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Alpha Blockers and Intraoperative Floppy Iris Syndrome (IFIS)

Posted , 6 users are following.

rdemyan
rdemyan

i recently switched from tamsulosin (Flomax generic) to alfuzosin (Uroxatral generic). I found an article titled "Alfuzosin for BPH Linked to Fewer Snags in Cataract Surgery" that presents the results of a study in France showing that patients taking alfuzosin for BPH were less likely to experience morderate or severe IFIS than patients taking tamsulosin.  I understand that links are not allowed in these posts, so, if you are interested, just do a google search for the article title.

0 likes, 11 replies

11 Replies

  • dcooperxyz
    dcooperxyz rdemyan

    Posted

    Thanks ,

    I’ve also found that Alfuzosin causes fewer sexual side effects . I can’t ejaculate at all with Tamusolin but things are close to normal with Alfuzosin

    • rdemyan
      rdemyan dcooperxyz

      Posted

      Yes, I have found the same thing with regards to sexual side effects and I'm getting better functional outcomes as well (higher max flow rate, more urine voided per trip on average).

  • ramblin
    ramblin rdemyan

    Posted

    I took alfuzosin for three years, changing from rapaflo. It worked very well for about two years, then it began to lose effectiveness. My nocturia returned, and I dropped the drug. I'm going to get a urolift. 

  • ken19524
    ken19524 rdemyan

    Posted

    I asked my ophthalmologist about this since I've already taken tamsulosin, and apparently, if you've taken it even once, then you're more susceptible. He said that there are certain precautions that they can take to avoid the floppy iris syndrome. I believe that this is only an issue if you're going to undergo cataract surgery, so It would be a good idea to make sure that your eye doctor knows about the alpha blockers, particularly tamsulosin, before any cataract surgery.

    • derek76
      derek76 ken19524

      Posted

      I told them that I had taken tamsulosin for some time prior to cataract surgery but had stopped it . The left eye was OK but the right one had floppy iris syndrome. The surgeon doing that one commented to the nurse that they always give him the difficult ones.  
    • rdemyan
      rdemyan derek76

      Posted

      Thanks, Derek.  Would you mind providing a few details for our benefit.  How long had you been taking tamsulosin prior to stopping it for the surgery?  How far in advance of the cataract surgery did you stop taking it?  Hope the surgery went well.
    • derek76
      derek76 rdemyan

      Posted

      I took Tamsulosin for about six months. After three months when it began to cause RE I only took it Monday to Friday and took a Cialis on the Saturday.  I stopped it about eight weeks before having the first eye done but it was the second eye done two months later that had the problem.

      The surgery went well. To me it was amazing as I had worn glasses from about the age of twelve.

    • ken19524
      ken19524 derek76

      Posted

      Derek,

           So you got your vision corrected with the new artificial lenses. That's great. I'll bet that you didn't pay $4000 like I did for my Lasik about 20 years ago!

    • derek76
      derek76 ken19524

      Posted

      I was fortunate as soon after the NHS started to cut back on cataract surgery and employed a points system. My wife has been waiting for over three years for hers to be done. Four months ago she was told it would be 6 to 8 weeks.
    • TKM
      TKM ken19524

      Posted

      I read somewhere that if you stop Tamsulosin at least 8 weeks prior to cataract surgery you should be OK.  One way to stop the drugs,  is self catheterization for 8 weeks or more before the surgery.

      Thomas

  • rdemyan
    rdemyan

    Posted

    Just an update on my experience with alfuzosin.  After 30 days I am noticing a significant drop in sexual desire and performance.  It's now only slightly better than with Flomax.  Things improve if I take a low-dose cialis some hours before sex, but still have difficulty ejaculating.  Overall I prefer alfuzosin since it seems to work better for LUTS and because of the clinical study indicating that it is less likely to cause IFIS.

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