Semen Retention and Your PSA levels

@HereByAccident For my annual visit to my urologist, I always ask whether I should "abstain" from sex or anything prior to my PSA test. The answer is always "negative". I practice SR all the time too. My PSA has been low (~ 1-2) for the last few years. Not sure what's going on with you but I would concur to have your PSA re-checked. Maybe you want to try a different lab?

@goldenboy I appreciate the insight! Thank you!

Would 20+ days of true Semen Retention followed by multiple ruined orgasms at the end affect your PSAs?

IMHO, Yes it will, a ruined orgasm is still an ejaculation and ejaculations affect the hormonal response of the body, this would include your PSA production.

on a Sunday I had 3 or 4 ruined orgasms and then a PSA test on Tuesday that registered 7.2.... much higher than my baselines of 3-ish.

While the time frame (>72 hrs.) between your ejaculations and your PSA test seems to be appropriate, the doubling of your PSA score seems a bit excessive.

I'm interested to hear if others had similar experience.... I'm taking a conservative "monitor for now" approach instead of a drastic "get a biopsy" approach. I'm going to have my PSAs rechecked but don't want to be in a SR run or having ruined Os at recheck if it can affect the test.

It is recommended that you avoid prostate massage or ejaculation for a minimum of 72 hours prior to a PSA test, in your case I'd suggest you wait at least a week before being retested. It is known that sexual activity can temporarily skew the PSA rating upward so it is best to allow your body to reach its natural homeostatic state before having that test performed. Because of your elevated PSA number, I'd recommend you talk to your doctor about a more frequent testing regime. It is not so much about the absolute PSA number but the rate of change that would be concerning, more frequent tests would then give you better information about whether to proceed with a biopsy.

Being a prostate cancer survivor myself, I learned some things about the value/non-value of PSA testing. While your tested PSA number (7.2) is suspiciously higher than the average range, it is not necessarily indicative of prostate cancer. As you grow older your PSA number may naturally increase as well. One of the major problems with PSA testing is the false positives they can give, leading men to having a painful prostate biopsy. In fact, studies have shown that about 70% to 80% of men with an elevated PSA who have a biopsy do not have cancer. Please, please see the article Is PSA reliable? for more information.

There are numerous other interesting threads in the forum which discuss the PSA number and related issues, please see the following threads ->
Aneros and PSA Test , Prostate massage and PSA levels , How long to abstain from ANEROS use before PSA testing? , Serious qeustion - PSA score & PSA Levels Affected by Prostate Stimulation
Good Vibes to You !

More info which I found online regarding "normal" PSA range by age and by race. Interesting.

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"Normal prostate-specific antigen levels go up to 2.5 nanograms per milliliter for ages 40 to 49, 4.0 nanograms per milliliter for 50 to 59, 4.5 nanograms per milliliter for 60 to 69 and 6.5 nanograms per milliliter for 70 to 79, according to MedicineNet. These figures vary by race.

PSA levels in Asian Americans go from zero to 2.0 nanograms per milliliter of blood from ages 40 to 49. The same ethnicity has zero to 3.0 nanograms per milliliter for 50 to 59, zero to 4.0 nanograms per milliliter for ages 60 to 69. The upper age limit range is zero to 5.0 nanograms per milliliter for Asian Americans ages 70 to 79, notes MedicineNet.

The PSA range for African Americans goes from zero to 2.0 nanograms per milliliter of blood for ages 40 to 49. The normal level goes up to 4.0 nanograms per milliliter for ages 50 to 59, and then 4.5 nanograms per milliliter for ages 60 to 69, according to MedicineNet. The highest normal limit is 5.5 nanograms per milliliter of blood for ages 70 to 79.

Caucasians start at normal PSA levels of zero to 2.5 nanograms per milliliter of blood for ages 40 to 49. The range goes from zero to 3.5 nanograms per milliliter from ages 50 to 59, and then zero to 4.5 nanograms per milliliter from 60 to 69. The final, normal range for Caucasians goes from zero to 6.5 nanograms per milliliter for ages 70 to 79, explains MedicineNet."

@rumel - thanks for the info. Much appreciated.

Well my latest PSA levels are back to my normal 3-ish range. About two weeks before the test I stopped all semen retention and just went back to my “normal behavior”.

the urologist said your levels are going to change and everything from riding a bike to constipation can have an effect on PSAs. He said the PSA test was originally meant for those who have the prostate removed and in those men the PSA was expected to be 0. Some where there was a big push to use it as an early cancer detector and he said it’s not really great for that.

anyway, glad to see it was just a rogue spike and we’re just going to monitor for now.