David..you've probably read in my posts about
supplementing "T" after I reached 2 yrs. post treatment with a PSA of <0.1.........my levels have been in the mid-300's since after my surgery. I had no reference point pre-surgery--mainly becasue I, like you, didn't have any complaints. ( in retrospect, though, I was probably declining and didn't really focus on that until I had a more precipitous decline 3 months after surgery). I've immersed myself in researching the pros and cons of this as you can imagine........what I've learned is that most of us start experiencing a slow and steady decrease around the age of 40 at a 1-2% pace per year. Most, not all..........and what's "normal" for one man at any age, is not necessarily normal for another man at that age. Similarly, identical levels in one man won't produce the same symptoms (or lack of) in another. What was considered gospel up until recently (that T automatically feeds cancer) has been turned on its head. There are now studies that indicate that having higher T levels protects not only against cancer, but against a host of other things as well (cardiovascular disease, etc.).......as T levels decline, incidences of PCa and other diseases increase as we age.
In answering your questons, I'll use me as an example---I've had no BCR in 2 years. My levels have fluctuated from 321-496 in that span. My uro has refrained from supplementing until now, aguing that raising T "might" feed any cancer cells. But the other side of that coin is at 350 or whatever, I've got enough T for cells to latch on to, and if that was true, why wasn't the uro lowering me to castration levels?-------no answer. Or if I had a level of 600, hypothetically, and had a BCR, we wouldn't be talking about lowering my levles to 350, we'd be talking about <50.
Will a higher level of natural T worsen PCa?--------I have a friend my age who had open prostatectomy 10 years ago. He's been undetectable since, but has T levels around 800. No complaints, and no attempts by his uro to lower his T-------I also realize that a man's pre & post treatment stats have to be considered as well.
I'm at day 15 of supplementation at .5 mg/ml of bioidentical testosterone. It's a very conservative dose, and I haven't experienced any sexual rushes, or surges of strength, and probably won't for a while as it takes time to build up endocrine levels. I think I do feel a little more clear-headed and a little less tired........also, it's really the free "T" levels that matter, and they can be affected by a bunch of other markers such as aromatase, SHBG, etc.--------I'll save getting into the weeds on that discussion for a more pointed thread. Just wanted to throw my two cents your way in answer to your questions.
Arnie in DE