My History

1. In 2015 my PSA went above 4 ng/ml, the magic number that indicates possible cancer. I put off a biopsy since I had heard on the internet that it was rife with side effects and pain. Lesson learned: lots of bro-science, individual experiences, and conspiracy theories on the internet. They are mostly just entertainment or interesting stories and should be treated as such. I already had this opinion of internet “information” but I wanted an excuse not to do a biopsy.
2. In 2018 my PSA was still rapidly increasing and was up to 12 ng/ml. So, despite my trepidations I had a biopsy in 08/2018. The biopsy diagnosis was that I had Gleason 3+4, T1, localized cancer. The prognosis at this time was that I would not die of prostate cancer. By the way, the biopsy side effects were minimal and went away completely within a week or so. And there was hardly any pain. Bro-science 0, real science 1.
3. In 12/2018 I had a radical prostatectomy at the Mayo clinic, The diagnosis: Gleason 4+5. T3b. A local lymph node was involved. Seminal vesicle and bladder wall invasion. A second opinion from Johns Hopkins resulted in a diagnosis that was substantially the same. The prognosis from my oncologist and my urologist at the Mayo clinic was that I had a maximum of 3 months before I was in pain from the cancer.
4. For 1 month after surgery I didn’t do much of anything. Mostly I stayed in bed, played video games, and reflected on life.
5. For the following 3 months I did IV-C 50g 3x/week, phenelzine 60 mg/day, and curcumin 1 g/day. I met with the Mayo clinic urologist one last time and he was “shocked” that my PSA had not gone up and that there was no sign of cancer.
6. I was exploring options and after the 3 months were up I did 5 months of ADT (I used estrogen patches and Zytiga, for the most part my testosterone was undetectable), IV-C 50g 3x/week, metformin 1500 mg/day, statin (fairly low dose), vitamin D (target serum level about 35 ng/ml), Zytiga 1000 mg/day, prednisone 7.5mg/day, curcumin 1 g/day, and phenelzine 60 mg/day.
7. After the E-ADT (estrogen based ADT) I did 1 month Casodex 150 mg/day with dutasteride 0.5 mg/day, IV-C 50g 3x/week, metformin 1500 mg/day, statin (fairly low dose), vitamin D (target serum level about 35 ng/ml), Zytiga 1000 mg/day, prednisone 10 mg/day, curcumin 1 g/day, and phenelzine 60 mg/day. I changed from ADT to Casodex in the hope that my libido and muscle mass would return. But even though my testosterone was considerably higher (2000 ng/dl) the ARs (androgen receptors) were blocked so the effects were very similar to E-ADT.
8. By this time it was about 10 months after RP (late September 2019). I took a gamble and tried testosterone injections. As of 03/2021 I have been on 400mg/week testosterone cypionate injections (my testosterone ranges from 2100 ng/dl to > 30000 ng/dl), dutasteride 0.5mg/day (I stopped this around 10/2020), Finasteride 5mg/day, Zytiga 250 mg/day with food, prednisone 10 mg/day, metformin 1500 mg/day, statin (high dose – not every day, and because most of the statins I tried gave me severe insomnia, through trial and error I wound up taking Lovastatin 80 mg/day or red yeast rice with a dose high enough to obtain 80 mg of the active ingredient in lovastatin), vitamin D (target serum level about 30-60 ng/ml), cabergoline 0.5mg/week, letrozole 5mg/week, curcumin 1 g/day, and phenelzine 60 mg/day.

There is a considerable amount of evidence that moderate to high amounts of exercise decrease PCa mortality. In 2021 I read a newer study that concluded that low BMI, high muscle mass, and low body fat decrease PCa mortality.

So, throughout this entire journey I have been exercising 3-5 hours a week. Bodybuilding style because I am interested in hypertrophy. Nutrients are a limited resource in the body and I theorize that muscle cells compete with cancer cells for these resources. Fat cells do not need as much support or nutrition as muscle cells. Therefore my exercises are primarily geared towards body fat reduction and muscular hypertrophy.

In addition to the bodybuilding workouts I try to get in about an hour or so of cardio each week. And also some Yoga and Pilates and some stability exercises. Flexibility and stability are issues with older adults.

I have also taken and continue to take miscellaneous supplements and drugs throughout. And a few miscellaneous therapies. The supplements are detailed in the supplements post but it does not show a history of changes. The therapies are in the therapies post (again, no history of changes).