Prostate Problem, could this be sinister?

Your PSA seems a bit low sometimes an elevation to 7.5 could be caused by anything including a recent ride on a bicycle. And the symptoms you described may not have anything to do with prostate cancer it could have to do with getting older. I don't think your back ache has anything to do with a symptom of prostate cancer. The only way to find out for sure is to get a biopsy I had one and it was painless no problem. But the readings you have are so low that it seems like even if it is cancerous you have a lot of time to think about it and monitor your PSA regularly. My reading is 6 come from cancer with biopsy and am getting a prostatectomy. If I were you I would wait and monitor. I had no symptoms by the way. Good luck do your own research make an informed decision

be assured you are treading a well trodden  path. I has a prostectomy by davinchi robot over two years ago and all is well with few side affects. 

You  mention various pains. Once I was diagnosed and up to my operation I had various  pains in my back, stomach groin, l think these were my mind playing tricks on me. It is a stressful time but try and get the best advise you can. I saw two private consultants in London on recommendation and selected one of these. The one I selected agreed to do it on the NHS, real bonus.

good luck and explore all your options before you make the final dicision as to which path to take

mike

Hi Tony

I am now 49, my father passed away 10 yrs ago of advanced PCa aged 67.

In Feb 2014 saw a trace of blood in my urine with no other symptoms. I had the camera down the penis. All clear so I had my PSA checked. 4.6, then 5.6 3 weeks later. Advised on 12 biopsies.

Result: low grade PCa, Gleason 6: 3+3.

Went on AS in May 2014. In June 2015 PSA went up to 7.6 so has an MRI, this showed 'abnormalities'. September 30th, Targeted biopsies revealed Gleason 7: 3+4, the low grade 3+3 still there!

After a good think on 30th Oct 2015 opted for the Da Vinci Robot Assisted Laparoscopic Radical Prostatectomy.

Dec 8th 2015 PSA undetectable. However tiny positive margin

June 7th 2016 PSA still undetectable. No RT necessary!

So would an MIR have revealed abnormalities and my Gleason 7 PCa before my initial 12 biopsies that missed it altogether? This I do not know. I can say that my 2 targeted biopsies in my perinium were no worse than the my 12 in my anus and I was asleep. Prostatectomy post op was sore but I am soft

BTW. No impotence or incontinence

S.

Hello Tony, I was diagnosed with low rish PC this past October. I had no symptoms at all... no pain, no blood in urine, no dificulty with urination. Also, no abnormality felt in a DRE.  I was sent to the urologist from my primary care physician due to an elevated PSA. It was 5.2. Urologist put me on antibiotics for a few weeks to see if it might be an infection. After the antibiotics - the PSA was at 5.1. Still a little too high. He recommended a biopsy. He talked to me about what that would involve. He said I would be numbed and I wouldn't feel any pain. Also, I would be given antibiotics a few days prior to the biopsy - and I would be required to give myself an emena to clean me out - the antibiotics and the enema will help prevent any infection. So the day of the biopsy came. The nurse came in to apply what she said was a numbing agent. I waited for about 30 minutes and the doctor came in to do the procedure. Well, for me, it was not pleasant and it did hurt. He took 12 samples that day. He wanted me to pee before I left to make sure all was okay. The ride home was very uncomfortable and I couldn't sit up straight for a few days. Doctor said to take ibuprofen or tylenol for any pain or discomfort. And it helped. A few days later I went back in for the results. Out of the 12 samples, 2 showed cancer cells. The good thing is that they were very low - 10% in one sample, and 2% in the other. He told me that I was in the low risk group and that I had several options to deal with it. He directed me to some websites that explained treatment options including active survaillance.  I had quite a bit of discomfort after the biopsy for a while and went back to see the urologist and he said I had prostatitus and gave me more antibiotics. After I finished this regimen of antibiotics, my PSA was down to 2.1. Still the DRE showed no abnormalities. He told me I could opt for Active Survaillance, or be treated and cured. This was a dificult decision to make. I either wait and see - and I would be older and perhaps have other health issues to deal with, or treat it and be done with it. I checked several websites that provided lots of good information for many treatment options. I just wanted something that would get rid of the cancer with few side effects. All treatments have some degree of side effects. After looking at many options, I went with the Brachytherapy - low dose radiation seed implants. That was done last February. It is a one time treatment done as an outpatient procedure. The treatment takes about 45 minutes and you are put under anesthesia. You can go home after you pee a couple of times. More ibuprofen for discomfort. I couldn't sit straight for a few days. Also, I had a large bruise in my perineum area where the needles went in to place the seeds. Aside from having some inflammation on and off in my urethra, I am doing pretty well. I take Avodart and Flomax to help keep me urinating well. The urologist put me on both of those medications prior to the procedure even though I wasn't having any problems. He said this was for prevention. And it is probably a good thing he did. There have been times at night when I get up that I have a very slow stream. I don't know why it seems to be at night when this happens. And it is not all the time. He told me that this will be on and off for several months and that by 10 to 12 months I should be back to where I was before the procedure. I still wonder if I made the right choice in chopsing to get treatment, or wait. But then I think about the alternative. At this point, I am glad it is over. I go see the urologist next month for a follow up.

I know that you are having a lot of anxiety at this time... but you need to do a lot of research before you make any decision. If you choose to be treated, find something that has been proven to work and find a physician that has proformed that procedure successfully many times. I can point you to some good websites that go over various treatment options with success rates, side effects etc. Let me know if you care to see any of these and I will forward them on to you.

Good luck to you,Charles