PSA- first timer

I am on this site with colitis. I am a 53 year old who suddenly has a PSA of 4.2. I rode my bike for 3 hours 1 hour before I did the blood work. Should I be alarmed by my high PSA?
Thanks,
Hugo

Thanks for the quick reply. Can riding and sex make that big of a difference??
How long do I need to abstain from either?

Yes, sex, bike riding, heavy lifting, DREs, infections and bad days at the lab (lab errors) have all been known to cause high PSA.

Wait a few weeks and retest without the bike ride or recent sex (48 hours is the normal recommendation).

and in any case, PSA isn't a test for cancer, just an indicator that something might be wrong with your prostate. If the retest comes back high, then you need to see a URO to get an evaluation to find out why the PSA is high. Could be a number of things including enlarged prostate (BPH), or an infection or prostatitis.

Andrew

Thanks folks.
Dealing with UC currently so hope to not be battling two fights at the same time.
I will retest later this week before going to see my GI.

Just wanted to give you an update. Did my PSA again and stopped cycling for these days prior. It went from 4.2 to 2.7. Can’t believe the decrease due to cycling!
Thanks for all your assistance!

But don’t you find it strange that a bike ride can inflate a PSA so acutely? I went up over 50%.
You would have to think the inflammation caused by the ride that produces a higher PSA level is not good for you?

There are likely other things going on, but the bike ride is a factor. There could also be prostatitis or problems at the lab.

I doubt this is a single factor thing, but lower PSA is good.

Well there is a Harvard study in 2015 that stated on average after a 50km ride if the blood was taken within an hour there was on average a 15 percent increase in the PSA levels. But, if you look on the graphs of that study 4 men went up over 50%. So it can happen. I, like a fool, did mine 1 hour after riding for 70km.

I would not consider PSA 2.7 to be normal for a 53-year-old unless you have been tracking PSA for years.

you will want to keep monitoring it.

So, in three years your PSA went from 2.4 to 2.7. When your PSA bounces around you can sort of ignore the higher values and just look at the trend of the low points. Prostate cancer shows up as a constant trend upwards. Sounds like you're good to me. I'd check it again this time next year unless your doctor wants to do it sooner.

Not enough data points to mean anything considering the apparent effect of bike riding. The 2.4 could have been after bike riding also. Suggest following your new “no bike riding and hopefully no sex related activities three days prior” protocol and get another test in 6 months then again in another 6 months. If all look reasonable, go on an annual testing plan at annual physicals, you are over 50.

The PSA of 2.7 is not remarkable by itself but I was 2.8 In 2014 and you can see where that led. If it keeps sneaking up, get it checked out (3.5 is threshold for white men in 50’s per questionable guidelines). Stay ahead of it while you are tending to your other issues.

I have PSA test results my Urologists could not really explain:
07/16 2.1
11/17 4.3
01/18 3.4
07/18 1.3
07/19 1.2

He speculated could have been something going on (prostatitis,etc.) that caused it to spike temporarily, but I never did get a good answer for it. He didn't see the need for biopsy, just annual testing and DRE. The only thing I did after the 4.3 was to change my diet considerably and have remained on it. But I'm not really sure if that has had any effect or not. But not taking any chances. I'm gonna stay on the diet permanently because it's also reduced my total cholesterol from 210 down to 177.

Age now 65
Never been diagnosed with PC.