Prostate cancer

My 1st biopsy was at the Urologist's office and I was awake with local anesthesia. It was uncomfortable, but didn't really hurt. The 2nd and 3rd biopsies were done at the hospital. They knocked my ass out with the Jackson Juice (Pro Pophal) and I never knew a thing until I woke up in recovery. The worst part of the first 2 biopsies was the bloody semen afterwards for 3 weeks or so. The worst part of the 3rd one was the "You need to come to the office to discuss the results" phone call.

I've yet to have a biopsy. I did have an MRI done with dye, and I believe they can also to a CAT scan to detect cancer in lieu of the biopsy. The urologist tries to make it sound like the biopsy is not a big deal, but I can't see how that can be the case. Especially relative to the other 2 test options.

The biopsy seems to be the "gold standard", but certainly not when it come to patient comfort. It is probably less expensive than the other options. Also from a monetary perspective, the other options don't put much money in the doctor's pocket, where the biopsy does.

I already know from a prior procedure that nitrous oxide has very little effect on me. I kept asking them to crank it up and then they hit the max % allowed and I was like, "Are you shitting me? This is all I'm going to get out of this stuff?" I can't even imagine having major oral surgery with only nitrous oxide. I have a low threshold of pain and a high threshold for drugs. Not a great combo for stuff like this.

I was diagnosed with PCa 14 years ago as a relatively young man in my 40s. Never had any symptoms. It was discovered on a PSA blood draw, and confirmed via biopsy (probably one of the most unpleasant experiences I've ever had, but that's for another time).

PSA was above 7.0 and I believe my Gleason score was 3+4. I opted for Proton radiation treatment. One of the best decisions of my life! No surgery. Just a daily 20-minute radiation treatments for 45 sessions. All out-patient. I completed treatment in May 2009. As of 13+ years post-treatment all of my "man tackle" still works as it had before. I have no incontinence and have no need for the blue pills. The only difference is that the actual volume of ejaculate is a lot less that before. However, my orgasms are a lot more intense!

I went with Proton Radiation simply because at the time I could not find any patient on-line who taken that treatment say anything negative about it. Likely that's still the case. If you discover that you actually do have PCa I highly recommend you look into Proton Radiation treatment.

Be happy to discuss this off-line with you too if you have any questions.

I had a ridiculously high PSA one time (16.5). My PCP suggested retesting, but after abstaining from sex for 2 weeks. It came down to less than half, but was still almost double what it should have been.

When I went to a urologist, I found out I only needed to abstain for 2 DAYS, not weeks.....Bastard!

My old boss got checked years ago for his psa numbers. Unfortunately he ended up fucking his wife shortly before he got tested. His Dr told him that was why his numbers were so high and to come back again to test. I'm clearly not a Dr but figured I'd mention it here since we are all fairly active in bed

This post is related to the following post in the forums -

ww w.swinglifestyle. com/forums/General_Discussions/Fitness/is_anyone_else_taking_saw_palmetto/threadid_332140/viewarticle.cfm

Thanks to input from a couple forum posters, I am breathing a little easier today. My PSA results from 3 weeks ago came in at just under 6.2. A couple astute forum contributors had whacko PSA results like mine and messaaged me saying their urologist recommended going off Saw Palmetto (SP) and retesting.

I basically did just that (based on my input, not my docs), and my PSA came down to just under 4.0. I was taking 560 mg SP capsules 3x a day. After the 6.2 test results and input from a poster, I reduced that to 1 pill at lunch time, and then stopped taking them for 3 days prior to my last PSA test.

I have noticed from stopping them altogether that I'm not really seeing much difference in how I pee with or without them, meaning I could probably go off them completely at this point and not really notice a difference.

Ironically, SP is supposed to help with prostate health and I could otherwise not find anything Googling around that shows that SP affects PSA results in any way. I'll be talking to my urologist next week to see what he thinks as far as taking 1 a day versus going off them completely. There are still way more results touting the supposed benefits of SP vs anything negative.

Jaknsuz, that's great i get the same result from trimix it does take the spontaneity out of it which wifey hates, she is trying to get me to get an implant not sure if i want to go that route.

My PSA kept creeping up and after 3 biopsies they found it hiding on the bottom side. They found it with the 3rd biopsy, which was perineal biopsy instead of going up the poop shoot like the other 2. Mine was a very aggressive version, as far as prostate cancer goes, so I chose Davinci surgery. I was very fortunate that all of my cancer was contained within the prostate and had not affected my urethra so it could spread anywhere else connected. My PSA has been undetectable since the surgery.
I wish I could say I was as fortunate as the gentleman mentioned below, but I'm not. Natural erection is an almost, but not quite enough. I do Trimix injections, which do not hurt at all. It will get so hard a cat can't scratch it in a few minutes and last a few hours even after orgasm but having to do the shot does take some of the spontaneity out of it. I'll take it though, because I'm still kickin which was the most important goal.
Don't be afraid of the biopsies. The worst part is the bloody semen for several weeks after you have it. Feel free to PM me if you have questions you don't want to ask on the open forum.

I've heard from 2 different people that saw palmetto made their PSA shoot higher. It's not supposed to, but I may try going off the saw palmetto for my next test.

Would be ironic if the thing that's supposed to help with prostate health is causing this issue. I do notice it's easier to pee when taking saw palmetto, so could also consider cutting down on it.

My psa was only 4.2 , but the doc felt a bump so I opted for a biopsy. Chose local anesthesia to save time and money, so there was some pain. The results were positive for cancer. If it comes to surgery, use the robotic data Vinci method to spare nerves, and an experienced Dr. With a low psa, I was fairly confident it was caught early and not life threatening. Wrong! The prostate biopsy after it was removed showed it was a very aggressive cancer and the margin of good cells preventing escape was .1cm. Do not play the wait and see game.

Just got my PSA results. .8. Happy for that

Mayhem8 you always have to worry, it can come back at any time I get checked every 6 months with a new psa and doc visit.

carguy - From what I've gathered, it's a crap shoot when it comes to prostate removal as to what your sex life will be like when it's done. We have a friend that had his removed and he can still get an erection just fine on his own. One of the lucky ones, but it sounds like normally favorable odds. Actually, the real lucky ones are the ones that don't have any prostate issues at all.

He said it took him about a year to recover to the point he's at now. He obviously doesn't produce much cum, if he cums at all, but I've seen him fuck the Mrs for like an hour straight. This was after he recovered from the prostate removal. He also no longer has to worry about prostate cancer for the rest of his life, but all of this is no doubt some very scary shit for guys.

Came across this in reference to using oral ED drugs post surgery -

"About 75% of men who undergo nerve-sparing prostatectomy or more precise forms of radiation therapy have reported successfully achieving erections after using these drugs."

ww w.hopkinsmedicine. org/health/conditions-and-diseases/prostate-cancer/erectile-dysfunction-after-prostate-cancer#:~:text=About%2075%25%20of%20men%20who,erections%20after%20using%20these%20drugs.

My psa went from 1.0 to 10.3 in one year had biopsy test were positive with 3 weeks was at 14.0 I was 53 years old at that time, had prostate removed, have been cancer free for 8 years, the only way for me to get an erection is injecting meds. it suks but I am alive.

If mine would stabilize at something 4 or less I could probably go a year in between checks, but for now, I'm also on the 6 month check, sometimes sooner.

It sounds like non-incremental variations might be OK, but someone that went from say 3.2 to 3.4 to 3.6 over the span of 3 tests is apparently more of a concern than someone that went from 2.5 to 16.5 to 7.4. My doc's exact words were, "I'm not sure what's causing this but I'm 99% sure it's not cancer".

At some point, I can see a biopsy in my future, but it was nice to know that the MRI with dye was even an option. Had there been a lesion of some kind on the opposite side of the prostate from the side where they normally take the biopsy samples, it would have possibly prevented an unpleasant biopsy procedure only to get an inaccurate test.

With all of the stuff women have to go through with gynos all of their life, this is probably as close as guys get to having to deal with similar stuff. Not fun.

I get myPSA levels checked at least 2x a year. VA does it and also the Dr that prescribes my Testosterone. So far so good but some of the readings have varied.

Was watching something the other day that said that, next to skin cancer, prostate cancer is the second most commen cancer in men. A blood test called a PSA should be done yearly as part of a guys annual physical, especially as he gets older.

Levels under 4.0 or less are what you're shooting for, but my doc says he's more worried about a guy that posts a slow steady incremental value over time (even if under 4.0), vs someone that jumps all over the place. I fall into that latter category.

I've had PSAs as high as 16.5. Normally that's considered a testing error. A couple weeks later, I was a 7.4, but that's still higher than 4. I've talked to other friends that have posted these crazy numbers too, but info is not readily available because this is a topic that many do not talk about.

I do go to a urologist that also specializes in oncology, so it's not like I'm not getting professional help, nor expecting that here. Being that it is a high likelihood that many guys will have issues with this, I thought a topic to discuss experiences with this might prove helpful. I know that it was at least a little relief to me to hear of others like me. At least one friend that I know has gone as far as biopsies that have, so far, tested negative. Also have another that had his prostate removed, or mostly removed, and he is doing well too.

When I went through the high PSA results, I did go for an MRI with contrasting dye. My urologist said this was a good alternative to doing a biopsy. The biopsy procedure just sounds like a nightmare to me, so the MRI with dye was a lessor evil. Also,they can only byopsy one side of the prostate through the normal means. It is possible that it could be starting on the opposite side of the prostate, so the MRI lets you see the whole prostate.

I the end, my PSA came down last time on it's own, but just got a recent result of 6.2, which means I'll likely retest in 6 weeks and go from there, and/or test for a UTI. A UTI can cause a high PSA result. Something seems to trigger this in me, but not sure what that is.

I've already dealt with skin cancer, so that blunted the initial scariness of the "C" word a bit, but this is another level of scary.