Prostate Health and Allergy Meds

Please pass this message along to your friends.


Yours truly recently went for my annual physical, which included a blood work-up. All of my numbers, cholesterol, sugar, sodium, etc were in the normal range but I was shocked and frightened by my PSA of 2.3. Previously my PSA was .6. My doctors suggested that I be retested in a month with instructions to abstain from sex for five days prior to the test date. I was quite frightened by the prospect that I might have prostate cancer and then I'm told to give up the male American pastime.  Talk about adding insult to injury!


When I called for an appointment for the re-test the nurse asked about my medications. I mentioned that I had been taking Allegra-D, Claritan and Nasonex inhaler for several years whereupon she informed me that allergy medications can have a significant effect on PSA test results. I immediately stopped the medications, which meant that I would have been off the meds for almost three weeks prior to the PSA re-test.


The result...my PSA dropped from 2.3 down to .8!!! Although there were warnings that the meds could cause difficulty with urination to my knowledge there was nothing in the medications' literature that warned of the negative side effect on a PSA score. And thank goodness for that nurse because neither of my doctors connected elevated PSA with allergy meds. Makes me wonder how many re-tests and even biopsies were taken needlessly.

Be well,
Albiwan