I'd say the bike riding might be equivalent to stomping on your prostate,
whereas even a mild massage could elevate PSA. And Levaquin is primarily for
prostate infection, which raises PSA. Hell, yes, that PSA reading is
suspect. Get back to us after your next PSA check . . . abstaining from sex,
bicycles, bull riding, etc.

I.P.

"Ed Kratz" >

Hello Ed,
   Hang in there, get your tests done.  Relax.  Peddaling a bike will not
cure cancer.  It helps your body......! and your mind.
Get the tests done, and do not overdue any exersize program thinking you can
offset a problem.
Find out about the reason for the PSA, up and down.
Bike riding may cause stress on the Prostate.
Talk to the Dr. about your exersize program and its effects on PSA.
YOur butt, and the seat, and the movement, and the prostate are all
involved.
Good wishes.....
John Loomis

Fool that I am, I wasn't a bit nervous when told that my PSA was above
normal and that I needed a biopsy.  I put it off for about 5 months.  I
thought, "What, me?  Cancer?  Why anyone can see I'm as healthy as
can be!"

I suspect that your internist has done his job.  He identified the
possibility of a problem and has setup further testing for you.  The
urologist is going to be the guy that really knows what this is all about.

This is a question for the Uro.  My inexpert, layman's, take it for what you
paid for it guess is, the rapid rise may indicate something is happening
more quickly than happens to some other men.  But the relatively low
PSA (below 10 is considered "low risk" unless the Gleason number is
high) still indicates that you've caught it early enough that, if you do have
cancer, the probability of a cure is high.

I'm pretty sure from my own experience that sex can raise the PSA by
2 points or more.  I can't say for sure about bike riding, but I bet it has
some influence.

It seems like a great many of the men on this group have been
given antibiotics in order to find out if they have prostatitis.  I've
had prostatitis and had antibiotics for it.  They did zero good.  Two
other men I've known who have had prostatitis were given
antibiotics and it did them zero good.  I can't recall any man on
this newsgroup saying that his PSA went down after taking
antibiotics.  And when I researched it on the web, I found very
little support for the theory that prostatitis is caused by any kind
of bacterial infection that is treatable by antibiotics.  Doctors keep
prescribing antibiotics for prostatitis because they don't know what
else to do and seem to prefer offering a useless treatment rather
than none at all.

So, if the PSA does not go down, I wouldn't conclude for sure
that you have cancer and not prostatitis.  You may still be okay.
Prostatitis can be painful (an orgasm can be like an explosion of
pain), but apparently it's not otherwise threatening to life or health.

When you get to the Uro, if he offers you a choice of having a biopsy
or waiting, unless your PSA has gone down, I recommend going
for the biopsy.  I'd ask him for a full one with 12 cores or more.  The
biopsy is a minor pain but, until something better comes along, it's
the best diagnostic tool we have.

If your PSA has gone down and you want to hold off on the biopsy,
I'd be sure to ask for another PSA test every three months or so.  If
things are heading the wrong way, you want to find out before they
get very far.  The key word in "watchful waiting" is "watchful", which
requires frequent PSA tests.

If it turns out you've got cancer, well, that's bad news.  But it's
very likely _not_ a death sentence.  You've caught it early and
treatment is very likely to succeed.

Best of luck.

   Alan

Ed,

Well, I'm not a doctor, but you don't even sound like a candidate for a
biopsy, much less prostate cancer.

Sounds like the doctor has diagnosed prostatitis, and is treating it
effectively.

jimhoney

Ed Kratz wrote: