Hi everyone - first time poster here. Sorry it’s quite a long post.
I'm 53 years old, white and married with kids. I had the snip about 15 years ago with no complications.
My Dad definitely had prostate cancer, he was diagnosed around 2015 at age 70. He was stage 3/4 when diagnosed - I think he said it was on the surface of the prostate but not yet metastasized. He was told that his PC was a fairly aggressive form. I’m not sure what his PSA was but I think I recall it being around 1500. He was on hormone treatment until we lost him last year from an unrelated condition. His father was also suspected of having PC but was never diagnosed.
So, I realise that I’m an elevated risk due to my family history. I therefore started having PSA checks in 2020 missing 21/22 due to covid I think.
2020 = 0.78
2023 = 1.04
2024 = 0.75
So the numbers are well within normal range. However I do have some symptoms which point to my prostate.
1. Changes in urination.
I definitely have a weak flow, compared to how I used to pee when younger. I especially realise how weak my flow is when I use a public urinal and can’t help but notice that the fellas around me seem to be peeing like horses, and I feel like I take ages to get started and then pee quite slowly. I occasionally have little dribbles after I think I’ve finished, but not often. I have been like this for I guess 3 to 4 years.
I never need to get up during the night to pee, which is good. When I pee in the morning I have a similarly weak flow. Occasionally, if I’ve had a few beers and there’s quite a lot of urine to move, then the flow will increase a bit, but still not to what I would consider normal.
2. Changes in ejaculation.
I don’t know if this is a normal age related thing, and I’m sorry if it’s a bit TMI. Previously when I would orgasm and ejaculate, for as long as I have been sexually active, the first ‘contraction’ of orgasm has produced the first stream of semen. Always, without fail. However, I have found over the last year or so that my first orgasm contraction is ‘dry’ with semen only being produced on the second or sometimes third contraction.
This next part shames me and I’ve never admitted it out loud before. Although happily married, I have to confess that I have what must be a pretty-much lifelong addiction to pornography and therefore I regularly orgasm through masturbation. I’m not proud of this. I don’t exactly ‘shoot’ or produce much semen anymore, it’s a much weaker affair which is mainly linked to how aroused I am and how long I have been masturbating for. A ‘quicky’ results in a weak gooey dribble from the second or third orgasm contraction, whereas a more extended session will produce something more liquid and normal, including producing semen on first orgasm contraction.
I don’t know if the changes described above may be related to the fact that during COVID I was in a situation where I was alone most days and went through periods of ‘edging’ masturbation for many hours, maybe up to 4/5/6 hours a a time several times a week. This behaviour stopped about 6 months ago and I now orgasm probably 2 or 3 times a week with no edging practices involved.
I worry now that this extended period of regular edging has affected or damaged my prostate? I don’t know if there is a physical problem which has affected my ejaculation, or if I have somehow conditioned my prostate to need excessive stimulation in order to ejaculate ‘properly’.
I don’t have any pain or blood in either my semen or my urine, however I sometimes do feel a dull ache where my prostate is, a bit like if I was sitting with a small stone under my perineum.
I visited my GP about 18 months ago and explained about the urinary and ejaculatory changes and he was fairly unconcerned. He conducted a DRE (which only lasted about 5 seconds) and said he could ‘barely feel’ my prostate.
So, in summary, I’m at increased risk of PC and I’m undeniably experiencing some changes which could be caused by prostate issues, but also may be happening because I’ve possibly abused my prostate because of my sexual habits.
I don’t know what to do.