42 years old PSA 7.1 What should I do next?

Hello,

Thank you for reading my message. I wanted to get your opinion about my elevated PSA level and next steps to take. I recently received my yearly physical blood work results. All my blood work came back normal except for my PSA came back high at 7. Last year my PSA levels was at .5 and today jumped to 7 a year later. I am 42 years old with no symptoms related to having issues with my prostate. My doctor suggested to wait and take another PSA test in 8 weeks. Doc said it could be many things like an infection, hyperplasia, inflammation. If the levels continue to be high the next step would be a urologist my doctor said.

Thoughts? Should I wait or go see a urologist now since my levels jumps quickly and I am 42? Seems I should be proactive. Of course I went to Dr. Google and I am overwhelmed by the information.

UPDATE: I decided to re-take my own PSA (same lab my doctor uses too) 14 days later and my PSA went from a 7 to .5 (normal range) The year before it was .5.

Your feedback would be great. Thank you!

Gerry

Post Edited (GerrySC) : 8/30/2017 4:24:25 PM (GMT-6)

Welcome to HW.

Since you're posting on a PC site, let's start there - PSA isn't a test for cancer. It just measures prostate activity. As you doctor noted it can rise for many reasons. PC is very low on the list. Rapid rises in PSA are more likely due to prostatitis (infection, inflammation). PC tends to rise very slowly and rarely jumps that fast.

You're doctor has given you sound advice - wait and retest. If it's still high then a URO visit is in order to find out what is going on.

In fact I give your doc a bonus points for a more complete explanation than many men are given. I'd stick with that doctor.

Andrew

Thank you Andrew for the information and calming my nerves. =) Sorry for the quick post on the site. I certainly want to follow the rules and respect the site. Great informative site!

Your doctor sounds very wise. Big jumps like that are usually indicative of prostatitis. Prostatitis usually remits and relapses independent of anything you try to do for it. Giving it time is good advice.

Fairwind,

Thanks for the advice. You were right I made an appointment to see Uro 4 weeks from now. They were booked solid. I told my life story to the front desk support about my concerns regarding the major PSA spike. (she was a sport)

She did ask if we used the same lab for both tests. I told her I did not know. Such a major spike I don't think a lab can make that big of an error. Who knows.

Thanks to all mentioning the possibility of prostatitis. I did a lot of reading about prostatitis and sure learned a lot. I spent a lot of time educating myself about PSA. I feel a lot more informed still stressing of course (by nature) but good to focus on the facts. Keep everyone updated when I visit the Uro.

Post Edited (GerrySC) : 8/24/2017 11:11:08 AM (GMT-6)

I have been reading a lot about the prostate and I was surprised to find out how much work the prostate does during sexual activity. In my original post I talked about the major spike in my PSA.

********** - I can only share this here because I am embarrassed to share in person. I don't think its the cause but wanted to share. My sex life at home has been zero for a while (not per choice). I have been ********** a lot for a 42 year old man in the last 3 to 4 months. I would say pretty much daily and sometimes a matinee show before the evening performance. I know horrible. I have been reading online when you ********* you somewhat exhaust and can burn out your prostate resulting in inflammation. I know I am over reaching here in trying to find out the cause. I thought I would ask the team here. =)

No worries I expect all kinds of responses since you are probably laughing or in shock. =)

GerrySC I am not laughing or in shock. You are not that unusual in your ********** activity. The advice above is all good although I don't see the value of waiting 8 weeks. If I were you I would call the urologist office and ask them to order a PSA before you see the urologist. He will without doubt do a rectal exam, which will tend to falsely elevate the PSA. If he does not feel anything suspicious and he thinks you have some prostatitis and the PSA is not higher you can feel much better about waiting for further testing. They don't call the PSA PSanxiey for nothing. Personally I just hate the anxiety of waiting.

I'm no uro, but that sounds unusual to go up and down that much in such a short period of time. My PCP told me when my PSA was only 7 that a PSA can go up after spicy foods, riding a bike or after sex. Unfortunately, none of those applied to my situation. I now have a test every three months and just had my 2nd biopsy, a "fusion biopsy", due to PSA readings of 11 and a "suspicious lesion." A DRE might not be a bad idea just to make sure. Good luck. Jack

Gerry: Don't remember my PCP giving me my PSA numbers when they were at an average level. PSA was at 7 in 2015. They did go up after each test, except for one when it went down about .7 points. Then it went up at each test, three months apart. Went up from 9.5 to 11, May to August. Waiting for the results from my biopsy on 8/25. Have to wait until 9/5. Like I said many times before, the waiting is the hardest part. Keep us updated and best of luck. Jack.