Retest Of PSA

It’s not the Free PSA number that you look at, it’s the ratio of Free PSA to total PSA (what’s called the % Free PSA). That % is what you’re actually checking.

Just curious what do you attribute the drop in PSA to? Have you had an MRI?

No, my urologist says the 5.20 psa is a return to my baseline and my free pa's have always been in the teens. So, he's giving me the choice as to whether or not to proceed with the mri next week. As to your question, I have no idea why it hit 11.80 on the first test, but it has given me quite a scare for the last month and a half. I'll most likely do the mpmri anyway, but if my original psa was the number in the retest, I never would have been referred to a urologist or even worried about any of it.

Thank you.

PSA can jump around. My normal is around 2, but then last fall it jumped to 8.4. I freaked. My urologist at the Mayo said the Gleason 6 cancer does not move that fast (my prior PSA six months prior was under 2. She advised it was most likely prostatitis since I had a UTI about six months prior. I was put on antibiotics to treat that and then retested 2 months later. At that time my PSA was normal again under 2. I think other things can cause a high reading so most doctors look for the trends in PSA. Having said that, if the MRI is free or not too expensive, I would have it done just to find out what it shows. When I was diagnosed 3 years ago, my PSA had gone from 1.7 to 3.9. My original urologist left it up to me whether I wanted to have a biopsy. I had no clue what that was and said sure. When the results came back that I had prostate cancer, Gleason 6, I was stunned. My urologist was too. In some ways I almost wish I had never done that, but in the end I am glad I did. It has helped me to do everything I can to try to limit the environment in which my cancer exists through diet, supplements etc. That may not be doing anything; but when you are on active surveillance it helps you feel like you are doing something. I will say a prayer all goes well for you.

I appreciate you telling me all of this, and your saying a prayer for me. Best of everything to you.

@ezupcic I was thinking that maybe the previous psa of 11.80 was correct at that time, but immediately after that, my starting a very strict lifestyle change of plantbased diet plus fish, along with daily excercise and intermittent fasting for 1.5 months may have been why my retest was 5.20.

Hi,
Are you taking any steps to investigate the 5.2:psa? A MRI will show any suspicious spots on your Prostate plus they can measure your Prostate to rule out an enlarged Prostate(BPH).

Dave 3+4

Yes, my mpmri is this coming Friday 1pm.

@benz57 mine also fluctuates between a high of 8.1 and a low of 4.4 over the last 12 months. Most recent was 6.3. I've had two MRI's (pirads 3 and most recently pirads 2) and am doing PSA's every 3 months and MRI's once a year. I'm tracking density, doubling time and other factors to decide if/when to biopsy. I'm also doing some lifestyle changes, supplements recommended by the evidencezone.com site but it's unclear if any of these are helping and over the long term it's not easy trying to stay consistent when it comes to diet/exercise. I find myself "cheating" on weekends.