Spiking PSA - cancer or infection?
Hi - I’m 57 and In mid-February I began seeing symptoms of tea colored urine, increased frequency, weak stream which got worse over the next couple of weeks to include fever and an episode of night sweats and finally so much painful urination that I went to the urologist at the beginning of March. He found pus in urine and urine culture found bacteria although at a low level - 1,000-9,999- and started me on amoxicillin for what I assumed was either prostatitis or a UTI. He did not take a PSA but my previous PSA test in August, 2022 was 1.2 and has been consistently at that level for 7 years. My symptoms resolved rather quickly and I no longer saw blood in urine so I thought that was the end of it. Fast forward to last week when I decided to get a PSA test at my local lab just to make sure all was well and the result was 18.2!
My primary doc (can’t see urologist until next week) said the more likely cause of such a rapid PSA increase was the infection rather than cancer but I’m still freaking out. My symptoms have resolved and I’m assuming prostate cancer symptoms don’t come and go but the high PSA level is concerning.
Anyone have a similar experience of such a rapid and dramatic PSA increase? Can a prostate infection cause this? Did I test for PSA too soon without letting the infection clear? Any thoughts appreciated. Thanks- Tom
PSA results can go up and down due to many factors including physical activity and more. Prostate cancer and a prostate infection often present similar warning signs. For your own protection, safety and peace of mind it is alway best to seek out professional medical care and evaluation when it comes to prostate issues vs information on the internet. UTI and prostate infections can be difficult to treat and may require a longer or more aggressive approach. A rapid increase in PSA can often suggest the possible presence of cancer. What is important to remember is a PSA test is not a test for cancer rather it simply measures the amount of prostate antigen in your blood at the time of testing. A digital exam may offer more insights .If an irregularity is detected a biopsy is often the best test to determine if cancer is present along with an indication on the aggressiveness of said cancer.
While your concerns are understandable your best bet is to take a few deep breadths and meet with a urologist vs a GP. Prostate cancer is most often a very treatable disease and is also slow growing. Dennis(ProstateCancer.net TEAM)Good info above.
Maybe ask for some follow up PSA checks in the following months?what I am about to tell you is very controversial so take it for however you want. Over the past year my PSA increased to as high as 4.4 from 1.9 and my prostate was obviously enlarged. My Urologist did an MRI which was negative and 4K test which was a great 5%. I did lots of research and what I found was that the liver and gut toxins are directly related to the prostate enlarging. Therefore, I started doing colon and gut cleansing for the past month now using organic saw palmetto oil, pumpkin seed oil and castor oil applied between the anus and scrotum. This is called oil pulling. The toxins that have come out due to this is truly amazing! Checked my PSA level on Friday and it’s now down to 2.44 and it’s only been one month of this oil pulling cleanse. I am going to continue the oil pulling cleanse for another 2-3 months and see how it goes. But I can tell you it’s been nothing short of miraculous thus far!
