Biopsy Experience and when is it OK to have sex again

Hello,

I posted last November because my PSA was rising (6.10 in April 11, 6.86 in July 11 and 7.49 in September 11) and I got some great advice from this Group.

The situation now is that I had a biopsy done last Wednesday (16 samples) and I go back to see my Urologist on 28 February for the results.

The procedure was carried out here in Luxembourg in Europe in the Central Hospital and was done using a 'Light General' Anesthetic. I was really nervous when I went into hospital at 10.30 in the morning but the whole thing went very well and (after a lot of waiting around) I was in the recovery room by mid afternoon and my wife picked me up and took me home at 5pm. I have to say that there was absolutely no pain and from seeing the Anesthetist injecting something into the needle in the back of my hand until I woke up in the recovery room I felt nothing at all. I had an ache in my abdomen for a couple of days after the procedure and blood in my urine for the first day or two but now I feel completely back to normal.

Having read a lot of the posts here it doesn't appear that everyone has had a 'light general' for their biopsy so I wonder if it just a European thing (I assume that most of you are American). I make this point as it was completely painless which doesn't seem to be the case for everyone so anyone due to have a biopsy may wish to discuss the option with their Urologist.

My final question is can anyone let me know, based on experience, when it is OK to start to have sex again?

Any advice and opinions based on your experiences would be appreciated.

Regards
Mike

Mike
I'd think you can have sex again straight away.
Unlike rollydog and her hubby my experience was that there was a lot of blood in the semen, after a few days the discolouration was brown like coffee grounds and it took about two weeks before it was the normal colour again. I think that the best way of putting it is that you need to empty/flush the system to get it back to normal. You and your partner might be a bit surprsied by what the semen looks like, so I would also recommend using a condom or ejaculating in the shower.

As for anaesthetic, it was interesting to hear about the Letzeburgish way of doing it.
I live in The Netherlands and my experience was not at all like yours. My biospy was done without any anaesthetic at all. and it hurt a great deal, I nearly fainted from the pain, I was all dizzy, sweaty and nauseous and had to be taken somewhere to recover before I could leave the hospital. (Though that said I was probably only at the hospital for about an hour all told including the consultation with the uro etc prior top the procedure) I'd say my pain level was similar to getting a massive kick in the balls (which I have experienced several times on the sports field) or having a nail hammered into my balls (which I have not experienced). I asked about the pain and the nurse said it was not possible to do a biopsy with anaesthetic, and the uro said that injecting local anaesthetic into the prostate would hurt as much as the biopsy. I also had plenty of aching in my abdomen in the days there after and although i had had a course of antibiotics for the biospy the uro gave me another course. (I hope you also had a course of antibiotics for the biopsy)

The problem for me was, however, that when I went to Amsterdam to see the uro who was going to do my da Vinci he said that they always give a local anaesthetic for a biopsy in that hospital!
Should I ever have to have anything else biopsied I will thus know better. (And perhaps avoid the first hospital I went to even though it is only walking distance fvrom where I live.)

I hope you get good news from the results on the 28th.
Alf

(You can tell when we Americans are starting to wake up. )

Mike,

I had my 12 core biopsy in the Dr's office with no anesthetic. Most of the snaps were totally painless. However there was one shot that really got me - and made my eyes tear. I could feel that particular sample for about two weeks.

After the procedure was a bit sore so I refrained for about a week. The "pulsing" was uncomfortable/painful for about 2 weeks.

My semen looked like motor oil. Yuk! It grossed me out - and it was my own stuff!
Even though it is safe, harmless, blah, blah, blah... do the right thing: wear a condom and don't let her see it when you're done. Wipe up with the DARK towels so she does not have to find that disgusting shmutz on her new white ones.

Empty your prostate as often as you can. (It is GFMPH.) I cannot tell you how much I miss it sometimes.

Good luck to you.
Jeff

Thanks for the responses. I will take the advice on board and will probable be back here again early next month once I get the results of the biopsy from my Urologist as this is all new to me (I thought I was a fit, healthy 51 year old until I succumbed to my first annual company medical).

orgasm as much as possible while you can. i'm 18 mos. out from rrp. and sex is a distant memory for me, unless i stab my self with a needle. trouble is i don't even have the desire any more. my wife and i had a very active sex life before rrp. sometimes i wish i had just let things take its corse and lived as long as i lived.

I would encourage to enjoy any and all sex as you can while you are awaiting your biopsy results which may require surgery (hopefully if won't) but if it does and you unfortunately have to loose both critical bundle of nerves you don't want to have any regrets that you missed out on anything. Yes, the blood in the semen is a little freaky, but who cares, you can have sex, so seize the day and everyday while you have the ability to get an erection. For those of us who had to donate our critical bundles to the goodwill departments we long for the days when we could cause we are in the days of can't and have to mess around with Trimix injections, surgery for implants to do the job that we can no longer do.

So say it is good for your prostate health, cause it is and get so much in store in memories that it may make the transition to the dark side a little easier. I only pray and hope you get great biopsy results, and you don't have to go down the dark path of impotence cause it really sucks for one's manhood.

Best wishes.

I had my Biopsy in my URO's office with a local anesthetic, I had wanted a general but my insurance would not cover it and I would have to pay over $500 out of pocket.  It wasn't painful but 2 days after, I got a terrible blood infection that put me in the hospital with a 102 degree fever, the chills, shakes and unine that looked like ice tea. I spent 2 days on IV anibiotics as they thought I was going spetic. The infection was from EColi in my intenstine that got into my blood during the biopsy. So it was a week after that before my wife and I had sex, in fact the same day I got my results. My semen was the color of motor oil as it was all dead old blood and it lasted for several weeks.  My wife hates condoms so she had no problems with the dark mess as she liked the ejaculating part of sex and that is what she misses the most now, and so do I. Sex now is about the same as using a condom, unfortuantely. Good luck on your results and if you have to return your prostate make sure it is empty with flat tires.

Terry TWG