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Does Prolactin tumours cause night time bladder problems

Posted , 3 users are following.

happydappy1
happydappy1

Back in 2007, I was diagonised with a prolactin tumour. I had several symptons, one of which was waking 2-3 times at night to urinate. This disturbed my sleep and so agrivated my symptons of fatigue.

In 2007 I was proscribed Quinagolide (Norplac) and the symptons slowly went away. In 2013 I had a brain scan, which showed the tumor had gone, so in 2014 I was told to stop taking the medicine. 

About 3 months later, the sympton of night time urination slowly started to come back.

I spoke to my GP, who first thought it might be depression (I don't know why, as I've never suffered from this?) but after three visits, he  refered me to a bladder specialist. They only looked at the bladder (not the kidneys) and said everything was fine and gave me solifenacin  to stop urine production. It worked, but I had to stop taking it as it makes me very drowsy and gives headaches. They then gave me oxybutynin and said to see them again in May, but it's sideeffects are the same. 

I also saw the pituitary doctor. He recommened another brain scan, but there is a waiting list, so I wont see them again until September. 

The bladder problems have become really bad now. I am usually so tired at night that I fall deep asleep and so either wet myself or don't wake until I get stabbing pains in the kidneys. These are really painful.

Are these sort of bladder symptons assocated with prolactin tumours? 

0 likes, 13 replies

13 Replies

  • sheryl37154
    sheryl37154 happydappy1

    Posted

    If you are female, excess prolactin causes your oestrogen to be ineffective, therefore you need more oestrogen.  Insufficient oestrogen can cause, among other things, bladder weakness because it is putting you into menopause.  This is from personal experience.  I was prescribed Cabergoline, and although my tumour has disappeared and my prolactin is low, whenever I try to reduce medication, my menopause symptoms come back.  Endo says no problem to continue taking it.

    Now, males, I don't know if it works the same.  However, my husband went through a long time of frequent urination.  Then one day  I was watching Dr Oz talking about stevia.  A lot of brands now put Erythritol, and also padded it out with starch, which was causing frequent urination (the Erythritol does).  My husband was using it to go off all the sugar he was consuming.  The first packets were good then I noticed a difference in size of satchets  so rechecked the contents and saw this change.  I told him not to use it anymore because it was no longer pure.

    He kept using it, however after the Dr Oz show, he went off it and his frequency more than halved.  I think too much sugar containing foods causes inflammation in the bladder anyway, as well as elsewhere in the body.

    I hope this helps.

    • happydappy1
      happydappy1 sheryl37154

      Posted

      Thanks for your help! I am male. However, the problem only started (and has been steadily getting worse) since I came of my meds. I have very little sugar in my diet (I only eat natural sweet foods like fruit, I never eat chocolates or cakes).

      Thanks again for your help!

  • sheryl37154
    sheryl37154 happydappy1

    Posted

    Ask your doc to check your hormone levels again.  The 5-alpha reductase enzyme which causes oestrogen to become ineffective also does the same to testosterone.  How, or if that affects frequent urination, I don't know.  I suspect reduced testosterone could cause bladder weakness, among other things.  Did you lose scalp hair? - this is common with 5-a reducatase enzyme affecting testosterone turning it into DHT.

    The prostate comes into it too so I hope your doc has paid a lot of attention to that although that tends to block urination.

    Try googling '5-alpha reductase enzyme and prolactin", same with '5-alpha etc and testosterone' but having done so myself saw nothing about urine frequency - you might see other symptoms you are having.

    I googled Quinagolide, and one of the side effects are excessive fluid retention in the body tissues, resulting in swelling (oedema), plus Q can make you fall asleep on the spot.  This might be the clue - the fatigue has stopped the bladder muscles from doing their job and you are possibly still retaining fluid - a bad combination.  However, you are not taking them anymore.  Perhaps the damage has been done, so check with your endo or gp.

    The other thing is to search out what could possible be causing inflammation/stimulation.  Wheat and other grains, and dairy can also be culprits.  Have you had a C-reactive blood test to check for hidden inflammation - any form of infection?

    Also ask for Iron Studies test - not just iron.  This is a window to a lot of health issues.

    Good luck with it all.  Let us know down the track what, if any, resolution there is.

     

    • happydappy1
      happydappy1 sheryl37154

      Posted

      sheryl37154, thanks for the useful advice. I have had tests for testosterone, iron and inflammation, but they have come back normal. I have no hair loss, but will ask for a general hormone test. I am quite surprised the testosterone came back as normal, as I am 32 but my voice sounds quite girlish and unbroken. I have done my only research and found there is quite a big gap between the "normal" boundaries, but my GP says it's normal so I shouldn't worry.

      To be honest, I find my GP to quite unhelpful. He tends to link everything with depression. I am not sure why, as I have never been depressed. The brain tumour consultant is much more open, but there is a 6 month wait between appointments, and he has cancelled on occasion, so sometimes I have had to wait a whole year between having a test and then getting the result. 

    • sheryl37154
      sheryl37154 happydappy1

      Posted

      Other physical signs of low testosterone or perhaps too high oestrogen are testicals that have shrunk in size, and bigger man boobs, and you would know the rest.

      Drs do tend to want to blame conditions on depression without getting to the root of the problem.  Maybe they believe they would be depressed if they had the same problem.  I get depressed from too much of that attitude from the drs!

       

    • happydappy1
      happydappy1 sheryl37154

      Posted

      Thanks for the useful advice! I saw my GP on Friday, who said the best thing to do is wait until Septemeber until I can see the specialist, so I guess I'll have to wait. He just said to take lots of paractemol for the bladder problem, which strikes me as a bit odd. 

      The depression thing is anoying. My old GP when I was teen thought I was suffering from depression/ME so I missed out on much of my teen years as I was too tired to do anything. When I moved house at 26, I got my current GP who took my symptons seriously. It's thanks to him I got diagosed with turmor, and properly treated. All my symptons went and I felt like a new person! Now that I off the treatments, the symptons are returning, he has started citing depression. I wonder if it is just because of budget cuts.

       

    • sheryl37154
      sheryl37154 happydappy1

      Posted

      As you would have read in my first response, I find I have to stay on my Cabergoline or else I get hormonal symptoms even though my prolactin level is very low now and the tumour has shrunk.  So there might be something in that.  Ask him if there is any harm in continuing to take it if it prevents continuation of the problems you are having.

      Also try Cranberry capsules - bit expensive though.  Or cranberry juice.  I give my husband the capsules and I am sure it helps.

       

    • happydappy1
      happydappy1 sheryl37154

      Posted

      I asked about going back on the medicine, but they said I'll have to wait until I've had new scans before they try. 

      I try the Cranberry - thanks for the suggestion!

  • sheryl37154
    sheryl37154 happydappy1

    Posted

    Found this - but possible side effects could be a problem.  IF, big IF, this is the cause!!

    http://www.healthcommunities.com/bph-enlarged-prostate/bph-medications_jhmwp.shtml

    "Men who have both BPH and an overactive bladder may benefit from treatment with an alpha-blocker and a drug used to treat incontinence, such as tolterodine (Detrol). In one study, men who took both Flomax and Detrol experienced greater improvements in their lower urinary tract symptoms than did men taking either medication alone."

  • christine37443
    christine37443 happydappy1

    Posted

    I dont know if bladder problems are related to tumours but I have had bladder problems and oxybutynin is good for them. If you do not have bad side effects I would continue with it. 
    • happydappy1
      happydappy1 christine37443

      Posted

      Thanks for the advice.  Oxybutynin makes me feel drowsy. My GP said just to take paractemol, which seems strange, as it doesn't have anything to do with the bladder. I have a specialist appointment in September, so I guess I'll have to wait until then. 
  • christine37443
    christine37443 happydappy1

    Posted

    I would ask what the paracetemol is going to do apart from control any pain. I agree that cranberry 10,000 are good I get mine on ebay as they seem a better price (some) also lay off the fizzy drinks as they caused my bladder problems and caffience. 
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