Ongoing Prostatitis or possibly PC?
Posted , 5 users are following.
Age 47: On 1/7/18 my psa was 109 (yes 109!) and I was diagnosed with a uti and acute prostatitis. I have been on cipro for 3 months now starting with 1000 mg day, and currently taking 250 mg day. I have had 4 more psa tests since, and all have been lower: 10.1, 7.6, 5.5, 5.3. My last two readings were done 5 weeks apart, with not much difference (.2). I am worried now that this probably means PC. I have a follow up with my Uro. in 1 month. Any thoughts? Could it still be related to prostatitis since numbers are going down ever so slightly now, even though it's been 3 months with Cipro?
0 likes, 6 replies
hopeful65 Dennis20812
Posted
It could be related but maybe consider having a biopsy? What does your Uro suggest you do at this point?
Dennis20812 hopeful65
Posted
He hasn't done one yet because PSA keeps going down. But I have a feeling that since it hasn't gone down much between the last two tests, he will want to do a biopsy. He does random biopsies, not targeted. I think I would prefer targeted, because random might miss cancer cells. Am I wrong to think that?
charles61038 Dennis20812
Posted
Hopefully your PSA numbers are related to the prostatitis. To set your mind at ease and to be on the safe side, a biopsy might be in order at this point. A couple of years ago my PSA numbers started to rise. I was given the same antibiotics as you are taking - taking 500 mg a day... for 3 weeks. My PSA did go down some, but the urologist felt that it was not low enough. He did a biopsy at that point - he took 12 core samples. 2 out of the 12 showed some cancer cells. The good news was that what was found was a low percentage and considered a non aggressive type. I developed prostatitis after the biopsy though - so another round of antibiotics. It relieved the prostatitis symptoms, but I still had to face the prostate cancer that was found. The doctor told me that I had many options including watchful waiting (active surveillance). I did some research of the many treatment options for low grade non aggressive prostate cancer. I decided to get treatment and went for Brachytherapy (low dose radiation seed implants) which is a one time treatment done as an outpatient procedure. It took about 45 minutes. After an hour in recovery, I was on my way home. With any treatment, there are side effects and I had mine too. They are tolerable and pass with time. Hopefully you won't have to make any decisions as far as being treated for prostate cancer. I know prostatitis is very uncomfortable. It is just a hard thing to treat due to the way the prostate is put together. My primary care doctor explained it to me... and told me that is why the antibiotics take so long to work.
You should get the biopsy done to just to make sure. And if there is something there, early treatment can take care of it.
The best of luck to you.
glamour Dennis20812
Posted
I presume Cipro is the same as Zoladex, which i am told is an artificial female hormone to suppress you testosterone. The testosterone is a vital part of the cancer generation. You will not know if you have cancer until you have a biopsy of your prostrate. Until then you should stay with the Cipro to keep things under control until your PSA is less than 0.5. I was diagnosed at 64, I am now closing in on 78. Keep your spirits up.
cheers
G
david41094 glamour
Posted
david41094 Dennis20812
Posted
You don't give the dates for the subsequent PSA tests but given the trend I would wait and see. The drop in PSA readings would not be expected to be linear so I would expect a decline in the reduction over time. i fear a biopsy is rather drastic given the PSA pattern. Have you had a DRE? Also, I would advise an MRI prior to a biopsy.
Good luck