Yet another prostate question

[RAE]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MrsHaloFIRE Side effects of the drugs can be extreme dizziness, etc Surgery risks and recovery pain and hassle. Sexual dysfunction. Bladder control issues. Lots of angles to this.

+1. The drugs they use to treat BPH, including Flomax, have numerous troubling side effects. I have looked into them, and there are none I would want to take unless my BPH was pretty bad. And surgery is even scarier.

[razztazz]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RAE +1. The drugs they use to treat BPH, including Flomax, have numerous troubling side effects. I have looked into them, and there are none I would want to take unless my BPH was pretty bad. And surgery is even scarier.

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I haven't seen anything on this site about Uroxatral(alfuzosin). It works for me x 15 years. As I recall it took me a little time to get used to it (slight headache, had to take my time when I stood up, take with food). The minor problems went away within a couple of days. YMMV of course. Talk to your medical service provider, etc.

Seconded on the Uroxatral. I've been taking it for a while.. ehh, 2 1/2 years...?. The side effects were minor and went away after a few days and it works at least as good as the other stuff. A very well targeted drug but different people have different receptors that react variably. That's why there's more than one drug even tho they seem to be "Me Too" drugs and the highly variable effects positive and negative , from different people.

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Are there men out there that are just not good candidates for all the different medical procedures available? Are they afraid to have anything done and are resigned to suffer every night?

Yes, some people will be better candidates for different procedures. The green light laser, simple, effective, and low-risk as it may be is still surgery. And it relies on the amount of hemoglobin in the blood to work. I don't know how they test your prostate hemoglobin first to see if it'll work.

If the prostate is less than 80 to 100 grams there are the new non-surgical procedures too, like Rezum and Urolift, and one or two in the bullpen.

[Nemo2]

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Originally Posted by marko But...what does that green laser do? The article wasn't very specific.

As I understand it, basically it 'shaves' the prostate, and thus opens the passage to allow a greater flow of urine, which reduces retention. (And hopefully eliminates or reduces the possibility of bladder infection.)

Currently I take one Rapaflo (Silodosin) every evening - this should eliminate the need for the drug.

Fingers crossed.

[donheff]

I used Flomax for a while about 15 years ago. It worked pretty well but started causing fainting after long bike rides so I dropped it. Other drugs were not much help and I was up to 3-4 trips to the john at night. Xrays after I busted a hip disclosed a big bladder stone that was contributing to the issue. Since they were going to be up there pulverizing the stone anyway, I elected to get a laser TERP at the same time. The results were excellent. I still get up once in the night but that is a major improvement. I was one of the lucky ones who didn't get negative functional deficits from the TERP. The blood flow plumbing activity has actually improved although I get retrograde ejaculations which is a little disconcerting. TMI? .

[Chuckanut]

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Originally Posted by donheff Other drugs were not much help and I was up to 3-4 trips to the john at night.

I found a direct link between eating out, especially fast foods, and the number of trips I make to the lavatory each night. One fast-food meal (pizza or burgers and fries) equals four trips. Even a good meal at a good restaurant will trigger at least two to three trips. My home cooking is zero to one trip.

I assume its the salt and perhaps other additives my body is purging.

[PatrickA5]

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Originally Posted by Chuckanut I found a direct link between eating out, especially fast foods, and the number of trips I make to the lavatory each night. One fast-food meal (pizza or burgers and fries) equals four trips. Even a good meal at a good restaurant will trigger at least two to three trips. My home cooking is zero to one trip. I assume its the salt and perhaps other additives my body is purging.

I have the exact opposite effect. When I eat a big dinner with lots of carbs and sodium, I rarely have to get up more than once at night. When I eat "good" with low calories and low carbs, I might get up 3 or 4 times at night.

I'm currently taking Finasteride (last couple of months). I think it might be doing some good, but hard to tell really. PCP said to give it a few months.

[PatrickA5]

I might add that I learned the hard way not to take pseudoephedrine with an enlarged prostate. I had a horrible cold and was popping Sudafed several times a day. All of a sudden, I couldn't hardly pee even during the daytime. A quick glance at the label said to not take it if you have enlarged prostate. Lesson learned!

[SecondCor521]

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Originally Posted by PatrickA5 I might add that I learned the hard way not to take pseudoephedrine with an enlarged prostate. I had a horrible cold and was popping Sudafed several times a day. All of a sudden, I couldn't hardly pee even during the daytime. A quick glance at the label said to not take it if you have enlarged prostate. Lesson learned!

Even if you don't have an enlarged prostate. I had the same problem with benedryl (I was using it as a sleep aid) and ended up with a UTI. Those are not fun. Now I use melatonin 3mg and hope to wean myself off that soon after learning some other tricks to getting a full night's sleep.

[PatrickA5]

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Originally Posted by SecondCor521 Even if you don't have an enlarged prostate. I had the same problem with benedryl (I was using it as a sleep aid) and ended up with a UTI. Those are not fun. Now I use melatonin 3mg and hope to wean myself off that soon after learning some other tricks to getting a full night's sleep.

Oh, I forgot to add that the one night I was popping Sudafed, I couldn't sleep since it makes me jittery. So, I took one of those PM tablets to help (with Benedryl). Between the BHP, Sudafed and Benedryl, my prostate was in bad shape. I'm lucky I didn't have a complete stoppage. I read up on all of this the next day. The good thing is once the drugs are out of your system things get back to normal - which still isn't great.

[marko]

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Originally Posted by Chuckanut I found a direct link between eating out, especially fast foods, and the number of trips I make to the lavatory each night. One fast-food meal (pizza or burgers and fries) equals four trips. Even a good meal at a good restaurant will trigger at least two to three trips. My home cooking is zero to one trip. I assume its the salt and perhaps other additives my body is purging.

Fascinating. I WILL have to keep track of this. You may be onto something.

[Nemo2]

DW just came home from her swim....talking to a lady* a couple units down...her SO, (still working), is also scheduled for the Green Light laser.

(*This lady, younger than DW, has already undergone a mastectomy due to breast cancer...sheesh, we're all falling apart at a increasing rate!)

[bmcgonig]

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Originally Posted by Freedom56 You are 100% correct. My doctor told me that only 15% of males over 25 see a doctor for their annual physical and blood work. I know so many that have avoided doctors all their lives until something bad happens like a stroke or colon cancer (both could have been prevented). Then their lives are changed forever. The same can be said about those who avoid seeing dentists. It is one of the dumbest things you can do as a tooth or gum infection can lead to Endocarditis. Also once you lose your teeth and end up with dentures, you start losing you bone mass in your jaws.

I was having a PSA conversation with someone last week. He told me his father and 3 uncles died of prostate cancer. He's 55 and he hasn't been tested and doesn't know if he will. "I just like to let things I happen" he told me.

[erkevin]

I began taking generic Flomax almost a month ago at the suggestion of my urologist. I had been waking 3-5 times per night to urinate and often had trouble going if laying or sitting for long periods of time. Often, i would urinate and then have to go again in 20 minutes because my bladder would not completely empty.
Now, i wake one, maybe two times during the night and the 2nd time is usually right before I normally wake up anyway. My flow is vastly improved- I am able to completely empty my bladder. I also have had no significant side-effects (Flomax can have significant side effects). I am very satisfied with this treatment......so far.

[aja8888]

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Originally Posted by erkevin I began taking generic Flomax almost a month ago at the suggestion of my urologist. I had been waking 3-5 times per night to urinate and often had trouble going if laying or sitting for long periods of time. Often, i would urinate and then have to go again in 20 minutes because my bladder would not completely empty. Now, i wake one, maybe two times during the night and the 2nd time is usually right before I normally wake up anyway. My flow is vastly improved- I am able to completely empty my bladder. I also have had no significant side-effects (Flomax can have significant side effects). I am very satisfied with this treatment......so far.

Welcome to the Club!

[Car-Guy]

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Originally Posted by aja8888 Welcome to the Club!

If I cancel my club membership can I turn in my symptoms too?

[oldtrig]

I have been on Flomax for 8 years. I went through the tests in 2010 checking for the issue of blood in urine and nothing was found. For those who don't know what that test is then google checking for bladder cancer. I was put to sleep but I can say I won't have that test again.



I am 72 and never get up at night. No side effect of Flomax that I have noticed. I do have an enlarged prostate but so far all is good.



I get a checkup every 6 months and never any blood found since I started the drug. Before I started Flomax I was having lots of UTI. I have had kidney stones in the past but none in the last 10 years.

My doctor ordered a PSA last month and I questioned him on why I need it. He said he was the doctor so I had it. It was 0.8 . It was 0.6 in 2014 so maybe I am good.

I got to go pee

[aja8888]

PSA generally runs 0.5 - 1.2 (10 years now). i take tamsulosin and it helps with flow. I wake up once per night on average. I'm going to keep on keepin' on.

[Car-Guy]

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Originally Posted by bmcgonig I was having a PSA conversation with someone last week. He told me his father and 3 uncles died of prostate cancer. He's 55 and he hasn't been tested and doesn't know if he will. "I just like to let things I happen" he told me.

I may feel different if I had a family history of prostate cancer but in my case, my dad, his dad (my grandfather), and his brother (my uncle) all had PSA's in the lower double digits (10+) and none of them ever developed "any" cancer and they lived into their late 80's/early 90's. (One is still living at 92) And all had various procedures to "investigate" and "all" had on going problems (ranging from minor to significant) due to these procedures.

My last PSA reading is similar to theirs but I'm breaking the family tradition and opting out of these "procedures". Hopefully I don't break the non cancer tradition too.

[braumeister]

There seems to be a fair amount of randomness in this. My PSA has been between 7 and 8 for the last five years. I've had a total of four biopsies in the last 15 years and all were negative. My urologist says he's convinced there is no cancer; I just have a very large prostate gland. No family history of it either.

[wolf]

Interesting Subject.
If I do not drink liquid, after say, 9pm. May wake up once or none. But thirsty in am.
Drinking coffee/tea. 2hours or sooner. Need to pee.
Cup of coffee, 2 cups of water. Hit the Gym. Good for 3 hours or so.
Driving. Need to go more often. Thinking about missing a rest stop, seems to promote
the urge to go.
Talk to a friend at the Gym. Said he had same problem. Took pills for years.
Then had "roto rooter", (I think he used the wrong term), said, had part of his prostate
shaved off, to reduce pressure. Works great. Said his brother had same procedure.
Both very happy with results. Surgery no big deal......