Doctor's Orders: no ejaculation for 5 days

While I can't recall ever being told not to ejaculate for two or three days prior to a PSA test I knew that ejaculating could increase the PSA score so I have always abstained. Easier to do that have to worry about an increased score and having to repeat the test.

I can only recommend every young man to have their fertility tested early on.

Not only a good recommendation for the individual, but also to gauge the trend of fertilility level reduction in the population

@Jacana, @tslave, I did have a few of those fertility tests as part of my development follow-up exams of which the last one at 18, which then difined me undenyable being fertile, where the other ones were not. I can say I'm probably part of the 'fertility level' statistics because of that :-)

Just was thinking about the fact that this wasn't the subject of the original question though :-D ... So, a but off-topic.

@Yolo interesting approach: mandatory fertility testing in young men and an anonymous fertility register/census. But the declining fertility rate in young men is exactly the reason for my recommendation.

@FDNM-patient are you saying your earlier test did not come back as sufficiently fertile? How often and at what age where those tests done? And was there any medication to increase your fertility?

I wish I would have been tested early on as I found out rather late that I have an extremely low fertility.

@tslave, it was tested when I was 16, which was not (yet) firtile and at 17, where at that moment there was semenbut still below normal rates and at 18 the fertility was confirmed. so, yes, I'm saying as you suggested. The tests were done as part of the development follow-up at those ages and there was no medication at all foreseen as they did say that it probably would be fine in a later test as there already was semen present but below normal expected rates. and so it did happen :-)

There's some validity to this but of course no one here can present medical advice or know why this 5 day window was asked...that said -

serum half life of PSA totals is around a max of 3 days

the studies out there in the before/after are impacted by age - before 50 / 50 and older

in the 50 and older group serum PSA 1 hour after ejaculation had a fairly significant raise and a return to baseline after 24 hours with possible impact lasting up to 48 hours

so generally speaking the use of PSA relative to pre-cancer screening could end up with a false positive, especially if over 50, and if ejaculation has occurred within 48 hours

that's pretty plausible with the median half life of 2.6 days - and of course we don't know what the 5 days is all about...maybe a long history of significantly high levels would prompt a 5 day moratorium if you are trying to be as accurate as possible with the result...hard to say

My PSA is usually done a few days to a week before my physical. I was never given specific instructions, but I know that 48 hours is pretty standard. (I'm old enough to remember the time before PSA, so I may have been told when they first started using them.) If your doctor is ordering 5 days with no nut, he must just be erring on the side of caution.

Although I’ve never had a PSA test I do know of friends who have, but they’ve never said they had to avoid ejaculating beforehand.?

Can explain what is PSA test? Why is it done? Why do you need to refrain from ejaculation for 5 days? Thanks in advance. It is easier if you explain and could be helpful for others too.

PSA test is a blood test for Prostate Specific Antigen, which is ONE indicator of possible prostate cancer. PSA levels are stimulated by sexual activity and heavy exercise, so baseline levels must be measured after a pause in either.

I never had a doctor tell me to refrain from ejaculating but I remember in high school always being told not ejaculate before wrestling or boxing meets/tournaments. Supposedly it sapped your strength or affected hand/eye coordination - I don't know. And maybe it was an old wives' tale. But I never tempted fate.

PSA test is a blood test for Prostate Specific Antigen, which is ONE indicator of possible prostate cancer. PSA levels are stimulated by sexual activity and heavy exercise, so baseline levels must be measured after a pause in either.

See above

@JakeNewYork that’s a story that athletes refrain from sexual activity before competition to have a higher energy level. Not sure if it really is true but I personally also like to release pent up sexual energy through physical activity. I don’t know whether in the context of a full body contact sport like wrestling it also has an effect to make you more aggressive

I would find a new urologist!! lol Denise

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I have an annual PSA test and prostate check, but I have never been asked to abstain from ejaculating for five days prior to the tests.

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@JakeNewYork that’s a story that athletes refrain from sexual activity before competition to have a higher energy level. Not sure if it really is true but I personally also like to release pent up sexual energy through physical activity. I don’t know whether in the context of a full body contact sport like wrestling it also has an effect to make you more aggressive

As I said, I never tempted fate and I always refrained prior to sporting events. I think you are probably right about it being about pent up aggression and maybe it worked. But then our coaches also liked to tell us to refrain from using deodorant "because stink is a weapon." So, maybe they were a little bit nuts.

….. that’s a story that athletes refrain from sexual activity before competition to have a higher energy level.

Given the number of condoms handed out to the Olympic athletes, you gotta bet that a lot of them are used before the events and with either little or no degradation in performance - perhaps pre event sex even enhances performance!

I was never instructed not to ejaculate prior to a PSA test. As a result, I can’t ever remember not jerking off or refraining from intercourse before having a test. And because of this ( I think) my PSA numbers were “ out of the park “ for a period of time. Bottom line: I was subjected to THREE ultra sounds and needle biopsies over a 2-3 year period. NO FUN and ( fortunately) no prostate cancer. I wish I had been told not to ejaculate prior to PSA tests. I would have been spared considerable discomfort and unnecessary expense.

Sounds like an impossible question! At least to me! Even 5 hours is a stretch...LOL