PSA (Prostate Specific Antigen) test

Just a reminder for guys who have reached a “certain age.”
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After age 50, or younger (40) for men who have histories of prostate cancer in their family, a PSA test can be a very good thing. It is a simple blood test which reveals a somewhat arbitrary, but useful, number in gauging antigen levels which relate to possible prostate cancer development.

I vote for age 40 to start these because the result will give you a base line value from which you can compare values in future years, tracking any changes upward. The earlier prostate cancer is detected, the better your shot at beating it.

Tomorrow is my annual day. What I’ve learned (and what doctors seldom mention; I don’t know why) is that you will get a lower PSA read if you don’t have any sexual activity for 48 hrs prior to the blood draw.

Don’t fuck. Don’t masturbate. Don’t do anything with yourself (even PE) that may lead toward ejaculation.

If you ejaculate or even get close to it, PSA levels rise. These are natural and normal events in our lives, but what you don’t want is a false-positive read that will upset your health care people and provoke them to want more tests when those might be avoided.

I’ve been fortunate to have generally low reads for my age group. I want that to continue. I plan to present myself to the clinic tomorrow in a totally pure and pristine state.

Then fuck my brains out sometime after the blood draw. :) I meet with my urologist next week to review the results.

Do the test. It is not flawless, but it is one of the best tools we have in detecting prostate cancer.

Another thing to know: Don’t engage in any sort of anal play, either inserting dildoes or similar-shaped objects, as that can make the reading go completely off the chart. That very high reading can lead to all sorts of interesting follow-up scenarios, such as retesting, or even biopsy of the prostate to try to detect cancer.

48 hours is a good window in which to avoid any sort of sexual activity which could “impact” the prostate.

-damfino

Good advice, Damfino.

Met with my doc. PSA this year has not budged from what it was last year and is less than half the average for men in my age group.

We talked about the ED drugs I use. He pointed out that Levitra (unlike Viagra) does not work adversly with food intake, at least with normal meals, and that his patients report a fairly rapid time of effect. He gave me samples and a voucher for three free ones that Bayer is now offering. I’ll tinker with the Levitra some more when the Cialis I had taken wears off.

Do the PSA when you are age-appropriate or have a family history of prostate cancer, or are black. (Black men have a higher prostate cancer rate than other races.)

I have three friends who have prostate cancer, one of whom waited too long to be diagnosed and treated and is now dealing with matastices in lung and brain. The other two got earlier treatment and are doing well.

Congrats on the good results, Avocet.

I’m due for a follow-up in about a week, so thanks for the PSA advice also. I didn’t know that sexual activity could affect the test.

I didn’t either, until recent years. If it’s OK for doctors to tell us to “fast” before a blood glucose test, why can’t they tell us to keep our cocks in our pants before a PSA read? For some men the difference in result (having had some kind of sex not long before the blood draw) could result in a push for more invasive testing that may be unnessesary.

Both my grandfather and dad had prostate cancer-killed my grandfather, dad had the operation that rendered him impotent.

I had mine checked for the first time at age 38 and was told “there’s nothing wrong with the prostate, however you should be around 75 years old”

Prostatic “stones” were found. (not like kidney/gall stones but rather like scar tissue growth-not cancer.)

Moral is: there are several things that can be happening-be safe, not sorry.

Av, I appreciate the way you keep us informed on this-it’s near and dear to my heart, er well my ass-shit you know what I mean.

I wonder if there is a genetic predisposition toward “stones” and if your dad and grandfather also had them at an early age; and could these particular clogs in the arcini lead to later PCa?

I had PSA test done and it was slightly elevated. The urologist send me to take prostate echoskopy and my prostate seems to be perfectly OK. Urologist said there is nothing to worry about. I was in a good private clinic so hopefully they don’t lie. I will make those test again after a while.

When you guys talk about stones I guess those should be only with people that have chronic prostatitis.
But I might be wrong.

We all have variations in our PSA levels, even as much as 20 percent in a day. What they are measuring is the same protein that causes coagulated semen to liquify some time after it is ejaculated. This chemical is manufactured in the prostate. A cancerous prostate produces far more of the protein than a normal, healthy one and an older prostate normally produces more of the protein than a younger one does.

If you get a higher than normal read for your age group, don’t panic. Before embarking on an invasive testing proceedure, ask for another test and make sure you abstain from any kind of sexual activity 48 hours prior to the blood draw. 24 hrs is ok, but to be sure, go for 48 hrs. The second test may or may not give a lower value than the first.

thanks for the info avocet8.

I am once again impressed by the knowledge of the people that hang around in this forum.