My PSA Came Back High. The Scans Were Clear. Nobody Told Me What to Do About the Problem I Actually Had.
What "just BPH" is hiding, why the number will go up again, and what I found at 2am that my urologist never mentioned.
The 9 days
My primary care doctor called on a Wednesday afternoon. He said my PSA had come back at 5.8 and he wanted me to see a urologist.
He said the word "elevated" and I heard the word "cancer."
I did not tell my wife Karen for 3 days. I sat at my desk at work and read everything I could find about prostate cancer. Gleason scores. Staging. Survival rates. What happens to a man after they remove his prostate. I read about incontinence and impotence and I closed the laptop and sat there for a long time.
On day 4 I told Karen. She went quiet. Then she started making calls. Her sister's husband had it 6 years ago. She called their insurance company. She started a folder.
I cleaned out the garage that weekend so she would not have to. I wrote my grandson a letter and put it in my desk drawer.
The MRI was on day 7. The results came on day 9.
The good news
No sign of cancer. My prostate was enlarged. 47 grams. That is what pushed the PSA up. A bigger prostate makes more PSA.
"It is just BPH, Doug. We will monitor it. Come back in 6 months."
I put my head in my hands. Karen cried. We went home and I did not think about my prostate for 2 months.
That was the mistake.
What nobody told me
Nobody told me what "just" was hiding.
My prostate was 47 grams because something in my body had been telling it to grow for years. A hormone called DHT. My body converts testosterone into DHT and DHT docks onto prostate cells and tells them to multiply. That is why the gland was 47 grams instead of 25. That is why my PSA was 5.8 instead of 2.
The word "just" made it sound like the problem was over. The problem was not over. The DHT was still converting. Still docking. My prostate was still growing the entire time I was feeling relieved.
Nobody explained any of this to me. My urologist said "monitor it" and sent me home. Monitoring means watching it get worse and doing something when it crosses a line.
7 months later
I went back. PSA 6.4. Up from 5.8. Prostate 51 grams. Up from 47.
I had started getting up twice a night. My stream had slowed. I had not connected any of this to the PSA scare because my doctor had told me BPH was separate from the number.
It is not separate. It is the same gland growing for the same reason.
My urologist wanted to start me on tamsulosin. I asked him what it does. He said it relaxes the muscle so I can urinate more easily. I asked if it stops the growth. He said no.
I went home and sat at the kitchen table at 2am the way I had sat there during the 9 days. Except this time I was not scared of cancer. I was angry that nobody had told me what to do about the problem I actually had.
What I found at 2am
I started reading. Not cancer forums this time. I was looking for one thing: what makes a prostate grow and how do you stop it.
DHT. Everything came back to DHT.
Tamsulosin does not touch it. It relaxes muscle. The prostate grows the same on it as off it.
Finasteride blocks DHT production but it shuts it down everywhere in the body. The side effects I read about — loss of drive, trouble with erections — were not something I was willing to accept for a gland that was growing but not cancerous.
Saw palmetto. I had already bought a bottle from CVS the month after the scare. Took it for 6 weeks. Nothing changed. I looked up why. The NIH ran a 369-man trial. They tripled the dose. 72 weeks. It could not beat a placebo. The enzyme is too robust for it.
And even if any of these could slow the enzyme that makes DHT there is a bigger problem. The DHT that has already been converted is already circulating in the blood. Already heading for the prostate. Slowing the factory does not recall what has already shipped.
At 3am I found equol.
It does not aim at the factory. It meets the DHT on the road. Binds to the molecules after they are already made. Wraps around them so they cannot dock onto the prostate cells. It has been studied in Japan for decades. The research is on PubMed.
And there is a second pathway. A protein called SHBG docks onto the prostate cell membrane and pulls DHT inside. Stinging nettle root blocks that docking site.
Two pathways. Neither one shuts down testosterone. Neither one requires a prescription.
I found a formulation with equol and stinging nettle root at the doses in the published studies. Every milligram on the label. No proprietary blend. It is called Saika Prostate Intercept.
I ordered it at 3:17am expecting nothing. I had already thrown away the saw palmetto. I was not in the mood to believe in another bottle.
See Saika Prostate InterceptWhat happened
Nothing the first week.
Week 2 I stopped getting up at 3am. Karen noticed before I did. She had been counting my trips for 7 months.
Week 4 I was sleeping through most nights. The stream started without the waiting. I stopped planning bathroom stops before I left the house.
Week 6 I sat through my grandson's entire Little League game without getting up once. I had missed his whole playoff run last spring because I could not sit through 2 hours. That afternoon I sat on the bleachers for 3 hours and I did not move.
| Measurement | 7-month visit | 90 days later |
|---|---|---|
| PSA | 6.4 | 5.1 |
| Prostate | 51 grams | 44 grams |
| Times up at night | 2 | 0–1 |
My PSA went from 6.4 to 5.1. My prostate went from 51 to 44 grams. Both numbers went down for the first time since the scare.
My urologist put his pen down and said, "Doug, I was about to start you on tamsulosin. Whatever you are doing, keep doing it."
He did not write the prescription.
The number that scared me and the gland that caused it were always the same thing. The PSA went down because the gland went down. Nobody told me that was possible until I found it myself at 3am.
The men I have told since
Warren, 58. PSA scare. MRI clean. Prostate 44 grams. I told him what I found. His wife ordered it that night. 90 days later his PSA was 4.1 and his prostate was 39 grams.
Jack, 64. PSA 7.1. Biopsy negative. Prostate 56 grams. Up 4 times a night. Nobody had connected the PSA and the symptoms to the same gland. 90 days later. PSA 5.8. Prostate 49. Trips down to 1.
Robert, 60. PSA 4.9. Clean MRI. I told him. He researched for 2 weeks before ordering. By month 3 his PSA was 3.8 and his prostate held at 42. His doctor moved him to annual monitoring.
Call your urologist right away if
Your PSA keeps rising, you see blood in your urine, you cannot pass urine at all, or you keep getting infections. Saika is not a treatment for any of that and it is not a substitute for PSA monitoring. Keep every screening your doctor schedules.
You have 2 ways to spend the time until your next PSA
Wait for the next call
"Just BPH," see you next year. The gland keeps growing, the number keeps climbing, and one day the phone rings again.
Use the good news
Take Saika. Let your next PSA tell you whether the gland that raised the number is still growing or whether the direction changed.
Saika Prostate Intercept
- 12 mg equol and 50 mg stinging nettle root per serving
- 2 capsules a day, 1 morning and 1 later
- Every dose on the label, no proprietary blend
- Runs alongside what you already take
- 60-day money-back guarantee, refunded the same day
Questions I had before I ordered
Will this lower my PSA?
Mine went down because my prostate went down. They are the same measurement. I cannot promise yours will do the same. Keep every PSA check your doctor schedules and let the numbers tell you.
How is this different from saw palmetto?
Saw palmetto tries to slow the enzyme that makes DHT and is too weak. Equol does not aim at the enzyme. It binds the DHT that is already circulating so it cannot reach your prostate cells. Different target entirely.
Can I take it with a prescription?
Yes. It is a dietary supplement. Show the label to your urologist or pharmacist. I take nothing else but if you are on tamsulosin or anything else keep taking it.
What if it does not work?
Email support@getsaika.com and say it did not work. Your money is back the same day. 60 days. I would not have ordered at 3am without that.
P.S. Karen texts me after every PSA check now. The last one was 4.6. Three tests in a row going down. She does not say much. Just sends the number and a thumbs up. That number is the gland and the gland is the reason I spent 9 days thinking I was dying. Both are going in the right direction now.
P.P.S. I still have the letter I wrote my grandson in my desk drawer. I have not thrown it away. But I am not adding to it anymore.
P.P.P.S. Small batches. Single source for the equol. When stock runs out the restock takes 4 to 6 weeks. If the link shows available do not sit on it.