DRE results very strange

Hello everybody.  I'm a 36 year old who is obese but in relatively okay health.  I would like to share my situation and hopefully someone can offer me some guidance.

It all started about 3 weeks ago when I started getting a strange ache in the right side of my waist.  Its very hard to pinpoint but I would say it's in the hip joint area.  The pain seems to occur when I move a specific way. 

Fast forward to April 9th. The pain seemed to get worse and for some strange reason I thought it might have been appendicitis so went to the ER too make sure it wasn't since we had an upcoming trip.  Everything came back normal.  ER even did a Urinalysis and CT scan to rule out kidney stone or severe kidney infection.

The very next day at 3:45pm I went to the bathroom and when I was done I got this aweful feeling like my bladder didn't empty out all the way.  It sort of felt like when you hold it back while waiting to goto the bathroom.

Anyway I found my way to the local urgi-care who did another urinalysis (all clear).  I don't know why but I asked the doctor to feel my prostate since that is the only other thing I can think of that could cause this.  After a DRE she told me the following:

"Your prostate feels hard and enlarged".  I asked if that is an indication of Prostate?  She stated that she didn't feel any nodules during the exam it was just hard and enlarged, but the enlargement was normal for my age and I should follow up with a Urologist after my vacation and felt it is most likely a UTI (possible bladder infection).

I was put on a regimen of Bactrin while on vacation.  Doctor told me that it would be enough for a UTI in addition to minor Prostatitis.

Vacation was very interesting with multiple trips to the men's room, dribbling after finishing, feeling like I still have to go, up multiple times at night.. UUGH.  In addition to varying levels of discomfort I did manage to have a good time.

Anyway I spent alot of my time researching my symptoms and of course 3 things came back 100% of the time (BPS, Prostatitis and Prostate Cancer). 

The thing that really scares me is that the symptoms of these 3 conditions are almost identical except for the hip pain which is only seen in PC (at least from what I've read).  Oh I also forgot to mention alot of lower back pain but I've always had that.  Seems to have gotten worse since I've been reading.

I"m not sure how to interpret the DRE of enlarged and hard, but normal for your age, no nodules.

Anyway I couldn't get to my usual urologist b/c he is changing offices so I picked one out of the phonebook and will start the process tomorrow. 

I've been to my regular Urologist on a regular basis up to 2 years ago for treatent for reproductive issues.  There have been DREs and other blood tests performed.  There was never a mention or concern about prostate cancer.

Thanks for listening to me. I just fear I'm one of these 36 year olds who has gotten PC and am already at the bone Met stage.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Nick

It's highly unlikely that you have prostate cancer at your age, let alone advanced prostate cancer with bone mets. Your symptoms do need to be followed up with a good urologist for sure, to rule everything else out that it could be.

Best thing is to sit tight, until you can get all the facts in hand. Hoping at your age, that you have no reason to join our club here.

David in SC

Thanks for everybody's support on this scary topic. I went to the Urologist today and it turns out I have Prostatitis. Based on my history, symptoms, DRE, etc my Urologist is certain this is what we are dealing with. I asked about a PSA. He told me we don't do PSA exams for someone your age and based on what I found there is no need to at this time.

When the DRE was done I almost fell to the floor with shooting pain in my penis when he did a palpatation on one of the areas. That is a tell tale symptom of Prostatitis.

The likely cause of me getting this was the catheter I had inserted into me in 2005 when I had gastric bypass surgury. I was surprised but yes there was likely scar tissue left behind that got infected or irritated spawning this.

I was put on Lavaquin and Daypro. I have a 4 week follow up. Let's hope this clears it all up. If not next step will be more than likely a stent will need to be placed into my urethra.

I'll let everyone know if there are any other discoveries.

Oh one other thing regarding the DRE exam. I asked what the DRE discovered. He mentioned it was tender. When the doctor at the Urgi Care center did my DRE 2 weeks ago she was telling me it felt firm and hard. This definitely paints 2 different pictures.

I guess this is why Urologists are the experts in this area

Post Edited (NickT76) : 4/23/2013 2:41:26 PM (GMT-6)