Prostate cancer

[Viper201]

The Gauge said:

CoolHands said:

I’m early 50s no symptoms but getting nervous reading the thread, when should you start being checked (if ever) even if you have nothing wrong?

Depends really. Do you have any bladder issues - needing to go often, weak flow, not fully emptying, going during the night etc? These seem to be some of the symptoms of prostate problems, whether that be cancer or like me just an enlarged prostate.

If you don't then your GP might not do a PSA. If you have then they should. Or click the link posted earlier about the charity who perform PSA tests, and book yourself one, thats who did mine.

Add to the above, if you have any history of prostate cancer in the family (father, grandfather, brother, uncle etc) either now or in the past, or, if your mum had breast cancer or another cancer, then you must get checked asap.

I didn't know this. Was doing my Ancestry and getting copies of death certificates and found my father (he left when I was 8 so no contact), his father and his grandfather all died of prostate cancer before the age of 69 years. My mother had breast cancer and her brother had prostate cancer. They are all dead.
Currently alive are my younger brother who has prostate cancer as do three of my cousins on my father's side.

Back in 2015 when I was diagnosed, two consultants who treated me, and an expert on the Prostate Cancer Uk forum, stated there was no family connection. Thankfully, progress has been made in this area.

It isn't all about symptoms either. I was finding it harder to start peeing, that was all, so saw the GP for the finger test and blood test, who said my prostate was hard. Another finger test by the consultant the following week and told to stay in the hospital until 3pm for a biopsy. Had the rectal version (no antibiotics) and the results were PSA 38, localised spread to the seminal vesicles, Gleason 9. No option of a prostatectomy so Prostap and radiotherapy (37 zaps).

Get yourself tested.

[westberks]

so following on from PSA tests at 20.2 and 19.7 (above 20 is my specific trigger) i spoke to the doc as not happy and symptoms getting worse,

Also had some discomfort in the hip/pelvic area so also sent for xrays.

they came back as all clear and also received referral letter to urology. Needed to check in and make my own appointment.....

system saying first available is 408 DAYS!!!!!!!!

spoke to GP reception lady yesterday and their referral person is calling me tomorrow.

even if this is a first appt, that delay is ridiculous. I've been in the system with elevated PSA and enlarged prostrate for nearly 8 years.

[rovermorris999]

That's crazy and unacceptable. Have you considered going private? I have comprehensive BUPA cover but with a £500 excess. Three or four years ago a consultation with a urologist and then a scan and interpretation was under the £500 with Spire at Hull. Even if it's now double that it may be worth it for piece of mind.
Either way I'd be kicking off with your local NHS, do you have a decent MP?

[westberks]

rovermorris999 said:

That's crazy and unacceptable. Have you considered going private? I have comprehensive BUPA cover but with a £500 excess. Three or four years ago a consultation with a urologist and then a scan and interpretation was under the £500 with Spire at Hull. Even if it's now double that it may be worth it for piece of mind.
Either way I'd be kicking off with your local NHS, do you have a decent MP?

considering private but hope that the surgery's referral person will kick some arse with the local hospital.

having had 2 recent excellent emergency xray experiences I was lulled into a false sense of expectation! Also had reasonable service previously from the NHS via these channels; pre covid might be the ready made excuse they ll give me.

[rovermorris999]

westberks said:

considering private but hope that the surgery's referral person will kick some arse with the local hospital.

having had 2 recent excellent emergency xray experiences I was lulled into a false sense of expectation! Also had reasonable service previously from the NHS via these channels; pre covid might be the ready made excuse they ll give me.

Yes it can be very patchy. Like you I've great and not so great service from the NHS.

[Mr.Chips]

rovermorris999 said:

Yes it can be very patchy. Like you I've great and not so great service from the NHS.

My initial treatment was pretty good and very quick, within 8 weeks from elevated PSA test to MRI scan and cancer all clear. However, since then, I have had a bit of a mixed response, being told that my next appointment would be in June, to then getting a letter suggesting it would be delayed by a few months. Night time trips to the bathroom have increased in frequency and peak flow/retention issues mean that the specialist’s secretary is going to be hearing from me tomorrow! I don’t like having to pester, but I have come to realise that the more noise you make the sooner you get seen.
Don’t be afraid to make some noise to get what you want/need. Good luck!

[Easy_Targa]

So my journey has reached another waypoint. A telephone consultation with the urologist today after a blood test I had done last week for my active monitoring. The test result for PSA level was 3.1 and so the consultant is happy to refer me back to the GP and schedule another blood test for Nov. 2024.
The MRI I had showed that my prostate has a volume of 60ml which is apparently quite large (but then I'm 6'3") and so, as it turns out, I have "benign prostatic enlargement".

She would like to prescribe Finasteride that after 6 months or so should cause the prostate to shrink or at least cease growing. I can take this with Tamsulosin or without, but since I'm not really sure that Tamsulosin made any difference to disturbed sleep etc, I don't think I'd double up.
Upon Googling this drug it seems that its used in equal parts for promoting hair growth in guys that have male pattern baldness and arresting the growth of the prostate.

It has an impressive list of side effects including ED, tiredness and depression, and so has anyone on here had any experience with it?

[Louis Balfour]

Easy_Targa said:

So my journey has reached another waypoint. A telephone consultation with the urologist today after a blood test I had done last week for my active monitoring. The test result for PSA level was 3.1 and so the consultant is happy to refer me back to the GP and schedule another blood test for Nov. 2024.
The MRI I had showed that my prostate has a volume of 60ml which is apparently quite large (but then I'm 6'3") and so, as it turns out, I have "benign prostatic enlargement".

She would like to prescribe Finasteride that after 6 months or so should cause the prostate to shrink or at least cease growing. I can take this with Tamsulosin or without, but since I'm not really sure that Tamsulosin made any difference to disturbed sleep etc, I don't think I'd double up.
Upon Googling this drug it seems that its used in equal parts for promoting hair growth in guys that have male pattern baldness and arresting the growth of the prostate.

It has an impressive list of side effects including ED, tiredness and depression, and so has anyone on here had any experience with it?

How old are you?

[AstonZagato]

Bone scan today. Very easy, painless and zero stress.
Procedure for those interested:
Turn up at 9:00am.
Get weighed and measured (assume for dosage).
Cannula in the arm and a radioactive substance injected. Very short half-life apparently - I will stop emitting gamma radiation by tomorrow (!). No obvious effects (I think I might feel a bit light headed but that may be unconnected).
Sent away and told to return at 1pm (to give the isotope time to attach to the relevant bits). I went home and walked the dogs.
You are asked to drink plenty of fluid in the intervening time.
Arrive back at the unit at 1pm.
Directed into the scanner room (my wife had to stay upstairs as there is too much radiation risk to have non-patients).
Asked to remove all metal objects (just open trousers/flies - no hospital gown shenanigans)
Lay down on a machine that looked a bit like an MRI or CT scanner crossed with an X-Ray machine (no doughnut shaped massiveness but mobile bed thing to lie on)
The receiver (flat plate about 75cmx75cm) picks up the gamma radiation from your body so it comes about an inch from your nose.
Lie still for 20 minutes. Almost silent. I drifted off to sleep.
Gather your belongings and go home.
Simple.

[Easy_Targa]

Louis Balfour said:

How old are you?

I'm just 60

[Louis Balfour]

Easy_Targa said:

Louis Balfour said:

How old are you?

I'm just 60

Any gut problems?

[Armitage.Shanks]

Easy_Targa said:

Finasteride.

It has an impressive list of side effects including ED, tiredness and depression, and so has anyone on here had any experience with it?

I have a chum (60) who is prescribed it for BPH. He has commented that ED is a side effect that he gets around by using the viagra equivalent which he buys from Dr Fox. No other symptoms that I'm aware of. For him it's an inconvenience he's happy to put up with.

[westberks]

Easy_Targa said:

The MRI I had showed that my prostate has a volume of 60ml which is apparently quite large (but then I'm 6'3") and so, as it turns out, I have "benign prostatic enlargement".


It has an impressive list of side effects including ED, tiredness and depression, and so has anyone on here had any experience with it?

I've similar diagnosis and was prescribed this when first treated nearly 8 years ago. The consultant didn't mention side effects and it wasn't until about a week later and feeling a little bit 'lethargic' in the Little Westberks region that I googled the normal side effects..... ED and potential man boobs along with psychological issues! As a freshly separated 47 year old about to re-enter the dating scene, I let out a Homeresque audible scream and stopped taking them!

when I then spoke to the consultant he acknowledge the side effects but reassured me most patients weren't concerned...... I replied that most of his patients were in their 70s and not on Tinder. He didn't really get the humour.

I've dabbled occasionally with a generic Viagra to help when I feel I need a big performance as time & age are against us.

as my bladder issues have progressed I've been prescribed Oxybutinin to try and rectify that. Again the potential side effects are worrying....
dry mouth
headache
feeling dizzy, sleepy, or a spinning sensation (vertigo)
diarrhoea or being sick (vomiting)
constipation
farting and burping (wind)
stomach pain
dry eyes
blurred vision
problems or pain when peeing, and not being able to empty your bladder

getting old is f***ing marvellous!

[Easy_Targa]

I can't say I'm happy about the likely ill effects of the Finasteride, I'd say "side effects" but actually, having looked into it, the primary reason to take it is to reduce testosterone, or more accurately prevent testosterone being metabolised into dihydrotestosterone which is the very hormone required to promote desire (libido), produce erections and ejaculations etc. Any shrinking of the prostate takes 6 months and only lasts as long as you keep taking the drug. Meanwhile if you come off it you can't be entirely sure of getting your lost functions back again. On the plus side you might grow some hair (as well as man boobs). All in all, I'm not sold.

[Louis Balfour]

Easy_Targa said:

I can't say I'm happy about the likely ill effects of the Finasteride, I'd say "side effects" but actually, having looked into it, the primary reason to take it is to reduce testosterone, or more accurately prevent testosterone being metabolised into dihydrotestosterone which is the very hormone required to promote desire (libido), produce erections and ejaculations etc. Any shrinking of the prostate takes 6 months and only lasts as long as you keep taking the drug. Meanwhile if you come off it you can't be entirely sure of getting your lost functions back again. On the plus side you might grow some hair (as well as man boobs). All in all, I'm not sold.

Have they offered you tamoxifen or similar?

[CharlesdeGaulle]

Louis Balfour said:

Easy_Targa said:

Louis Balfour said:

How old are you?

I'm just 60

Any gut problems?

Any reason you're pursuing that line of questioning LB? Are there any links with age, gut and Prostate issues? I'm not being arsey, but this might apply to me.

[Louis Balfour]

CharlesdeGaulle said:

Louis Balfour said:

Easy_Targa said:

Louis Balfour said:

How old are you?

I'm just 60

Any gut problems?

Any reason you're pursuing that line of questioning LB? Are there any links with age, gut and Prostate issues? I'm not being arsey, but this might apply to me.

Yes to all of that, apart from the arsey bit which was quite a good pun.

The rectum and prostate are intimate, so a gut infection or inflammation can also affect the prostate. Which is why men with inflammatory bowel conditions are at higher risk of prostate cancer.

There is a phenomenon called "leaky gut" which means that the gut wall allows the contents of the gut to pass through it, in small quantities. Conventional medical wisdoms is that there is no evidence it causes any harm. Other thinking suggests it can. E-coli is prolific in the gut and responsible for quite a lot of prostatitis, it is also prolific in the gut. Which is why transrectal biopsies so often cause infection.

There is a school of thought that prostate infection and inflammation can inhibit the body's ability to shut down cancer cells. So, if you contract a chronic prostate infection, and you're over about forty, that can potentially enable cancer cells to grow more freely.

The issue of age: We know that men over fifty are at higher risk of prostate cancer, and that by seventy or eighty it is extremely common, to the point where most men have it to some degree. We also know that testosterone declines with age. There have been studies that suggest declining testosterone can lead to diminishing gut function, so your gut can start playing up at just the time in life when other morbidities are ripe for a bit of synergy.

Lifestyle factors can also play a part, and lifestyle factors over an extended period. So, you might get away with plenty of mid-week wine in your thirties and forties, whilst hormone levels are quit healthy and the vigour of youth is still around. Continue that into your fifties and sixties and cumulative issues can arise, in the gut as well as other places.

So, if you've got a dodgy gut and you're having urinary problems, there may be a link between the two. It's just not an association that your GP or the local urinary clinic will probably make, in the former case because they are generalist and in the latter because they are siloed.

It's possible to have stool tests done that will indicate whether you have anything in your gut that could be causing urinary issues. But comprehensive tests aren't available on the NHS, nor are they inexpensive.

TLDR: If you can't piss and poo properly the two problems may be connected.

[CharlesdeGaulle]

Louis Balfour said:

Yes to all of that, apart from the arsey bit which was quite a good pun.

[Good Stuff]

TLDR: If you can't piss and poo properly the two problems may be connected.

That's interesting thanks. Thankfully no poo probs here but it's useful to know.

[Armitage.Shanks]

Anybody on Tamsulosin?

So a follow up from my PSA test I went to see the GP yesterday. I thought I might have prostatitis with the pee issues and a dull ache in the perineum area. The DRE indicated that the prostate appeared Ok, it was quite soft and smooth. The GP mentioned that if I did have prostatitis when he pressed it I'd be on the ceiling so he's ruling that out. I took along a urine sample, dip test showed all clear but he's going to send it to the lab.

Then we get to the point of what I want to do. He has offered me Tamsulosin (listed side effects don't indicate ED just the inability to fire anything at the critical point) so I'm on the fence.

The problem is when you're in the space of thinking about when you need to take a piss and being nowehere you can, it starts to occupy your mind. The frequency in the day is still there but the flow seems better. I'll get the prescription, give it a week and if no change give them a go. GP did mention that if I'm still the same in 3-4 weeks let him know.

[rovermorris999]

I've been on Tamsulosin for a few years to address flow problems caused by a benignly enlarged prostate (at least so far!). It worked within days and has caused no noticeable side effects for me apart from mild light-headedness when standing up but only for a few days when I first started it. My father-in-law who is in his mid 80's has been on it for over a decade. No problems either.