Posted , 12 users are following.
I've been taking alfuzosin for about six weeks and it's less effective at night when there is much more retention. I like that alfuzosin doesn't have sexual side effects but it seems very mild. Is there a better medication for BPH with little or no side effects?
0 likes, 19 replies
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barrie62598 johnny90372
Posted
I believe Alfuzosin is an alpha-adrenergic blocker used to treat benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). It works by relaxing the muscles in the prostate and bladder neck, making it easier to urinate. Dutasteride and Finasteride are 5ARI drugs that are supposed to reduce prostate volume by preventing the conversion of Testosterone to a more potent form that prevents the normal loss of prostate cells. As new, supposedly replacement, cells naturally form the gland grows.
These drugs are prescribed under many names which I think is meant to confuse the issue. The more I read forum posts the more concerned I am at how I was treated.. BPH 1990, Alpha Blockers (4mg a day) 2006>2015, 5ARI Duodart 2013>2014, 3+4 PCa and Open RP 2015.
Since 1995 urologists had known Alpha Blockers would need an increase above 4mg a day after 2 years but by 2013 no one had bothered to do the research. They would therefore not increase the dose but prescribed Duodart which included 5mg Dutasteride (5ARI) + 4mg Alpha Blocker. I was therefore on 8mg of alphas a day anyway plus risky 5ARI I did not need or want which possibly had an increased risk of PCa..
As mentioned all over BPH/PCa posts on this forum there are so many treatments for both but in Australia I had only medications and TURPS/RP or Radiation. In 2015 our Federal Government was still pushing Ultrasound Guided Biopsies (failed since 1990) to detect PCa without the necessary MRI to show them where to hit. My RP surgeon was an expert in RARP but Newcastle NSW did not have the equipment.
No real research is attempted or data being collected on sufferers of BPH or PCa and it seems they don’t want to be forced into more expensive treatments that would adversely affect the Budget. All I hear is that more men die with PCa rather than from it but our forum site tells us 3300 Australian men die from PCa each year. For me post- op complications and ongoing incontinence is worse than BPH. I suspect 9 years of relaxing bladder neck muscles has not helped post-RP. All these medications have side effects they know of and likely some they will never find out without proper research and data collection.Barrie Heslop
Howard31850 johnny90372
Posted
For me over the years the best "medication" for BPH with little side effects has been self-cathing or CIC. I've tried most of the drugs and several of the procedures and all of them have adverse side effects which often are worse than the BPH itself. I've had BPH for over 20 years and if I had to do it over again I would just have started CIC. Yes it is inconvenient to a degree but that "side effect" is a walk in the park compared to what the uros and IRs have put me through over the years. Maybe some day a benign treatment will come available but until then CIC is the way to go for me! Good luck. Howard