New, low psa but lots of bone pain and worried

Morning Yorkshire boy 

sorry to hear your having a hard time getting answers. 

Do you not have the choice of speaking to another doctor in the practice.  

best wishes and keep us updated

Liz & OH xxx

Hello Yorkshire boy 

A warm welcome to the Macmillan Online Prostate Cancer group, I am Brian one of the Community Champions on the Community and I do have Prostate Cancer myself.

You must remember our forum is made up of Community members and partners in contact with Prostate Cancer and none of us are medically trained.

I understand your fears and am aware of Prostate Cancer without a high PSA and understand this to be "small cell carcinoma". I do remember a thread about this and it can be found here - Small Cell Diagnosis.

I do hope this helps. Lets see what other Community members have to say. I will keep my eye on this thread.

Best wishes - Brian.

Hi  YB

So PSA seems ok but as already been said sometimes u can have a kind of prostate cancer with a low PSA, quite rare though.

Bone pain can be down to loads of different things , y not try and push for a MRI scan which would/should tell u everything u need to know.

If GP is not prepared to do that then have one done privately just to put your mind at rest

Best wishes 

Steve 

I saw my GP three years ago with a PSA of 1.4 but with poor urine flow. DRE inconclusive but referred to urology. Biopsies and MRI confirmed prostate cancer Gleason 3+4. No metastasis so I opted for no surgery but active monitoring. Three years down the line my latest 6m PSA is steady at 2.5.

Hi YB

Chris Hoy had a significant family history - both father and grandfather - of prostate cancer.  If you have similar, it would probably add some weight to your interaction with the GP.   If you do not, it may help to provide you with some reassurance.  

I'd agree with the suggestion that, if necessary, a private MRI would either put your mind at ease (using the info available to date, seems by some margin the most likely outcome) OR provide clear actionable information for your GP.

Good luck!   

Thanks

Im clinging to the hope that if prostate cancer was advanced enough to cause this many bone mets that surely the gp would have felt something in the dre. I was definitely getting pains in hips pelvis and coccsyx back in september when he did the dre so if it was mets i would hope the prostate would not feel smooth as he said it was. How much of the prostate is actually felt during the dre? He was very quick. 

There just seems to be so many bones affected in one go and not getting better that it has to something serious rather than just bruising my coccyx as my hips and back pelvis are also painful when sat on or used.

When i actually think back im pretty sure i  had hip pain on and off well over 18 months to a lesser degree. Would a very agressive prostate cancer be manifesting much further in progression than just bone Mets? Ive read small cell prostate cancer life expectancy is measured in months not years so would assume i would be getting other symptoms by niw. 

The fullness feeling in my rectum is quite new, i dont think ive felt that before certainly not when i visited the gp in September. Does cancer in the prostate area present itself with pains in the rectum region? A fullness feeling especially when sat. 

sorry for all the questions 

I suspect you have an enlarged prostate. I did, and I was experiencing some of the symptoms you have described. This enlargement is common in men as we get older. 

There is no direct correlation between an enlarged prostate and prostate cancer.

Your discomfort is reason enough to investigate further. Make a case to your doctor to refer for an MRI. An MRI can accurately determine prostate size and can also establish likelihood of prostate cancer. This would be a good first step to determine what is going on down there.

In my case, I did have an enlarged prostate and prostate cancer. I had a prostatectomy over 3 years ago and the feelings of fullness and discomfort were resolved almost immediately. 

I'm not saying that is what you are in need of as medication or a minor procedure may be your solution. I wish you well.

Hi

did you have any pain around you coccyx area before prostatectomy?

thanks

Good Morning Yorkshire boy 

As I said, none of us are medically trained so I have no idea how much of the Prostate is "touched" in a DRE but as it's only the size of a walnut I would think quite a lot of it.

My Prostate Cancer nearly killed me but I had no pain in my bones or any other pain and we all present with different symptoms (click on my avatar for my journey). I have found the many GP are not up to speed with how Prostate Cancer can present it's self.

I fully agree with Stampede here-

Stampede said:

Your discomfort is reason enough to investigate further. Make a case to your doctor to refer for an MRI.

It's a given you need to return to your GP for further investigation as your symptoms are worse now. The other option (rather drastic but may be needed) is a call to 111 or a visit to A & E - although with this flu going around they are busy.

From what you are saying I think you need some investigation sooner than later.

Best wishes - Brian.

Hi Yorkshire boy - I'm a wife of a possible PC sufferer (waiting for biopsy results) and can't offer any advice from personal experience. But your post is so full of understandable anxiety, not helped by your GPs seeming indifference to how worried you're getting and your frustration with not being listened to. So I just wanted to say that everyone on here does hear you and understands how anxiety inducing this journey is. You have been given good advice from those who have gone before already and just to add that along with having PC in your family line, apparently a mother having had breast cancer is there on the list too if that is relatable to you to give a little more weight to your insistence you need some extra investigation. That's all really - sending you a virtual  (that's meant to be a hug, not someone wearing boxing gloves!)