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I am 100% sure I have prostate cancer and scared to death

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User
Posted 20 May 2023 at 11:28

Hi everybody

Sorry I write here and bother with my problem, I do not know what to do, I can not sleep and I am shaking all over my body. I am now, since yesterday 100% that I have aggressive prostate cancer...

My story goes like this: I am 54 years old. Approximately 6 weeks ago I had a severe bladder infection with high grade fever for 3 days and burning when urinating. I had many urinary infects, one last year, many 20 years ago, but I never had systemic disease for 3 days, only burning, even severe one. I had burning, itching also when I passed stool and the stool went by my prostate. It was better, but 20% of the symptoms remain. I got another culture for bacteria and Pseudomonas was found, which is drug resistant one. I was given cipro and I still had 5% of the symptoms, namely too frequent urination and slight stinging in my penis. I also got balanitis from cipro, but I got rid of it.

That is how it went last month and half. As I gave PSA in december 2021 (0.67, like in december 2019), I gave PSA again 10 days ago. It was 1.335 and I was in shock as soon as I googled it... This is way off, but I somehow managed to put it off on the UTI, as 10 days ago I still had some leukocytes in urine and uricult was still positive.

Now yesterday I gave PSA again and it is 1.365, that is 0.03 more in mere 10 days. I do have cancerphobia from the past, but there was never such a strong indication this must be aggressive prostate cancer. Now my UTI is cleared and the PSA should go down if it was from UTI, but it has gone up in so short time.

I do not think it can be BPH as this would not double in 17 months to produce 100% more PSA. It can not be psostatistis, as I do not have any symptoms (last few days I am 100% free of symptoms of UTI), so the only thing that rises PSA so quick is aggressive cancer, which goes with my (young for PC) age. On top of this my dad had prostate cancer at age 70. He did have slow one, he dies from heart at age 87 with PC not because of it.

I am now reading that the only option of PC is total removal, that causes urinary problems and sex life is mostly gone, at least what healthy one considers sex life.

I am totaly devastated now, I made myself appointment to urologist, but I don't think it can be anything else. I will do stomach ultrasound, I don't know if that helps, but it will measure my prostate again, 17 months ago it was 20 mm3, that makes it small and the PSA rise even more cancer related.

I didn't do free PSA as the lab told me my total PSA is too small for now and the % of free could be inaccurate and I could be worrying for nothing. That obviously didn't help my worry, as now I am only crying, even if I survive my life would be so different...

I know you can not help me, I thank you for listening to me. I will write about my progress for anybody who is is the same shoes some day.

Jerry

User
Posted 01 Jun 2023 at 17:22
You need to see a psychologist or psychiatrist- otherwise you are going to waste your life worrying about things that don't exist
"Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards." Soren Kierkegaard

User
Posted 23 May 2023 at 18:51
There you go then - good news. Glad it went well!

All the best,

Chris

User
Posted 20 May 2023 at 15:28

You're panicking about absolutely nothing. An abnormal PSA for a man in his 50s would be considered to be a value above about 3. A PSA of 1.3 is well within normal range, and can be mildly elevated by all sorts of things, such as the UTI you say you've had recently. Your PSA can randomly change by a few tenths for all sorts of reasons, such as cycling or recent sexual activity. I had two PSA tests a week apart last year; the first one came back as 1.5 and the second as 1.3. A change of 0.03 is (very) minor random fluctuation.

You have nothing whatsoever to worry about. By all means see your urologist if it'll give you some peace of mind, but I'm certain you'll get a clean bill of health.

Cheers,

Chris

Edited by member 20 May 2023 at 15:53  | Reason: Not specified

User
Posted 20 May 2023 at 17:30
You've had two isolated readings a year apart, Jerry. It's entirely possible that your PSA was elevated for some reason for the first reading, came down in between, and is now elevated again for a different reason. By the sound of it you've just got over a nasty UTI and your PSA can take a while to settle after that. See what your urologist has to say; it might be worth suggesting another PSA test for six months' time to see what's going on, but I'm sure it won't be following a geometric progression.

I'm guessing that you're perhaps not in the UK, by the way?

Best wishes,

Chris

User
Posted 21 May 2023 at 16:11

At this point in time you haven't anything to worry about. The variation in your PSA is not significant. You need to see a urologist who can assess and put your mind at rest. However, even if you have cancer, it is probably in very early stage and curable. Treatment doesn't mean an end to your sex life. I had surgery nearly 13 years ago and I am still having sex. Try an not jump to the worse case scenario, wait until you have seen a urologist

 'Physics is like sex: sure, it may give some practical results, but that’s not why we do it.'                    Richard Feynman (1918-1988) Nobel Prize laureate

 

 

User
Posted 21 May 2023 at 16:30
Jerry

You have nothing to worry about at this stage. My PSA results were

2019: 6.2

2021: 9.6

2022: 10.4

2023: 12.1

After an echo (Prostate found to be hard), an MRI (1.4cm lesion on left side) and a biopsy (3+4=7) I decided to have the RARP and am sitting here 11 days later recovering - to me there was no decision to make - get it out of me asap.

At anything less than a PSA of 3 your urologist will just suggest 6 month blood tests.

By the way, if you cycle then that can increase your PSA and means nothing.

Take care.

User
Posted 21 May 2023 at 23:38

No, you do not qualify for family risk. Family risk of prostate cancer is where your father, brothers or parental uncles were diagnosed with prostate cancer before the age of 55, or you have direct family members diagnosed with breast cancer in their 30s / early 40s, or close family members with uterine cancer.
Your dad got cancer in his 70s. 70% of men in their 70s have some prostate cancer.

You say you don't have a UTI now but you nention still having symptoms of UTI - it does sound like there is still some infection hanging around.

PSA test should be done before DRE not after - it can make the PSA rise.

Edited by member 21 May 2023 at 23:41  | Reason: Not specified

"Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards." Soren Kierkegaard

User
Posted 22 May 2023 at 08:20
Oh for goodness sake. You only see what you want to see with other members here and PSA! We have men here with PSA of 60, 80 or 100 who turn out not to have cancer.

You have had DRE - it means a finger up your bum.

"Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards." Soren Kierkegaard

User
Posted 22 May 2023 at 09:10

What you have described is prostatitis (inflammation of the prostate), in your case due to bacterial injection.

You cannot measure PSA to assess risk of prostate cancer until the prostatitis is completely cleared up (for many weeks), because it pushes PSA up very significantly and invalidates the result.

Prostate cancer in normally painless and has no symptoms in the prostate.

User
Posted 22 May 2023 at 10:48

I truly hope you don’t have aggressive PCa and that whatever you do have can be dealt with quickly and easily.  I wonder if you have ever heard of the term “confirmation bias” ?  This is quite common in health anxiety and other phobias.  You are discounting a lot of experience from people on this forum who have been through the mill and putting your eggs in the basket of anything that supports your view.  

So sending you positive karma and hope that this is proven to be nothing of note and you can get on with your life PCa free 

Best wishes

M

Edited by member 22 May 2023 at 12:57  | Reason: Spelling

User
Posted 22 May 2023 at 11:17
I hope that your appointment puts your mind at rest, Jerry.

All the best,

Chris

User
Posted 22 May 2023 at 14:04

I am an academic and a researcher.

Most of scientific articles, reports, reviews, etc could be misunderstood and mis-interpreted especially if taken on individual basis and more so if you are emotionally engaged. Every word in scientific field has a different weight and value for the experts as compared to public.

Additionally, there are plenty of scientific publications that will argue otherwise and even oppose each other. The so called “scientific reports” at times are not very accurate, done by some who are not well known in the field, published in journals that are not of much scientific value. Some of them are one sided and some others does not give an accurate picture. Overall, be very careful when reading scientific reports and do not take them on their face value.

 Your own presumption and conclusion of the suffered ones in this forum is not scientific observation and thus not valid and/or acceptable.

Unfortunately, many of us including myself (and except those few active members here) under the psycho pressure of the word “cancer” tend to lose logic and lean to accept more negative news.

It is always said that the prostate grow slowly and many who spot it early will die from other illness that of prostatitis. Even at worst scenario, then it will be at very early stages and not needed so much worry. However, the way you go about it, with so much anxiety and worries, you may not survive the battle, let alone to win the war.. Remember, too much anxiety is poison, reduces your natural defense system, and ultimately speeds up prostate progress.

I know better said than done but remember we all had gone through this and take our words and advise.

Best wishes

User
Posted 22 May 2023 at 14:41

Jerry, your recent PSA test is meaningless because, as you yourself state, you have recently had a significant UTI. A UTI can increase your PSA to 5, 10, or even higher, and it can take a couple of months for your PSA levels to return to normal after the UTI is cured. You may well have had a PSA much higher than 1.3 when you had the infection, and it's now on its way back down but has not yet returned to normal. This is the reason I am sure that your anxiety is baseless.

Please let us know what your urologist says.

All the best,

Chris

Edited by member 22 May 2023 at 14:42  | Reason: Not specified

User
Posted 23 May 2023 at 17:18

Hi there

I am back from urologist. He did check my prostate over DRE, he found it normal. He tried to do ultrasound of prostate, but couldn't as I didn't drink before (I didn't know he would also do ultrasound), but I have ultrasound of whole stomach on thursday so I will know about prostate volume. Urologist said it looks like 16,5, but since it was 20 2 years ago I think it is more. He found some small cysts in the kidney and told me if I still have urgency in 1 month maybe we do cystoscopy, but because my urgency problems with peeing go back on and off for years and I don't smoke, he told me that bladder cancer is unlikely, because we wouldn't talk to each other if I had this problems 2 years ago because of bladder cancer (because of how aggressive it is).

He said to check PSA again in 4 months and that it may or may not go down. It may go down because I had UTI recently or it may be around the same and this is my new baseline, it happens, he told me. If it goes up and crosses 2.5, then we will examine further. He can not say if this is cancer or not, but he said value is still normal and DRE is normal, if it would be aggressive, he would feel it.

I guess it is good news, but I will carry a stone in my head for 4 months to see if PSA goes more up or at least stays the same.

Thank you all for your encouragement in my dark times. I will let you know when I have some new data.

Edited by member 23 May 2023 at 17:21  | Reason: Not specified

User
Posted 24 May 2023 at 09:39

Commenting on the point about kidney cysts, apparently, according to my consultant at least, most men over 50 have them (Women not so much). When I was scanned for bowel cancer in 2018 (It turned out to be piles) they were found then but I did not hear about them until 2021 when I was diagnosed with prostate cancer. The report mentioned kidney cysts and when I queried this I was told yes, you have them and when asked how many was told loads.The consultant went onto say that most men have them and that it was not an issue (Presumably until it is!).

 

Ivan

User
Posted 01 Jun 2023 at 17:37

I do get how you're feeling. When you have all these aches and pains every day for months, and you're being woken up every night multiple times needing to pee, same through the day, dribbling, seeing blood in your pee and seamen, and you're worried about something more sinister and the effect on the people you love, it grinds you down.... I've definitely been there.

I had to come up with strategies to get past a lot of the above. Happy to share if you need help with any of the same.

Show Most Thanked Posts
User
Posted 20 May 2023 at 15:28

You're panicking about absolutely nothing. An abnormal PSA for a man in his 50s would be considered to be a value above about 3. A PSA of 1.3 is well within normal range, and can be mildly elevated by all sorts of things, such as the UTI you say you've had recently. Your PSA can randomly change by a few tenths for all sorts of reasons, such as cycling or recent sexual activity. I had two PSA tests a week apart last year; the first one came back as 1.5 and the second as 1.3. A change of 0.03 is (very) minor random fluctuation.

You have nothing whatsoever to worry about. By all means see your urologist if it'll give you some peace of mind, but I'm certain you'll get a clean bill of health.

Cheers,

Chris

Edited by member 20 May 2023 at 15:53  | Reason: Not specified

User
Posted 20 May 2023 at 16:13

Thank you for your answer. I know PSA is still kind of normal, although elevated as the mean average for 54 years is 0.9-1.0. But the rate of progression is what worries me, 100% in 17 months is well above the suspicious cut point of 0.25 per year. I had UTI, now I am all clear, no more bacteria, but even if we say 0.04 fluctuation in 10 days is nothing, it doesn't lower after UTI. I also didn't have sexual activity this time (also not last time, I had UTI), no cycling, nothing, that could elevate PSA so much ...

On proctoscopy gastroenterologist also tole me that she thinks my prostate is enlarged and too tender, as pressing her there hurt me. I didn't agree on the tenderness part, as every proctoscopy hurt me when they press over there, it was never pleasant to me touching the prostate this way.

Thank you for sharing your opinion that it may still not be cancer. I stopped shaking now, although from every literature and study, 100% velocity in 17 months is considered highly suspicious. The part that this is then aggressive cancer was made from my thought, I haven't noticed this correlation anywhere. I would just thought so.

I also don't know if PSA can just jump one year and then it becomes the new "baseline" for years to come, never found that info. The way my math goes is last year 0.66, this year 1.35, next year 2.70, 2 years ahead 5.40 and 3 years ahead I am dead. Maybe as a "math" person I am too concentrated on the numbers, not sure.

Yours

Jerry

Edited by member 20 May 2023 at 16:17  | Reason: Not specified

User
Posted 20 May 2023 at 17:30
You've had two isolated readings a year apart, Jerry. It's entirely possible that your PSA was elevated for some reason for the first reading, came down in between, and is now elevated again for a different reason. By the sound of it you've just got over a nasty UTI and your PSA can take a while to settle after that. See what your urologist has to say; it might be worth suggesting another PSA test for six months' time to see what's going on, but I'm sure it won't be following a geometric progression.

I'm guessing that you're perhaps not in the UK, by the way?

Best wishes,

Chris

User
Posted 20 May 2023 at 20:00

Hi

You guessed right, my English is not so good, I am from Slovenia.

I am not sure if I wrote confusingly my PSA, but it wasn't like you think. So here is the summry:

December 2021: 0.66

10 days ago: 1.335

yesterday: 1.365

So it isn't fluctuating, it is rising at rapid rate of 66% per year.

Yes, the UTI was quite nasty and persistent but now it is gone. Aren't UTI rises like 10% only and fall after the treatment?

User
Posted 21 May 2023 at 16:11

At this point in time you haven't anything to worry about. The variation in your PSA is not significant. You need to see a urologist who can assess and put your mind at rest. However, even if you have cancer, it is probably in very early stage and curable. Treatment doesn't mean an end to your sex life. I had surgery nearly 13 years ago and I am still having sex. Try an not jump to the worse case scenario, wait until you have seen a urologist

 'Physics is like sex: sure, it may give some practical results, but that’s not why we do it.'                    Richard Feynman (1918-1988) Nobel Prize laureate

 

 

User
Posted 21 May 2023 at 16:30
Jerry

You have nothing to worry about at this stage. My PSA results were

2019: 6.2

2021: 9.6

2022: 10.4

2023: 12.1

After an echo (Prostate found to be hard), an MRI (1.4cm lesion on left side) and a biopsy (3+4=7) I decided to have the RARP and am sitting here 11 days later recovering - to me there was no decision to make - get it out of me asap.

At anything less than a PSA of 3 your urologist will just suggest 6 month blood tests.

By the way, if you cycle then that can increase your PSA and means nothing.

Take care.

User
Posted 21 May 2023 at 16:34
Your cancerphobia is taking over and you eould perhaps benefit from a referral to a psychologist rather than a urologist.

Your PSA is well within normal range

A UTI can make the PSA rise by 10x not 10%

Riding a bike or having an orgasm can make the PSA rise by 10%

You wouldn't necessarily know if you have prostatitis because there aren't always symptoms

None of the symptoms you describe are symptoms of prostate cancer

"Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards." Soren Kierkegaard

User
Posted 21 May 2023 at 19:55

Thank you to all. I did not cycle and I didn't have ejaculation at least few day before my last PSA, so that 10% mistake is out of question. My PSA however got up 100% in 17 months. But as I didn't test in between I am now unable to tell if my it was a steady rise or a sudden rise. But at that rate I will be over PSA 3 in 6 months!

My first scare was when I was on rectal examination (proctoscopy) and the doctor tole me he feals I may have enlarged prostate and that is was tender to touch. The second part, tender to touch, was always my problem, whenever somebody presses on my prostate it fells uncomfortable and painful. That is why I did new PSA and I got 1.345 then I was in my first shock. My second one is that it had risen ob 0.04 in 10 days, but the UTI was cleared by then.

I have no UTI, but still I think I need to pee too often and at the tip of my penis I have got some wierd feeling sometimes.

My father had prostate cancer from his 70, he was having watchful waiting and sometimes he got higher PSA and he had to take some hormones for some time. He died at 87 from weak heart, although he feared his prostate cancer will kill him. So he had slow cancer, I am not sure if I qualify for the family high risk or not.

Edited by member 21 May 2023 at 20:00  | Reason: Not specified

User
Posted 21 May 2023 at 22:07

You appear to be unmoved by the feedback you've received here but for what it's worth I add my opinion that it's very unlikely that you have prostate cancer given the information you've provided. On the other hand it's highly likely, as Lyn says, that you've got cancerphobia and it's very important that you seek help for that.

Jules

User
Posted 21 May 2023 at 22:54
Jerry, as I commented before, your PSA can randomly fluctuate by 0.1 from day to day, so a change of 0.04 over 10 days is completely meaningless.

Try to stop worrying.

All the best,

Chris

User
Posted 21 May 2023 at 23:38

No, you do not qualify for family risk. Family risk of prostate cancer is where your father, brothers or parental uncles were diagnosed with prostate cancer before the age of 55, or you have direct family members diagnosed with breast cancer in their 30s / early 40s, or close family members with uterine cancer.
Your dad got cancer in his 70s. 70% of men in their 70s have some prostate cancer.

You say you don't have a UTI now but you nention still having symptoms of UTI - it does sound like there is still some infection hanging around.

PSA test should be done before DRE not after - it can make the PSA rise.

Edited by member 21 May 2023 at 23:41  | Reason: Not specified

"Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards." Soren Kierkegaard

User
Posted 22 May 2023 at 08:08

LynEyre: I didn't have DRE yet, I will go to urologist this week. Thank you for clarifying about family burden. My UTI is clear, I got 2 urine tests, my problems with frequent urination are very very mild and only sometimes, I think this is psychosomatic in nature, as is my diarrhea last 3 days.

microcolei: I am not ignoring the comments, buit I am not native English speaker and as Chris answered, my question was not very well understood. I also do have cancerophobia. Unfortunately it doesn't mean I don't have it.

Chris: As I explained before, I am not worried of the increase of 0.04 in 10 days. It does makes me uneasy, but I am more worried it rose, not fell after clearing UTI, but I am the most worried because my PSA is not in the 1.35 range and it was in the 0.66 range only 17 months ago.

I studied the whole forum and I found out your are very helpful and very nice people here and you offer big help to one another in the dark moment.

I have also found out that every one of the personal stories here that began with PSA readings got 100% or like increase at the beginning and from then the increase got higher and higher. I found nobody that was under 1 at the beginning, but if I read somebody had 1.6 and next year 3.0, it always turned out he had cancer :-( Seems I only tested a little earlier than others. If this was my first test, I would have 2.5 in 6 months, it would be similar. It seems to me after reading this forum for 3 days that a sharp increase of PSA in lets say a year is almost 100% indicative of cancer, except if one has like prostatitis or some infection, he could have 1 and then 10 and soon after cleared out 1 again.

Edited by member 22 May 2023 at 08:13  | Reason: Not specified

User
Posted 22 May 2023 at 08:20
Oh for goodness sake. You only see what you want to see with other members here and PSA! We have men here with PSA of 60, 80 or 100 who turn out not to have cancer.

You have had DRE - it means a finger up your bum.

"Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards." Soren Kierkegaard

User
Posted 22 May 2023 at 08:48

No, I know people have PSA 80 and they don't have cancer. It is the velocity of the elevation that turns to be cancer every time...

I didn't have urologist DRE, I will go to urologist to get DRE and examination. What I said is that I went to proctoscopy because I have rectal pain so many times and the lady doing the examination told me she thinks my prostate had enlarged and is too tender, because it hurt when she presses it hard. I had proctoscopy by the same lady 1 year ago when hemmorhoid was ligamented and she didn't say than that she feels my prostate had enlarged. As this is the same doctor I guess it did enlarge. So can can also say I had DRE, but not by urologist, which examines prostate, but proctologist, who isn't specialized in prostate as she was examining hemmorhoids. So the discovery was mere "by the way" and wasn't included in the report at all. So she made me scared even before PSA test which just confirmed my suspicions. But she was not the right doctor and it wasn't prostate exam. If there was a lump, she would't find it as she didn't examine prostate thoroughly, she just noticed I didn't like the exam and it was when she pressed prostate. But I had a lot of proctoscopy exams and pressing on my prostate always hurt for as long as I remember. I hope that clears things with my DRE. You can call it DRE, but not with right doctor. For example, if I go to urologist, he will be interested in my prostate, he won't tell me I have hemmerhoids. In western world, doctors usually do only what is their profession (unfortunately).

User
Posted 22 May 2023 at 09:10

What you have described is prostatitis (inflammation of the prostate), in your case due to bacterial injection.

You cannot measure PSA to assess risk of prostate cancer until the prostatitis is completely cleared up (for many weeks), because it pushes PSA up very significantly and invalidates the result.

Prostate cancer in normally painless and has no symptoms in the prostate.

User
Posted 22 May 2023 at 09:25

Originally Posted by: Online Community Member

What you have described is prostatitis (inflammation of the prostate), in your case due to bacterial injection.

You cannot measure PSA to assess risk of prostate cancer until the prostatitis is completely cleared up (for many weeks), because it pushes PSA up very significantly and invalidates the result.

Prostate cancer in normally painless and has no symptoms in the prostate.

I have always had sensitive prostate since my teens or as long as I remember. DRE was much more uncomfortable on me than on the other men I spoke to. I can not have prostatistis my whole like and before I had PSA of 0.66 even with "tender prostate".

Here is research of PSA velocity on a large group of participants (https://bjui-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/j.1464-410X.2012.11651.x). It says change in % per year is really highly suggestive of cancer even at more than 5% a year and even more if the baseline was in less than 1.0. Study goes to 10% yearly change. At my 66% yearly change in PSA the predictive value would be near 100%.

I just cry while I wait for urologist to confirm it. From this study alone this is cancer. And this is just beginning of my roller-coaster, as you say on many occasions, it will take 1-2 months to do all the test and confirm it. How to manage oneself not to have heart attack in the meantime and after the diagnosis? I can not imagine what have you all gone through and how hard it is if even waiting for urologist is this hard.

Edited by member 22 May 2023 at 09:28  | Reason: Not specified

User
Posted 22 May 2023 at 10:40

Originally Posted by: Online Community Member
I just cry while I wait for urologist to confirm it.

Do you have an appointment to see a urologist? If not, please make one ASAP

Jules

User
Posted 22 May 2023 at 10:48

I truly hope you don’t have aggressive PCa and that whatever you do have can be dealt with quickly and easily.  I wonder if you have ever heard of the term “confirmation bias” ?  This is quite common in health anxiety and other phobias.  You are discounting a lot of experience from people on this forum who have been through the mill and putting your eggs in the basket of anything that supports your view.  

So sending you positive karma and hope that this is proven to be nothing of note and you can get on with your life PCa free 

Best wishes

M

Edited by member 22 May 2023 at 12:57  | Reason: Spelling

User
Posted 22 May 2023 at 11:01

I do have appointment this week with urologist, yes. I know it is urgent!

I think most people here misunderstood what is my worry. It is the 100% elevation of PSA in 17 months.

Edited by member 22 May 2023 at 11:02  | Reason: Not specified

User
Posted 22 May 2023 at 11:17
I hope that your appointment puts your mind at rest, Jerry.

All the best,

Chris

User
Posted 22 May 2023 at 11:28

Originally Posted by: Online Community Member

...I wonder if you have ever heard of the term “confirmation bias” ? ...

Yes the study quoted costs $12, I have not paid to read it. The abstract says:

"The use of a single, elevated PSA level to screen for prostate cancer is controversial given its reported low specificity and the questionable benefits of PSA screening on prostate cancer mortality. Current guidelines in the USA recommend against screening using a single PSA measurement. Previous studies suggest that using changes in PSA level over time, or PSA velocity, may improve the detection of prostate cancer and/or aggressive disease; however, this is also controversial as other studies suggest PSA velocity does not improve detection and may further contribute to the overdetection of indolent prostate cancer."

So if one suffers from confirmation bias that very important last sentence - "as other studies suggest PSA velocity does not improve detection and may further contribute to the overdetection of indolent prostate cancer." - will be ignored.

Jerry you have found one research paper which I assume, could I afford to read it, I would find very interesting. However if we are to do good science the next requirement is to read other papers on the subject particularly those which contradict this paper.

Clearly none of the papers are correct, if they were they would all agree. They are not correct because it is a complex topic 

Then when we have as much evidence as possible from all sides, we can look at our own test results and see where they fit in. We can't draw any conclusions 100% one way or the other because the science is not that accurate.

 

 

Dave

User
Posted 22 May 2023 at 11:58

It doesn't really matter, but I read the whole article and the false positives were almost at 0% if the rise is more than 10% a year. Now the article is not available any longer, one has to pay 12$. I didn't pay, but I read it, but it is not possible any longer.

As I noticed, reading this forum alone, one can see that when PSA started rising signiffically, the result was almost always cancer at the end.

Edited by member 22 May 2023 at 12:44  | Reason: Not specified

User
Posted 22 May 2023 at 14:04

I am an academic and a researcher.

Most of scientific articles, reports, reviews, etc could be misunderstood and mis-interpreted especially if taken on individual basis and more so if you are emotionally engaged. Every word in scientific field has a different weight and value for the experts as compared to public.

Additionally, there are plenty of scientific publications that will argue otherwise and even oppose each other. The so called “scientific reports” at times are not very accurate, done by some who are not well known in the field, published in journals that are not of much scientific value. Some of them are one sided and some others does not give an accurate picture. Overall, be very careful when reading scientific reports and do not take them on their face value.

 Your own presumption and conclusion of the suffered ones in this forum is not scientific observation and thus not valid and/or acceptable.

Unfortunately, many of us including myself (and except those few active members here) under the psycho pressure of the word “cancer” tend to lose logic and lean to accept more negative news.

It is always said that the prostate grow slowly and many who spot it early will die from other illness that of prostatitis. Even at worst scenario, then it will be at very early stages and not needed so much worry. However, the way you go about it, with so much anxiety and worries, you may not survive the battle, let alone to win the war.. Remember, too much anxiety is poison, reduces your natural defense system, and ultimately speeds up prostate progress.

I know better said than done but remember we all had gone through this and take our words and advise.

Best wishes

User
Posted 22 May 2023 at 14:20

So true, anxiety has caused me diahrroea this 4 days and now I have again burning in my rectum :-( This I know is from stress, not anal cancer...

I did apply to urologist because I have some special insurance to be consulted by a specialist.

I got answer from my family doctor about my PSA worry, but he again read only the 0.04 increase in 10 days, not my initial fear about 100% increase from 0.67 to 1.345 in 17 months.

He told me to check the PSA again in 6 months and that he advises me to go to psychiatrist for my phobia... I am so glad to have the insurance so I can see urologist... I do not believe my PSA would suddenly just drop to 50%, it is much more likely that it will continue to rise and will be over 2,5 in 6-12 month. Family doctor is just looking at the absolute PSA. That is wrong.

User
Posted 22 May 2023 at 14:41

Jerry, your recent PSA test is meaningless because, as you yourself state, you have recently had a significant UTI. A UTI can increase your PSA to 5, 10, or even higher, and it can take a couple of months for your PSA levels to return to normal after the UTI is cured. You may well have had a PSA much higher than 1.3 when you had the infection, and it's now on its way back down but has not yet returned to normal. This is the reason I am sure that your anxiety is baseless.

Please let us know what your urologist says.

All the best,

Chris

Edited by member 22 May 2023 at 14:42  | Reason: Not specified

User
Posted 22 May 2023 at 15:00

Oh, I didn't know UTI can make PSA elevated for so long, in 2019 when I had 0.65 also, I had UTI, but it didn't raise. It was worse UTI than this one (I was crying when peeing), this time it was weird, manageble burning, but also some weird feelings like itching and even tickling, also when I defecated, I got severe tickling when stool passed my prostate. But now it is 3-4 weeks since I got rid of this UTI.

If so you are right, it may be coming down EXCEPT one "tiny" detail... first PSA when still some UTI showed 1.335 and the next one when UTI was cleared 10 days later showed 1.365. If it was going down, it sure has some strange way of showing it. I understand the measurement error, but if it would go down it would not be higher at the second test, because it would go down more than the measurement possibility of error.

User
Posted 23 May 2023 at 17:18

Hi there

I am back from urologist. He did check my prostate over DRE, he found it normal. He tried to do ultrasound of prostate, but couldn't as I didn't drink before (I didn't know he would also do ultrasound), but I have ultrasound of whole stomach on thursday so I will know about prostate volume. Urologist said it looks like 16,5, but since it was 20 2 years ago I think it is more. He found some small cysts in the kidney and told me if I still have urgency in 1 month maybe we do cystoscopy, but because my urgency problems with peeing go back on and off for years and I don't smoke, he told me that bladder cancer is unlikely, because we wouldn't talk to each other if I had this problems 2 years ago because of bladder cancer (because of how aggressive it is).

He said to check PSA again in 4 months and that it may or may not go down. It may go down because I had UTI recently or it may be around the same and this is my new baseline, it happens, he told me. If it goes up and crosses 2.5, then we will examine further. He can not say if this is cancer or not, but he said value is still normal and DRE is normal, if it would be aggressive, he would feel it.

I guess it is good news, but I will carry a stone in my head for 4 months to see if PSA goes more up or at least stays the same.

Thank you all for your encouragement in my dark times. I will let you know when I have some new data.

Edited by member 23 May 2023 at 17:21  | Reason: Not specified

User
Posted 23 May 2023 at 18:51
There you go then - good news. Glad it went well!

All the best,

Chris

User
Posted 23 May 2023 at 20:47
Hey,

Just to add, I can understand your worry, but just in case it helps I had an elevated PSA, and I've had blood in my seamen and urine for just over two years.... as well as all the UTI like symptoms you mention.

I've had 3x MRI's, 2x Cystoscopy, CT Scan, biopsies and more, and although I have issues the good news is there's no cancer, and most likely what I have is prostatitis...

But at one stage I went through the same range of emotions as you.

Just keep telling yourself you're not there yet and that your problems could be anything.... like a simple prostate infection.

As an aside, my main improvements came when I quit any liquids that could upset my prostate, no caffeine, alcohol, and just started drinking a lot of water. A litre of water first thing in the morning especially before anything else hits your system. More water the better in my book.

Goodluck.

Jon

User
Posted 23 May 2023 at 20:58

Originally Posted by: Online Community Member
Hey,

Just to add, I can understand your worry, but just in case it helps I had an elevated PSA, and I've had blood in my seamen and urine for just over two years.... as well as all the UTI like symptoms you mention.

I've had 3x MRI's, 2x Cystoscopy, CT Scan, biopsies and more, and although I have issues the good news is there's no cancer, and most likely what I have is prostatitis...

But at one stage I went through the same range of emotions as you.

Just keep telling yourself you're not there yet and that your problems could be anything.... like a simple prostate infection.

As an aside, my main improvements came when I quit any liquids that could upset my prostate, no caffeine, alcohol, and just started drinking a lot of water. A litre of water first thing in the morning especially before anything else hits your system. More water the better in my book.

Goodluck.
Jon

Thanx, that helps! Because I see no people where PSA accelerates and then goes down, it only goes up... I fear I will have 3 in 4 years...

I actually do drink a lot of water, 1 liter in till noon. I drink carbonated water, I have my own carbonator. I don't drink alcohol nor coffee (but I drink some green cola that has caffeine).

Doctor told me it could be non bacterial prostatistis, but this doesn't elevate PSA he said.

I just have so many troubles with urinary and gastro system for so many years. Like I hve mild UTI for months and then better and then worse again, I have pain in rectum that comes and goes...

Some of it is psychosomatic. I had severe anal pain this 4 days, today after the DRE, the pain suddenly disappeared again.

User
Posted 24 May 2023 at 09:39

Commenting on the point about kidney cysts, apparently, according to my consultant at least, most men over 50 have them (Women not so much). When I was scanned for bowel cancer in 2018 (It turned out to be piles) they were found then but I did not hear about them until 2021 when I was diagnosed with prostate cancer. The report mentioned kidney cysts and when I queried this I was told yes, you have them and when asked how many was told loads.The consultant went onto say that most men have them and that it was not an issue (Presumably until it is!).

 

Ivan

User
Posted 24 May 2023 at 09:44

Thank you for letting me know. The PSA still scares me, funny that the cysts of the kidney do not.

User
Posted 01 Jun 2023 at 10:47

Aches and pains that come and go are common with prostatitis. 

I've had groin pain, dull and sharp, testicle aches, and pressure in the perineum. 

When something is mild but comes and goes you start to doubt yourself.

What I eventually realised was that the NHS hasn't really got any expertise for prostatitis, and in my case, they have just been working to rule out cancer.

I've had to do a lot of my own research and seek out a private urologist who has got proven prostatitis experience.

I'm still not  100% fixed, I'm currently on a 6 weeks course of antibiotics, but I'm the best I've been since all this started 2+ years ago and right now I'm hopeful.

 

 

User
Posted 01 Jun 2023 at 15:48

Thank you for your experience.

After urologist meeting I am terrible. I do not say he did something wrong but testicle examination was very painful and dre was also very unpleasant.

Since then I now have constant or too frequent urge to urinate. My testicles hurt and are kind of painful, my tip of the penis feels like i feel it all the time and not in pleasant way. My perineium is somewhat tender. I did try to ejaculate fortunately there was no blood but it didnt feel quite ok and was a little unpleasurable at that...

To sum it i feel like i have a very mild uti but urine is clear. Now i fear bladder cancer more than prostate cancer. My urine is somewhat light brown but it is like that even when i give urine sample so that is no blood. I never saw like something completely off in urine although i have color blindness problem i would see gross hematuria i think.

So a lot of problems not just psa from 0.66 to 1.36 in year and half. Since urologist exam it is worse. I dont know what can it be except cancer, bladder or prostate. But if it is it is advanced to give so much problem. At night it is better but half nights i have to go to pee once. Scared if i will see gross hematuria this days.

My sto.ach ultrasound in in 5 days it may bring bad news or no news.

User
Posted 01 Jun 2023 at 17:22
You need to see a psychologist or psychiatrist- otherwise you are going to waste your life worrying about things that don't exist
"Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards." Soren Kierkegaard

User
Posted 01 Jun 2023 at 17:24

Quite similar to me, I have flare-ups, with blood in urine and mild UTI symptoms, and all the aches, but the UTI culture test is always negative.

What I do have is stones in my prostate/urethra and blood in my seminal vesicles (part of the prostate). 

User
Posted 01 Jun 2023 at 17:37

I do get how you're feeling. When you have all these aches and pains every day for months, and you're being woken up every night multiple times needing to pee, same through the day, dribbling, seeing blood in your pee and seamen, and you're worried about something more sinister and the effect on the people you love, it grinds you down.... I've definitely been there.

I had to come up with strategies to get past a lot of the above. Happy to share if you need help with any of the same.

User
Posted 01 Jun 2023 at 21:07
Jerry,

You undoubtedly ARE going to die. Every one of us is. Do you really want to spend the rest of your life worrying about how and when it's going to happen?

My honest advice to you is to enjoy life. You only get one chance at it (unless you're a Buddhist 🙂). Stop worrying, and live life to the full.

Best wishes,

Chris

User
Posted 03 Jun 2023 at 15:56

I have hard time enjoying life if i constantly have a need to urinate and my urinary tract is telling me something is wrong and I do not know what.

 
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