My symptoms are always worse at nite! As the tamsulosin started to fail I found myself having to get up more and more at nite. It also took longer to start my stream and the stream was weak. I never felt that I was totally able to empty my bladder. It reached the point I was getting up 4-5x's per nite and was always hunting for a bathroom when away from home. When my MD doubled my tamsulosin, I went back to 2-3x's per nite with slow starts and weak stream. After a prostate biopsy, retrograde urethrogram and Cystocopy, I was offered finasteride, TURP or Rezum. I tried the finasteride first hoping meds alone would work.
The finasteride started to improve my flow at 12 weeks and I only had to get up 1-2x per nite. A follow up ultrasound of my bladder, post void, showed that I was finally emptying my bladder fully and no longer having 60 +/-mls or residual urine left..
However, the higher dose of tamsulosin made me tired, lightheaded, blurred my vision some, gave me lower back and side pain, reduce my semen volume and gave me occasional retrograde ejaculations. The finasteride gave me slight headaches, weight gain, 100% ED and a tender right breast with hardening under my nipple.
So, while the drug combo provided decent relief, the side effects are too unpleasant and I have decided to step up to the next level of treatment.. especially while my prostate size was still within the treatment size limits of the "minimally invasive" options.
I chose the Rezum treatment based upon extensive research. Just last December (2021), the 5-year long-term efficacy study on Rezum was published and that report solidified my selection.
I didn't find as many actual patient experiences as I'd hoped for of any of the minimally invasive options that weren't linked to urologist's and/or the surgical instrument manufacturers websites. So while I read these, I'm always a little cautious of these being cherry picked (screened) by the sources.
I'll be happy to have it over with; but, I'm not looking forward to the first 4-6 weeks, post procedure, as this is reported to be an uncomfortable period when you start second guessing your selection of the Rezum procedure. My urologist bluntly told me that the first 2-4 weeks will be worse then when my BPH was the most troublesome. Sometime between 2-6 weeks I should start to see increasing relief; and, that from 4+weeks on, I should experience constant improvement up to 6 months out as my body fully absorbs the destroyed prostate tissue from the procedure. Then it should provide at least 4-5 yrs or more of relief (they are not sure yet as the procedure was only approved in 2015). Then, if needed, I can have the procedure repeated or move on to a "new" or existing more invasive option as the Rezum treatment doesn't extensively damage the prostate and prevent future options.
So, I'll provide weekly firsthand updates of my journey down the rabbit hole!
