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A PSA of 3.9 is high enough that you should not ignore it. Of more importance is the rate of increase over time. Since both a DRE and a PSA test show a need for concern, you should see a urologist.
Don't fear getting a biopsy. Just tell the doc you want some sedation. He'll prescribe one or two pills (like Valium and Percoset) and you won't feel a thing.
The longer you put this off, the greater the chances that it will spread making it harder to control.
Steve L. Monitor your PSA over a period of time (check again in a couple of months and then again after that) and see if it is going up and if so by how much and how rapidly.
Read what Terry has written about PSA 101 and see how much it can naturally fluctuate. Yours may be slightly high because of the enlarged prostate and/or inflammation.
If further PSA tests and another digital examination show cause for concern, then you will have to be a big boy like all of us had to, and you will need a biopsy plus a good MRI. My last biopsy before I had the op was a saturation biopsy of 20 plus needles and I did not know anything about it. They gave me a sedative which was stronger than Valium, couldn't drive myself after it, but not strong enough to put me out. I could hear them talking and hear the needle click. But I couldn't feel anything at all. No problem.
You can't evade reality, mate. Wishing something was not so, does not make it so, even for Harry Potter. You may have absolutely nothing wrong apart from enlargement and inflammation but you need to develop a plan of action to find out.
Knowledge is power and you will feel far more in control of your own life and destiny than you will by hoping for the best and fearing the worst.
Most doctors and urologists don't know how to use psa as a predictive tool for PC. The normal prostate throws off a certain amont of normal psa and can be calculated using a formula of gland size X a number.( I think this is cc X.66) Any psa larger than this would be suspicious.
also Free PSA and PCA3 are indicaters of PC and if are abnormal you should get a biopsy.
The best predictor is PSA doubling time. Inflamation will cause psa levels to flucutate, but PC will increase psa at a steady rate over time. Stephen Strum, one of the best psa authorities said he has never seen a psa that had a doubling time of less than 12 years not be eventually diagonosed as PC.
JohnT
thanks for answering Steve, Paul,ted, John, after I had posted here I had a call from the doc and went for a pelvic ultrasound so another 3 to 4 weeks to see what that has to say (got to love the Canadian medical system) as for seeing a urologists that most likely will take anywhere from a year to two years too see one of those. Once again thanks guys
