High PSA to where I'm at now.....

Good morning. 

Welcome to the forum, if you have not been here before. It is a club which no one wants to join, but it is worth it once you are here. 

I can't speak directly to your experience because my pathway to diagnosis was quite straight forward. I can tell you that your PSA level is not as high as some on here, and the fact that they have not yet identified cancer properly may be a good sign. 

When I had a biopsy I stopped being able to urinate completely for some hours. It was quite painful as it kicked back in, but this faded over a period of about 48 hours.

Your doctor is right in that if you do not have a bacteriological infection antibiotics will not help. In fact, if the tests showed no presence of an infection prescribing them was a waste.

What I did have cause to wonder, though, was what type on pain meds you are on. In my case, the prostate had swollen because of the biopsy, and waiting did it.

You might need some kind of anti-inflammatory medication to help.

Going back to your note about the doctor saying they were doing further checks on your sample. Sometimes identifying a specific infection, usually by growing bacteria in a dish, so that they can prescribe exactly the right antibiotics. This may yet happen.

Have you had a blood test? Sometimes inflammation markers can be found in that, which will guide prescribing.

Someone who actually knows about this stuff will be along shortly.

Good morning, PD Flyer.

First, I am sorry that you are in so much pain and hope that it will calm down in time. Understandably, you are focussing your questions on your ongoing urinary problems after the biopsy, but you must not forget that, as my oncologist told me, side-effects are inevitable and each individual feels them uniquely and it is eradicating cancer and prolonging your healthy life that is the prime purpose of these procedures. 

Most of us who have been through a similar experience,  recover over a short period of time. I hope that you are fortunate enough to quickly get over this painful period. Personally, I was passing blood for weeks after my 'brutal' trans-perineal biopsy and was diagnosed with PI-RADS 5 (high risk) in April 2024.

I note that your second biopsy was done under GA. Do you have the results yet?

You should have been given a phone number for a support specialist nurse who could explain the technical jargon (PI- RADS etc.).

I'm sorry that I can't help with your specific problem but am sure there will some further help....

All the best

BitO

Hello Again PD Flyer 

I am pleased to see you have joined us, but sorry to read of your issues.  i can't add much to the posts above, my only suggestion is to pose your question to one of our cancer Nurses and here's the link:

Ask a Nurse 

Do allow some time for a reply. Please do let us know how you get on.

Best wishes - Brian.

Thanks for taking the time to reply Steve, really appreciate your comment.

It's definitely a club I had no intention of ever joining by choice but suddenly find myself getting my membership card stamped....

I understand my situation is nowhere near as serious as many on here are experiencing and I guess some are wondering why all the fuss over a 'bit of pain' during urinating, compared to the problems some are going through this must seem very insignificant.

The only pain meds I'm on are paracetamol and Ibuprofen which I'm taking daily, I did get offered something stronger, morphine, yesterday (sunday) when I phoned the out of hours emergency service, I declined because I was driving my car.

I've not had any blood test to check for specific inflammatory markers.

The pain is not from the prostate area, it's more near the end of my urethra and around halfway down. The site where I had my transperineal biopsy is not so bad, just a dull ache, I can cope fine with, it's healed well and just feels like I've been kicked in the nuts, a walk in the park compared to what pain I'm going through during peeing.

Cheers BitO, helpful, I appreciate these procedures are intended to prolong our healthy life and have to be endured, no pain, no gain rght?

But I'm kind of understanding where my GP was coming from originally when he suggested even if I had prostate cancer I might live 20 years or more, his point was why put myself through the sometimes brutal treatment regime, if I'm not going to benefit by living any longer?

I lost my dad in dec 2022, he was a week short of his 80th birthday, thankfully he passed suddenly from a massive heart attack, to be honest I'm glad he didn't suffer with any cancer or dementia and like me had lived a fairly healthy life with no ongoing illnesses.

It was a big thing for me to deal with right at the beginning of this treatment journey and kind of brought home how fragile life is and how we should not take it for granted, I miss him all the time, he was always there being my guiding light and my hero...

To be honest I was in a very dark place for a good couple of years struggling with grief, unable to find any peace, in complete turmoil, I reached out to my GP for help but got the usual none helpful response, a number for a grief helpline, I didn't bother, just got through it...:(

There was a point I just wanted to join him to be honest but I got through that, been close to that the last few days though.....

I got no support nurse number or any help with what the medical jargon means, I just googled and then realised I probably shouldn't have done that when I started reading the outcomes etc

It's a rabbit hole I really don't want to start going down in my current state...

I've only had my latest biopsy done on friday just gone, I think I get the results in 6 weeks or so, I've got an appointment to go back to urology in July sometime for the results I guess?

Cheers Brian,

I'll have a look at that, I'm not getting any joy at my local hospital where I had the procedure done.

Update -

I just rang the day surgery where I had my biopsy, just for some pain relief advise or any help and I got talked over, they weren't listening and just read off like a standard reply sheet, drink plenty, blah blah blah, to be honest I'm feeling like this is the best help I'm going to get anywhere is on here talking to others who've gone through the mill...

Hello PD Flyer . That sounds very painful. The urethra can go into spasm following procedures like catheterization and bladder investigations which should ease within 2/3 days. Normally over the counter painkillers are sufficient but other suggestions are to avoid caffeine and acid food and drink like tomatoes and fruit juice until it has cleared, along with drinking about double the normal amount of fluid.

Macmillan have a helpline number which might be useful for both physical problems as well as mental.

0808 808 00 00

Cheers alwayshope, that's an apt username.....I keep trying to tell myself that....

Appreciate the advise.

I'm probably drinking too much coffee and tea to be honest, although I've been drinking more water and cranberry juice, I've been anxious about drinking, filling my bladder and then the resulting agony, all I can describe it as is peeing razor blades through a urethra that has had barbed wire pulled through it, that might give you an idea of the pain level.

I'm literally gripping the cistern, bent over in agony, crying with the pain, trying my best to release the flow but holding back because it hurts so much..all that does is prolong and increase the agony during the flow as I'm stopping myself midstream.

I'm probably not drinking enough as the thought of passing water just fills me with dread at the moment, I'm also holding on to it far longer than I should.....I know I shouldn't but I struggling with the anxiety of peeing....

Update - I'm not in my wife's good books at the moment, I couldn't give her a lift to work this morning, I was in so much pain, not slept much either and apparently I'm just lay in bed with nothing wrong with me, I'm putting it on.....according to her.

But that is nothing new to be fair, she is one of those that has to have every medical condition going and nobody can be more ill than her....

Just to give you an idea of what I'm dealing with at home, a lady she works with told her than she can 'pick up prostate cancer' if we were being intimate with each other, not much chance of that at the moment of course but prior to my biopsy she was very 'distant' with me, when I asked why that was the reason she gave me....

Women eh? I'm not even going to try and work that one out, I'm just a regular, simple bloke with a regular logical brain, I just can't compute that kind of mentality at all...

I had to chuckle to myself though, it was said in all seriousness and this lady works in a hospital so she should know apparently, it just boggles my mind....

Just on the aspect of what to drink:

I was visiting the bathroom 5 times a night during my 20 days of radiotherapy, and some of them came with significant discomfort (although nothing like the problems you are having). The natural reaction can be to drink less (which means pee less) but that is completely wrong. Less drink means stronger urine which means more discomfort when you go.

I was advised to drink lots and avoid anything that could irritate the urinary system, so tea and coffee must be decaf, no fruit juice and no alcohol.

ok I understand, will make sure I drink more water today with a little cranberry juice and report back any improvement...

Although I was drinking plenty of water when I went back in on sunday because they wanted a sample of urine and I'd emptied my bladder before going so filled up with water while there, no noticeable difference to be fair, still excruciating...

Further update -

No return phone call from doc I saw on saturday, re my urine sample test, not really expecting one to be honest....

I was waiting on his response in order to get my prescription for UTI antibiotics, I really can't see the point of taking them if I've not got a UTI just adding more variables to the issue!

I've got someone to go pick up the meds just in case he says go ahead....