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hey Solon, I wrote that I had reservations as in hesitation or misgivings or second thoughts or skepticism (regarding visiting the AZ center)ā¦and that your questions made me further think that I might be better off waiting the trans rectal ultrasound and potentially working with Dr. Georgiades.
I saw another urologist today. He sympathized with my long history of treatments and acknowledged that heād heard of the long-lasting side effects of finasteride, but couldnāt fathom a path by which the drug could continue the side effects.
Nevertheless, he agreed to do a transrectal ultrasound (but emphasized that there would be no need for biopsyāwhich has its own risks of damage). And he booked me fore 2 weeks out, so even sooner than the other urologist had me down for. He said heād be looking at the volume, eccho-something, and seminal vesicles, etc.
I hope that I can walk out w/ a copy/printout of the scan as I was able to with my penile doppler ultrasound scans.
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Yeah, I had no desire for a biopsy, he just made the point, just as you said, that it was for the C-word screening, which was not necessary.
Then again he didnāt even bother with a DRE. He just saw that Iāve been through a million treatments, am taking a break from stuff, and wanted this ultrasound test. I was ok with this.
I think he said he can observe inflammationāI asked him what size prostate indicated issues and he said for my age (32) around 20-25cc was normal. Regardless, I want a copy of the scan for my records, and will gladly post here for discussion and send it to Dr. Georgiades for an opinion.
He said that he disliked the word prostatitis, that he does have success in treating CPPS via drugs and therapy, but those patients have pain as their main complaint, not sexual dysfunction.
Solonjkādo Dr. Georgiadesā patients (who didnāt use propecia/saw palmetto) present with low Testosterone or DHT or any hormonal imbalances as a consequence of their prostate inflammation?
I had a doctor tell me that my low T to DHT conversion indicated that āthe prostate wasnāt healed yet.ā
Currently, my T is in the 500s, DHT is super low. Donāt have exact #'s handy. I have re-tests coming up away from all hormonal/thyroid medication to truly see where my baseline is at.
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Iām not seeking treatment from this urologist, I just want the ultrasound. I quizzed him to see what he thought was a ānormalā sized prostate (knowing that on the internet, there are ranges described from 20-30 as has been posted in this thread before) vs. the numbers you report from Dr. Georgiades. So, I was looking to gain some insight on this doctorās philosophy/training/experience from his answer.
He didnāt think I had CPPSāhe said that those patients complained of pain first and foremost. My issues are E.D. first and foremost, low libido (loss of that āprimalā mojo), low ejaculate volume; then some soreness, some urinary issues which come and go; some stinging upon ejaculation inside a girl (itās been months, canāt remember the frequency, but itās something Iāve noticed with more than one chick).
Regarding low T-to-DHT conversionāwell, yeah, it would seem the prostate is damaged. Thatās logical. But what do I know? lol What I was wondering is if in non-finasteride patients who see Dr. Georgiades, the prostate issues lead to the same hormonal lab results (which I assume he screens for?). In other words, is there low Testosterone and/or DHT seen in non finasteride patients? And is it due to damage/injury/inflammation of their prostate from prostatitis? Because this would be a HUGE observation.
I contacted my gp today to discuss the ultrasoundā¦ As a start she has offered me a psa blood test, prostate specific antigen I think she called itā¦ I am having this done as i thought there is no point turning it down, just thought id share this, i have no idea if this would show up anything relevant, i havnt yet looked into what this checksā¦
High PSA is used to screen for cancer. Iāve had normal PSAs. Never turn down tests from docs, lol. Itās so hard to get them to test, all too often. Good luck.
Solon, obviously you know that theyāre are a lot of pfs guys with digestion issuesā¦ Do you yourself have any comment as to how that connects with prostatitis? Digestion issues are a real common thing for a lot of people, I wouldnt go as far as to say pfs guys had these issues previously, but I just cant see the connection between prostatitis and them.
Also, what about thyroid hormones, have you seen other prostatits guys with out of whack thyroid hormones? Obviously out of whack cortisol can be caused by prostatitus so I guess that would affect thyroid hormone from getting to the cells.
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In the last several years of treatment, Iāve had very few times where I wasnāt on one medication or another. But a snapshot towards the end of last year (while I was gradually tapering off from clomid/testim) and a recent test (again after quitting a brief flirtation with clomid/testim as well as armour thyroid) indicated that my baseline Testosterone away from finasteride and hormonal treatment tends to be in the 500s. At my worst, when I first went to a PFS doctor, my T was in the 300s, and DHT was lower than the lowest number on the range. Yet again, upon recent testing my DHT is super-low.
A lot of people say they have ānormalā T values after time away from finasteride. I guess mine are ānormalā or āaverage,ā but certainly not optimal, not if you ask any progressive endocrinologist/anti-aging doc whoāll say 600-800 is optimal.
And a lot of people say that their DHT comes back online after discontinuation of finasteride, despite persistent side effects. This does not appear to be the case for me.
I wonder if my average T and my truly low DHT (and mid-range LH, FSH in the 6ās) indicate prostate inflammation / prostatitis. And if there are others in the clinic youāre receiving treatment from, Solon, who have these kinds of numbers without finasteride usage. AND with finasteride usage, for that matter.
Thanks for clearing that up man. I asked about the digestion issues in regards to other guys on the forum, my digestion is pretty decent, but I was on antibiotics for acne for about 2 years (not accutane) then introduced Finasterideā¦ The only digestion issues I have is i had very bloody stools at timesā¦ oddly enough when I ate eggs, now thats all gone and I rarely have itā¦ Perhaps fin stripped all my stomachs good bacteria away and which would invite lots of bacteria and pathogens to develop, perhaps even in the prostateā¦ Needless to say I have started a strict diet and am going to be supplementing probioticsā¦
Exactly! It can do no harmā¦ I did a quick search, founf thisā¦
PSA
PSA stands for prostate specific antigen; it is a protein that is made by cells from the prostate gland. The PSA test is a common blood test that is used to measure the health of the prostate. The PSA level in the blood can be elevated due to a number of factors, including Inflammation of the prostate and a prostate growth, which can be either cancerous or benign.
The test can be used to screen for prostate abnormalities that are not causing any other symptoms. Although PSA is commonly used to screen men for prostate cancer, there are a number of benign (harmless) conditions that can lead to PSA levels being higher.
PSA and Prostatitis
Inflammation of the prostate (also known as prostatitis) can lead to elevated PSA levels because inflammation stimulates the cells of the prostate. This stimulation causes the prostate cells to secrete more PSA, which then shows up in the blood.
Other benign conditions that can cause an elevated PSA level include benign prostatic hyperplasia, in which the prostate grows rapidly but does not cause cancer, and urinary tract infections. In addition, as men get older, their PSA levels tend to go up. Men with large prostates may also have naturally elevated prostate specific antigen levels.
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Yes, can you upload it youngbuck?
This is what Georgiadis said when i asked him about the experience of radiologist/urologist in regards to interpret the trans-rectal ultrasound (this is just a part of the message):
āConcerning the ultrasonographic tests including the Transrectal Ultrasound, I have to say that very few of us urologists exist in the world with such knowledge so as to make an adequate and detailed estimation of the prostatic inflammation.
So I donāt believe that it is easy to find an urologist and even more radiologist in your country with such a capability in estimating the chronic prostatitis by transrectal ultrasound - itās a dynamic test. In other words, you have to do all the necessary tests in my laboratory.ā
So there. Youāll propably suspect Georgiadis words but i do believe solonjkās words on everything he has said in this topic. Only thing I pray and hope is that this treatment will help solonjk as that will naturally help the rest of us. That is all.
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