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About those supplements for the prostate ...

Posted , 14 users are following.

alan1951
alan1951

Some of them definitely work.  Do your homework, gentlemen.  I've been reading a recurrent theme regarding prostate supplements.  Some of them work, and the ones that do work often take months before one notices a difference.  Posting to perhaps stop you from making the same mistake I did - which was to try every prostate supplement under the sun.  After a month (possibly two) of seeing no relief, I simply gave up on them and switched to a different kind of prostate formula.  Have found two I've been taking for seven months.  Symptoms have abated, albeit slowly.  STICK WITH THEM, and give them the time they need to do their job.  Hope this helps.

1 like, 20 replies

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  • alan1951
    alan1951

    Posted

    I hope to clarify some of my own comments.  As Mike588 suggests, there are NO supplements that actually shrink the prostate.  To my knowledge, there are only two pharmaceuticals that can do that:  Avodart (now available in generic as "dutasteride"), and Proscar (available in generic as "finasteride.") Most of the time, a prostate of  >30 g will be symptomatic, but not always. One can have prostate volume of  >100 g and still be asymptomatic. My point is simply this:  I can live with an enlarged prostate if (1) the pain is at least tolerable, and (2) I can still pee.  Enter supplements.  Clearly, there are snake oil salesmen out there.  Even a reputable company may make a product that simply doesn't work.  I use a medical website, accessible to everyone.  I don't want to post the name of it, because a link to it will get this post deleted.  Suffice it to say that it's on the Web, and it references MDs.  They have an entire database dedicated to the efficacy of supplements, one of which I take is beta sitosterol (not the one for which Miami Joe nearly had to claim bankruptcy).  Here is what the website says regarding beta sitosterol:  Likely effective for:  "Trouble urinating because of an enlarged prostate, or 'benign prostatic hyperplasia' (BPH). Taking beta-sitosterol helps the symptoms of BPH, but it does not actually shrink an enlarged prostate."  Another supplement I take is pygeum.  Likely effective for: "Taking pygeum by mouth reduces symptoms of BPH such as low urine flow."  In the interests of full disclosure, I also take dutasteride, and I'm convinced that most of my symptomatic relief comes from this AR5 inhibitor.  However, over the past three years, those symptoms have abated even further, and I do believe it's due to these supplements.  I don't place much faith in a PSA score, but just after starting dutasteride therapy eight years ago, my PSA score dropped from four to two.  Three years ago, I started supplementing.  PSA = 0.3.  Will the same supplements work in the same way for the next guy?  Probably not, but who can say for sure?  The same website doesn't have high praise for saw palmetto.  That said, there are millions of men who swear by it.  And what is the go-to phrase when analyzing a supplement?  "Results are inconclusive."  Isn't this another way of saying that it might actually work for some men, but for others, not so much?  As for comparing a supplement to a PAE, there IS no comparison.  I'm just a believer in starting with least intrusive, most conservative approaches first.  As for urologists recommending supplements, they're simply not going to do it.  Whether they believe in supplements or they don't is an entirely different matter.  When you walk in that office, YOU ... represent a paycheck for them.  It isn't in their financial interests to suggest an OTC remedy.  To reiterate - do your homework - be patient.
    • mike588
      mike588 alan1951

      Posted

      Alan1951 thanks for the information.

      What bothers me is that people are spending good money on supplements and have no idea how they work. All medications whether they shrink prostate or just provide relief by relaxing muscles etc. have an explanation - don't blame Urologists for not recommending supplements for which studies are inconclusive. I disagree with your conclusion, i doubt very much they see supplements as any kind of threat to their income. In fact if they wanted to make more money they wouldn't even prescribe any drugs so the condition would get so bad surgery would be necessary sooner rather than later. Surgery is even better business!

      With all the millions of dollars the supplements are pulling in isn't it weird that they can't document how and why they work?

      As for PSA tests, they can differ depending on sexual activity within a few days of the test, the dutasteride might have also made it much lower as sexual activity decreases.

      By the way the entire vitamin/supplement industry is a bit of a scam, there IS evidence that if you are deficient in certain vitamins you certainly can benefit from supplements, like Vitamin D, C or some B's etc However they have done studies and no one has shown how people who take multi vitamin supplements daily are any healthier than those who took nothing.

      It could also be that people who take beta sisterol for example are more careful not to drink alcohol, eat spicy foods etc once they decide to tackle the problem with supplements and therefore they seem to do better and the suplement actually has nothing to do with it.

      Again why put something in your body when you have no idea how, why and if it really works? I would agree if the improvement was dramatic, but if that were the case everyone would know pretty quickly and word would get out. All I've heard is that people take these things for months and say they see a bit of an improvement, well maybe but they are not 100% sure etc, and there are more people who say nothing happened at all and it was a big waste of money. I'm one of those people by the way, I wanted to believe the supplement millions of men purchased helps, but it didn't, I tried several of them that had good reviews. Who knows it may even make the prostate grow faster if they are good for prostate "health"?

    • thomas1947
      thomas1947 alan1951

      Posted

      Alan, that same site had good things to say about rye grass seed or pollen. I'd like to try that, but have had absolutely no luck finding it. Have you heard anything about that supplement? Source, efficacy, etc.
  • mark23925
    mark23925 alan1951

    Posted

    Just as an aside to control my appetite and lower my blood sugar level, I cut up red onions and carrots and boil them with cut up beets and add some lentils with some seasoning; its keeps satiated and it is low cal. It really has no effect on prostate though.
  • rob34608
    rob34608 alan1951

    Edited

    You guy are right about saw palmetto as an awesome prostate health tip. Its actually best known for its use to help prostate problems and hair loss too. I've been searching for the right way to use it and figured out that it can cause blood clotting if you use too much so watch how much you take on a daily basis. So it's best to use it with an herbal blend and make sure you don't take a crazy amount of mg. My problems all pointed to something wrong with my prostate so I tried a few different brands from walgreens and walmart and then found the alpha rise prostate supplement on amazon. It definitely worked the best. it really helped me since I used to go pee 3 times a night. Also make sure you do some walking everyday. Remember that it's a journey to deal with prostate problems, try to build a healthy lifestyle in a long term. Hope this helps. 

     

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