Hi Keith, I would not worry about an increase from 7.5 to 8.5 and would keep retesting it every few months instead. Percentage wise it’s a small increase, and I’ve read you should worry if it doubles in 6 months.
Yeah, I must have had a bad box, because I don’t remember the sticking before this box.
My self cathing is not improving my retention either. I don’t think it’s supposed to help, other than keep your bladder and kidney healthy.
Hank
Keith,
Your story is very similar to mine. I have been self catheterizing for 3 years now. I noticed an increase in my PSA when I started using catheters. It went from about 3 to 5. After a couple more years it went to 7.5. My doctor wanted to do a biopsy. I went to a local MRI center where they said I could get Medicare and insurance to pay for it if they checked the appropriate codes and I would get my doctor to sign it, which he did. I had a prostate MRI specialist at Stanford Health Care look at it and he did not find evidence of cancer lesions. After 6 months I had the PSA checked and it was 5.5. We checked it again in another 6 months and it was 6.2, The doctor was not concerned and recommended to check it in a year. By the way TRUS measured the prostate at 75 cm and the MRI measured it at 100 cm.
A better measurement to use than PSA is PSA density, which takes into account the size of the prostate. Even for a PSA of 7.5 my PSA density was 7.5/100 = 0.075. PSA density less than 0.1 is considered OK.
I suggest you find out the size of your prostate by TRUS or more accurately by MRI then calculate PSA density. If you get a 3T MRI it can also be used to look for cancer instead of biopsy, if there is evidence of a cancer lesion you can have a targeted biopsy that uses only one needle instead of 12 or 16, and is more accurate.
Thomas
I’d like to ask.
I’ve been doing cic for @5 years. For various reasons, I recently visited my Urologic clinic to sort of check in. They want to do a urodynamic test(s) on me. I’ve read how the procedure works and I don’t want to go through that ordeal. It seems to me that since cic has been working so well with me - no UTIs; no problems emptying etc. - that a urodynamics test is unnecessary. If my problem was a weak bladder that cannot push out the urine, I wouldn’t have any pressure in the catheter right? Or is this view wrong?
I have also been promised an MRI this time; my old Urologist retired and I now am assigned to a new doctor probably 1 third my age. My last doctor never offered me the MRI. Will the MRI show me anything? I know I have a blockage but I never have found out much about the blockage. Am I right to reject the urodynamics test on the grounds that I have noticed improvement in my bladder and my bladder nerves over that last 5 years. But I cannot get out any natural void at all unless I let it build up to several liters of urine - which I never do because I cath before that happens. Any advice?
Hi Keith,
I was offered urodynamic testings and I turned it down on the following basis. Most urodynamics testing focus on the bladder’s ability to hold urine and empty steadily and completely. Since I have been cathing with little natural void for years, I know that I would have failed the test miserably and it would be a waste of time and it will expose me to UTI’s. Hank
Hi Hank. Thanks for responding. It’s good to see some of the old crowd still posting here.
Not sure why you are saying you would fail miserably. I was under the impression that cathing can rehab the bladder hopefully. I also have been cathing for at least 4 years and would fail the first part where they just want me to void naturally. I cannot get any urine out at all naturally now. I attribute that to keeping my bladder relatively empty. I’m sure if I could tolerate having 400 ml now before trying I might be able to get out a small bit. But I rarely let it get to that much because some feeling has come back in my bladder. Once in a while I still have 450 ml. Not sure why that happens. It wasn’t until I read the instructions my Uro doc gave me that I realized how involved the urodynamics test is. 60 to 90 minutes. I know JimJames recommended getting one and its the first thing my new doctor wants to do. But you’re correct that the main focus of that procedure is to test the ability to push out the urine and try to discern how bad the bladder is distended. So you’re saying that due to doing cic for so long your bladder has lost it’s ability to do good on that test?
do you mind me asking hiw you got your stricture. was it from cic?