My PSA's - bounce? Anyone else have this experience?

I had SBRT radiation about 16 months ago... from UCLA. At the time my gleason was moderate - 6s and 7s as I recall. And pc appeared to be contained to prostate... not grown into walls... and bone scan was clear... I have always had high PSA - in the 4s and 5's in my 30's... and prior to treatment at age 54... my PSA rose over a year or two from about 11 to 21... then after treatment (SBRT only) PSA one down to 15, the to 11, then to 8.5. but recent PSA (after 4 months from last test) was up to 9.6 - from last reading of 8.5.

My radiation oncologist doc says to wait until next PSA reading ... before getting concerned.. doing more exploratory.. and that this could be a bounce and not mean that I have mets...

I also still have evacuate.. about every other time I produce a little to moderate amount of ejaculate... and the doc says this may suggest that my prostate is just taking longer to die off after the radiation.. and this could be related to my PSA bounce...

Anyone else experience PSA taking this long to get down to Nadir.. I read that most see nadir at 18 - 24 months - but some take 3-10 years to reacher nadir...

And - regarding ejaculate... do all men who undergo SBRT / radiation therapy for prostate contained pc lose all ejaculate after reaching nadir? Or do some men that appeared cured (and psa is down around 0-2 and stays there) still have ejaculate?

Thanks for any input... Dave

Dave,

I had HDR Brachytherapy and 5 weeks of IMRT ending in March 2015. My PSA was 1.64 ng/mL in May, 2015, 0.67 in July, 0.72 in November, 1.03 in February 2016, 0.58 ng/mL in May and 0.56 this August. So I definitely had PSA bounce and hopefully haven't yet reached nadir after 18 months. The bounce is apparently common in men who choose radiation treatment, particularly brachytherapy.

As for ejaculate, I also take tamsulosin which causes "retrograde" ejaculation where the semen goes into the bladder and not through the urethra via the penis. Don't ask me how that happens but I do get a little ejaculate but not much. Actually, my semen currently has blood in it which is something I'm medically pursuing now.

Allen,

Thanks for the comments on your experience with blood in semen. I don't have an appointment until October 7th so learning about your situation helps. I tried to look up the condition on the internet but I really didn't find much.

Mark

Thanks Allen for the links. Very encouraging articles. Just had my second bounce and drop at 28 months post Cyberknife. No other issues.

high PSA before treatment : 6.09
low point at +10 months : 0.57
bounce 1 at +14 months : 0.91
low point at +21 months : 0.60
bounce 2 at +28 months : 1.01
low point at +32 months : 0.89

David