So i get my digital rectal exam and it hurt like hell. GP was surprised and sent me off to a urologist. He put me on antibiotics too thinking along the lines of prostatitis. My prostate wasn't inflamed feeling but he felt a nodule. My psa has always been sitting steady at 0.2 ug/l (taken every year) but rose to 0.8 after exam. Although GP wasn't concerned as he said it does rise immediately after a dre. It has been like a trigger of uncomfortable feeling in my groin for a day or two after that. I didn't have any if this before. Feels like tight muscles at play. Stretching my pelvic floor has helped. It's obviously all very worrying as I'm only 45, hoping the urologist has better news. But want to be prepared. My question is, has anyone else felt pain like this during and after a dre? I can't find any information that leads to anything but possible prostatitis. Even then, many don't get this tenderness with a dre.
At 45, why did you get a dre?
My urine flow was slightly reduced in the mornings. So I just mentioned it as my father had similar benign prostatic issues at my age interrupting his flow sightly.
My PSA has been tracked every 6 months for the last 3 years. Very stable and always low at 0.3 ug/l … the last one in January showed a slight drop even.
Psa too low to think it has anything to do with prostate. Are you sure you don’t have an issue with your rectum ? Inflamed colon or rectum can slow the flow just as well.
I did ask this but GP said we did a stool test not long ago which was fine (no blood). But one of the after effects from the dre is an upset stomach with bloating. Odd.
He put me on antibiotics which I’m not sure about. There is no sign of infection so far (urine only). Have had numerous detailed blood work prior which are all good (I’ve had two years of unexplained fatigue so been thoroughly checked out). Prior to this I have been on the path to CFS, Lymes or maybe some intestinal parasitic issue.
Nevertheless, he said there was a nodule which needs to be investigated. But he didn’t seem too confident. Cross fingers. We’ll see.
Stool test will not cover common colon inflammation unless there was bleeding at the time. I had a uro once told me that he felt a nodule on my prostate and suggested a cystoscopy. Because my PSA was normal at the time, I decided against it. I think what he wanted was to throw in a t u r p procedure during this cystoscopy. Since then I went to several different urologists and none of them found any nodules.
Update: Well I went to the urologist and he couldn’t find any nodule or anything unusual with my prostate. The dre wasn’t painful this time and he wasn’t sure why it was at the GP. Took another urine sample to check for infection but otherwise concluded I’m fine!
Good to hear. Hank