed to my ED recovery, and was related to some amount of depression. My surgeon was OK with me getting gel treatments to increase the testosterone. I was in the range of 180-280 without supplementation. Gel got me to where normal is supposed to be (around 500), and it definitely made me feel more like a normal guy again. My levels were all over the map, however, from 200-800, and the doc got tired of trying to chase it with adjusting the dosage. She was just ready to insert a testopel into my butt (which is a 6-month dosage that obviates the need for the gel, which is a hassle everyday) when my PSA became non-detectable. My wife is a bit upset about it all, wondering if the supplementation helped speed up the recurrence, but I don't regret it (I think...). I wanted to have a shot at getting the ED in check, and would have been wondering and probably resentful if I hadn't had the opportunity. My GP said that I was lucky he wasn't treating me, because there would be no way he would prescribe any testosterone, ever. So I think it is a matter of opinion from the medical field about supplementing testosterone at all. For that matter, there are a few outliers that believe that more testosterone is actually combative to PCa (but those MDs are definitely in the vast minority).

When I had a recurrence, I immediately stopped supplementing, and didn't get the testopel (in fact, I was days away from that mistake), and now I won't get the opportunity to increase my testosterone, I figure, ever. Oh, well, as others have said on the site here many times... it is what it is.

As for your case, I can't venture an opinion, just share mine. I think you're playing a little with fire, but not everyone that does gets burned.
Regards, Jeff

this is approved.

Low libido is a common result of the surgery for many men. Apparently, it is not too well known why this is. It could be partially due to the hassles that some of us have to go through to get working erections, but in your case, Sooner, that wouldn't be it (good for you!) 350 does not sound particularly low. My understanding is that T levels drop gradually as men age, and for your age, a range of 240 to over 500 would be considered normal. My doc was aiming for 500 when I was supplementing, which is about the mean for younger men. My last reading was 130, and I can definitely tell the difference libido-wise compared to when I was supplementing.

I'll also say that even when I was at normal T levels via supplementation, I still did not have the libido I had prior to surgery. I have to believe that some of this is physiological and not psychological.

Thanks to each of you for your thoughts, I am meeting with an Endo in August to see what might be causing the low T, and if he has any options before I make any decisions. Swimom, yes, God does love a cheerful giver, have not seen that in Latin since my Latin 1 class in 1971!

Lifes a Beach, watch out for the crabs!

Beachbum

Hi Beach Bum, sorry to hear about your low T. I used to post here a long time ago, well a couple years anyway! I suffered w/ low T for 2 &1/2 years after my radical (7 years ago this Aug.!!!) and had no idea what was wrong w/ me! Depression got really bad along w/ other problems like no libido and penis atrofie. It got so bad after seeing shrinks and doc's who thought I was outright crazy and so did I!!!!
Once descovered by my primary care doc who refused to treat me, I was unable to find a doc, endo or uro who would treat me w/ TRT or testosterrone replacement theropy! They all told me it was like throwing gas on fire to give me T after having P/C!!! I finally found a doc who was speeking at an "Us Too" meeting who said he believed that ones quality of life was important and agreed to treat me. Then here in H/W I met Swimom who's husband had low T and Biker Jim had just been diognosed also! With their help and the support of other here, especially Jet Guy, I learned how to live again!!! I can't say enough about them!!! I started w/ the gels like Testim and the other one, I forget the name but my T kept dropping and I needed more and more gel which became rediculis!!! So I started shots at the Dr's office after about a year on the gels! I was getting one a month which worked for about another year or so. Then blood tests showed that between 3 and 4 weeks my T would drop like a lead balloon! Like from 600 to 75 in that 3rd week! So I started getting a shot every 3 weeks at the dr's office which began getting expensive!! So we made arangements to have my wife give me a shot every 3 weeks and thats where I an today! I can still feel it dropping twards the end of the 3rd week ( I start falling asleep and getting really tired) Also my libido goes sky high about a week after my shot (my poor wife!) then drops off twards the third week> (no intrest!)
This problem is much more common than they used to think w/ post radical patiants!!! There are a lot of us!!! The Docs have also loosened up alot more then they were back when I was diagnosed. Many more will treat you if you have zeros on your PSA tests for over a year or two and a low grade Gleason score!!!
So Good luck and if you have any questions, I will check in here for a few days!
Your Friend,
Pete

OK, a little more looking online, the difference is this:
US uses ng/dL, Australia / Canada uses nmol/L. See "sex hormone" at this link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reference_ranges_for_blood_tests
It appears that you multiply the Aus/Canada reading by 28.8 to get the US reading, since there are 288.42 g/mole for testosterone if this page is correct:
http://forum.onlineconversion.com/showthread.php?t=11328 .
Jeff