ADT aka lets turn this man into a woman

  Well, not exactly.


  First, ADT stands for Androgen Deprivation Therapy.


  Oh that's real clear, tell us more dummy!


  Okay, okay.


  Androgens basically are sex hormones that your body produces. Testosterone and androstenedione are the principal ones and are present in greater numbers in men, but women have them also. Women's bodies just turn them into estrogen.


  The key word is testosterone. So ADT for men tries to deprive the body of testosterone.


  OMGoodness, why in the world would you do that? Simple, PCa thrives in a T rich environment. ADT tells your body to stop producing T, thus slowing the growth of PCa.


  I am currently on Eligard, previous other drugs I have been on are: Firmagon, Lupron, and Casodex.  All of these work to slow or stop the production of T.


  The side effects of any one of these drugs can easily be looked up, or you can go to my first blog post and read about Lupron.


  Long term use of these is pretty critical for persons with metastatic PCa. They can work for very long periods of time or just a few short years. I have been on them since late 2013, except for one year that took as an HT vacation. Currently, I am on intermittent ADT.  This means I take it every three months and after nine months if my PSA is stable then I can stop for awhile.


  But why would you do that?


  Two reasons: One, this crap really makes you feel like the south end of a north bound horse(read my first post). And two, eventually ADT stops working, so you do the intermittent to prolong ADTs effectiveness.