So confusing
Posted , 3 users are following.
Somebody please explain this to me. My doctor prescribes for me to take 4 weeks of Cipro because I had a high PSA at 5.1 and then come back for a recheck. I take 2 weeks and had to go back to pharmacy today to get the remaining 2 weeks of pills because for some reason they could only give me half at a time; should have been a red flag, and they said; Insurance won't pay for them till the 27th. I question them and they said according to insurance you only need to take 2 weeks worth. My recheck on PSA is the 24th but I can't get rest of medicine till 27th. What a screwed up system we have! Nevertheless, doctor going to go ahead and recheck PSA 2 weeks early. Very confused!!
0 likes, 4 replies
dbcriss Schoolbusdriver
Posted
geoff90305 Schoolbusdriver
Posted
Yeah Schoolbusdriver, what a screwed up system that the chemist and insurance dictate your treatment.
Curiously, when I went on cipro for 6 weeks, my chemist only had three weeks supply in store and had to get the other three weeks supply in 2 weeks later. BUT, here in Australia, what the doctor orders has right of way.
We have government policies that mandates a certain regime, like what you encounted, but our doctors have a central telephone number to call, where they are given a relief number to put on the script to suspend the government policy for a patient's drugs, if the doctor deems it a requirement.
The benefit of a straight 4 weeks' worth of cipro means the UTI cannot regroup. If you have a 2 week break, the cipro may not be as effective. Because you have no PSA history, it is not possible to know if your 5.1 PSA is a one off spike or a steady increase over time.
Maybe you can ask for a PSA Free or a PHI test before you get roped into a biopsy.
Geoff
Schoolbusdriver geoff90305
Posted
geoff90305 Schoolbusdriver
Posted
Here, the PSA Free is a no cost to patient test. The PHI costs us AUD$100. MRI costs us between AUD$500-750. No gov't assistance.
A lot depends on your PSA reading as to what you do next. Most times, prostatitus and or a UTI will raise the PSA for many months. The antibiotic had done its job to kill off the UTI. Now it is just a matter of time for the prostate inflamation to subside.
On another post, I mentioned my brother's PSA took 2.5 years to return after a UTI, but he had a 10 year history of PSA reading to see the 3 month spike from 3.3 to 19, now back to 4. Because you have no PSA history, a lot harder to make a call as to why the PSA is "high"
Geoff