44yr old male worried sick

Chris,

You are doing absolutely the right thing by being checked out.

The most common symptom of prostate cancer (PCa) is...

nothing.

Many of the symptoms you list can be signs of PCa, but in the majority of cases, they are something else, usually Benign Prostate Hyperplasia (BPH), which is an enlarged prostate and is not cancer and is not life threatening and doesn't increase your chance of getting cancer.

The blood test is a bit close to the DRE, but do it anyway, and if it came back marginally high, ask for another one. Also, avoid cycling and ejaculation 2-3 days before the test - they also push the result up.

Do not worry about being disrespectful with your question. Nothing pleases the folks here more than seeing someone getting tested and finding they're free of PCa - we don't wish it on others, and are perfectly happy to answer any questions you have.

I think you just need to try and calm down until you get your result, and we all hope it's a nice low number. Let us know what happens.

One thing you might try is to measure how much you pee at a time into a measuring jug. This information may be useful next time you see the doctor. If you want to be really diligent, record the time, how badly you felt you needed to go, and the volume each time for a few days, and take this with you when you go back to see the doctor. You might be peeing frequently because your body is passing a lot of water through, or it might be because you get a premature urge to go, or it might be fear of leakage, or it might be you aren't fully emptying your bladder each time.

This is all useful information for the doctor (and urologist if they refer you) which you can collect before your next visit.

To test for completely emptying the bladder, after you finished peeing, wait there half a minute, and then try peeing again and see if there was more in there - this is called double voiding. If you find you can still pee more than a few drops second time, you should perform double voiding routinely, as it is important to empty your bladder every time you pee to reduce the risk of urinary infections. Sometimes, sitting on the loo for the second voiding works better than standing. Also, you might find if you sit to pee, you no longer need to double void to empty your bladder.

The other thing is that people with problems peeing will often get into a habit of peeing whenever they get the opportunity. This 'trains' the bladder into expecting not to get full, and causes you to feel you need to pee before the bladder gets full, and you find yourself having to pee more often, making the symptoms worse. Recovery from this is called bladder retraining, but you probably need to get the leakage fixed before you can embark on that.You could also look up pelvic floor exercises. These might help with leakage (depending on what the problem is).

Anyway, wishing you the best of luck with your PSA test and let us know how it works out. Ask any more questions that spring to mind too.

Edited by member 04 Jul 2019 at 11:20  | Reason: Not specified

It sounds like you are really stressing yourself out with worry, which is feeding back into the problems.

Pooing and peeing should be relaxing, not stressful.

Try taking a book in with you to read, or browse your phone/social media whilst sitting on the loo to take your mind off it and help you relax, and it should come naturally. (Don't spend ages sitting on a loo seat though - that can cause other issues.)

Edited by member 04 Jul 2019 at 12:02  | Reason: Not specified

My urine is always clear, think it is due to the amount of water i drink during the day.

I am trying to relax, its just i have this awful feeling this psa number will be high

ahh ok, i dont drink because i am thirsty, i drink to try to be healty!!

see https://advinurology.com/surgery/uroflowmetry/

std test after my catheter was removed.

these are not symptoms of pca.

what is your flow rate ?

ie how long are you urinating ?

I totally agree re. andy. with all his suggestions. 

could you be over hydrating ? urine should be very pale yellow . not totally 'clear '

obviously the body needs more some days than others.

ie exercise. temp. humidity etc.  I drink plain tap water when I need it, not to any fixed schedule.  If urine looks strong , I drink more.

I can only hold about 350ml now.  Go about 6 times a day.

obviusly only pass a lot less than 350ml on some trips. 

as I'm sure you know over hydration is potentially very dangerous . 're long distance running.

if you are urinating every 3 hrs. surely you are not passing stool at same time.  

only logic could be you are actually pushing harder to empty bladder without realising it.  you possibly wouldn't anyway, if this has changed over a long time. This is then triggering an urge to empty rectum.   This would indicate possible BPH.  again get it all checked out with GP.

I would compile data etc and explain all to GP.   

There's a lot going on here. 

again I don't know the distances and regulatory of your running. 

are you drinking plain water or additives ?  

 what is your caffeine input?

hope this helps.

Gordon 

Edited by member 04 Jul 2019 at 23:37  | Reason: Not specified

This is exactly what I described in my first post. Look at bladder retraining techniques.

Prostate size cannot be determined by a DRE, beyond "bigger than normal" in some cases, but not reliably so. Mine felt normal in a DRE, but was actually over 3 times normal volume on a scan. This doesn't rule out BPH.

Edited by member 05 Jul 2019 at 10:03  | Reason: Not specified

Sorry to be a pain. 

Quick update 

Just been to toilet and did just under 500ml In 20 seconds.

Not sure what that means but that's what I did 

Thanks again for your help.

I don't think I was forcing it out but I guess I could have been as I was trying to be fast. 

Guess I'll have to do it again 

hi Chris

interesting. you are obviously very fit.   doesnt seem much wrong at all.   At least you will have a PSA baseline.  whatever the value.  

May I ask what time are you getting up at night for wee ?  At 44 this seems something not I would expect ?   how long has this being going on ?

This surely disrupts deep sleep .  rest etc.

Are you very active and drinking a lot post 9pm.?   

I wouldn't expect to get up during my 8 hr sleep and none of our 3 kids did after about 3 to 4 yrs old.. 

600ml is good bladder volume.  have you tried to hold more tho ugh? 

Gordon 

Now I'm freaking out about going during the night 😭

Your kidneys slow down urine production overnight, to avoid waking you for a pee, and on the basis they don't expect you to drink excessively overnight anyway. You are probably overwhelming this mechanism with the amount you are drinking. This mechanism does start becoming less effective with age too, but not normally until 55 or later.

Unless you are actually thirsty and dehydrated, you should probably avoid drinking for last couple of hours before going to bed, and empty your bladder just before going to bed. Drinking a lot when your kidneys are being told to slow down will probably be raising your blood pressure overnight, which isn't good either. Drinking fruit juice overnight is probably also a bad idea. Your teeth will remain in contact with the acid and sugar for long time.

I think most likely you are a hypochondriac and overhydrating (at least I'm hoping so).

I am sure that your all getting sick of me by now again I apologise for constant questions. My mind is racing away with me and instead of googling I prefer to ask on here. 

What does the pain feel like when the cancer spreads to your bones? I have had a bad bottom of back pain come and go for months now and also a stiff neck too. I have always put this down to the running but now I'm thinking it could be more. 

However surely if it had spread to bones I'd not be able to run 16 miles in 2 hours like I did this morning? 

Sorry again 

You're right I'm sorry 

Ok so went back to the Dr's today for my results.

Basically everything has come back normal. I asked about my PSA number and he said it was very normal, cant remeber the exact number but was something like 0.36. He said this coupled with a normal DSE means he is very confident i dont have cancer.

I got my self so worked up that i didnt take much of it in, he said he thinks i have over active bladder and has given me leaflets etc on how to control this myself before he will go down the medicarion route.

The only thing nagging at me when i got home was should i have asked about getting a repeat PSA in 6 months...but i kind of get the feeling he would have said no as he was quite adamant i had nothing serious going on.

Anyway i just had to come back and tell you all, as you have all been amazing on here with you're help and advice.