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BPH symptoms exacerbated by certain food/drink

Posted , 13 users are following.

stephen54687
stephen54687

Hello guys,

I have been reading this forum, on and off, for quite a while now since I was diagnosed with BPH about three  years ago and I should like to say a big 'Thank you' to all who have taken the time and trouble to detail and share their battle with this very annoying condition.

This is my first post.

I started taking Tamsulosin about two years ago after quite a while of experiencing difficulty/frequency urinating which culminated in getting up one night and not being able to urinate at all for a few hours.

I found an almost immediate improvement and for a while got some relief.

That was okay until about 8 months ago when my symptoms started to 're-appear' So back to the doctor's 6 months ago where he did another PSA test and DRE the results of which were much as before. He prescribed me Finasteride to take alongside the Tamsulosin.

Things seemed to calm down a little with sometimes a perceived sense  of an almost 'normal' flow.

What I would like to ask of any of you who may be on the same combination of drugs is do you find your symptoms 'come and go' from day to day or couple of days? By this I mean can you be almost, dare I say it, 'normal' on some days with the condition not bothering you at all and then, for no apparent reason the next day, feel the need to go all the time and poor stream?

I have tried to equate these differences, perhaps, to what I have eaten or drank the previous day/s and have come to the conclusion that certain items really do affect how I feel in this respect.

For example I avoid Tea/Coffee completely as the last cup of coffee I had, quite a while ago now, had me wanting to pee every hour for days afterwards!

Other things which I 'think' have similar effects are:

Greek style honey yogurt

Chocolate flavoured almond milk

Soya

An odd combination, but has anyone else experienced similar with these or other items?

As well as the food and drink thing do any of you find your symptoms appear worse if you get even just slightly constipated?

Currently I feel okay on some days whilst on others I feel the constant need to urinate and cannot get any relief when I go.

I will be 62 next month but sometimes feel about 80 as this really does get me down as it seems to be on my mind all the time.

All the discomfort associated with this has robbed me of any sexual interest and the Finasteride capped it off by giving me dry orgasms when I do try!

Putting off going back to the Doctor's as don't want surgical intervention for various reasons let alone all the side effects of such things which I have read about.

I have come to the conclusion that the Prostate is very badly placed in the body and must have been designed by someone who doesn't have to live with one!

Thanks for reading this.

Best wishes to all.

2 likes, 29 replies

29 Replies

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  • simonthethird
    simonthethird stephen54687

    Posted

    I take the same combination and whilst I "never" need to get up in night nor have I ever I do agree with you as to the "variation".  I sometimes wake up in the morning for my first pee which is sometimes raesonably slow and sometimes like a small pony!

    Going to some further points made earlier I would question whether a consultant in UK should "reccomend Saw Palmetto". It is certainly not prescriable in UK I think and I cannot find any reference to reputable scientic peer-reviewed trials. The FDA [USA] do not permit it to be recommended. A Californian trial 2002 - 2010 was concluded without positive result.    Whether any foods etc make any difference is so difficult to ascertain as so many other factors may be at work.

    Certainly Tamsulosin has side effects. One for me is that it is slightly Viagric!

    Finasteride too has side effects.  You are supposed to grow breasts and a full head of hair and at my age these would be entertaining "I'll just play with the puppies ..."  but no to both.  Retrograde ejaculation yes but if I really need to ejaculate then stopping the tablets for two days works [for me] but the urinary flow decreases

    Ah well

    • derek76
      derek76 simonthethird

      Posted

      Google:

      'Using Saw Palmetto to Treat an Enlarged Prostate' and you will find that it is prescribed in Europe.

      With Finasterde I started to grow the breasts but did not wait for the hair.

    • simonthethird
      simonthethird derek76

      Posted

      But not in UK! Not - certainly - on NHS. 

      The French - in particular - are reputed to get much medication via suppositoriesbiggrin

    • derek76
      derek76 simonthethird

      Posted

      It is cheap enough to buy in health food shops. I buy tincture of saw palmetto diectly from the herbalists who make it and suply it to shops. I prefer it in liquid form as I always think that like instant coffee powdered forms are not so good.
    • stephen54687
      stephen54687 simonthethird

      Posted

      Hi Simon,

      You are lucky you 'never' need to get up in the night, I find this is the time when my flow is at its worst, indeed, this is the time, about 3:30am, when I first experienced retention (a very scary feeling) and I couldn't pass a drop. I got back into bed and waited, for a very long 30 minutes, when, luckily, I managed to go, very slowly. That was before any drugs. It did happen again when only on Tamsulosin, after I had been taking it for some time, that's when I started Finasteride also.

      Interesting to hear that you can ejaculate if you stop, is it both? tablets for two days. I have taken them daily since being first prescribed and it appears it is the Finasteride which has 'dried the spring' so to say. Was okay with just Tamsulosin.

    • Guest
      Guest simonthethird

      Posted

      Yes, it was an NHS urological oncologist who recommended I try Saw Palmetto as an alternative to Flomax.  He was German though so may be more enlightened on alternative treatments than his British colleagues.  I am happy though as the Prostasan works for me for the time being, 
  • chris80623
    chris80623 stephen54687

    Posted

    I found spicy food and cooked tomatoes and caffeine were all terrible for increasing urination, I cut them out completely. Apparently there is some evidence regular broccoli intake (250g soup a day) helps the prostate, I think that helps me. The prostate is my least favourite organ!
    • derek76
      derek76 chris80623

      Posted

      I have brocolli as a vegetable about three times a week but have not noticed improvement on those days.
  • KamoKid
    KamoKid stephen54687

    Posted

    In reply of Camsters question re what allergy tests I took. I first took the standard scratch tests which used viles of ptoential allergic substances., I welted up most ot nuts, to the point that they woudl not let me go for some time after the test. After that I went to a specialist who had me have bllood tests and more scratch tests excpet this time I took along fresh fruit and vegetables with me which the tester probed and then applied to the area of the skin, This and the blood tests confirmed that I had issues with nuts, tomato, pear (unpeeled) and banana - the latter two don't are not high on the salicylate scale. Then there was the aspirin test, asprirn being high in salicylates, which gave me all the symptoms of when I have a BPH "attack".. Besty things to do is to have some allergy tests done yourself - imcluding nuts.
    • Camster
      Camster KamoKid

      Posted

      Thank you for the reply.  I will consider allergy tests again, but scratch tests are normally not accurate for food unless you have an undeniable allergy.  But if the doctor can match the allergy result with real world symptoms, then that says everything.  
    • Guest
      Guest Camster

      Posted

      The best thing I found was to cut out different food types for a period of 4-6 weeks at a time.  I cut out gluten completely and my IBS symptoms vanished overnight, I've been gluten free ever since (about 6 years).  I have tried cutting out other foods (caffeine, tomatoes, citrus, etc) to identify additional health issues and it helps if you do them one at a time. I also have BPH with OAB and other bladder pain but haven't yet found a food cut out that reduces these symptoms.  Maybe I will try the scratch tests too.
  • dagger54ar
    dagger54ar stephen54687

    Posted

     [color=#212121]Hi Stephen,

    I just read your post today, a year after it was published.

    I agree with you [/color][color=#212121]about that you say the influence of some foods/drinks in the symptoms of BPH and I would like you to receive my experience.[/color][color=#212121]I've definitely found that constipation or gases, perform some kind of pressure on the bladder or prostate, increasing the desire to urinate.[/color]

    [color=#212121]Although I have talked about this with my urologist, and others urologists, many, many times, they never seemed to give much importance to the issue.

    In my case, I tried to avoid specially the products derivated of milk.

    And also I avoid mixing some foods. For example if after lunch I eat fruits o sweet desserts, this combination produce gases and this has the effect I mentione it above.

    Of course spicy foods, beer, coffe, also bring consecuences.

    Other aspects that also are related are the stress situations.[/color]

     [color=#212121]I had several episodes of urinary retention that had to be solved with catheter and probe. and in three of these episodes, the problem began on airline flights, so I think the pressurization of the aircraft also has some effect on some people with BPH. I think it sounds crazy but it can not be a casuality. M[/color][color=#212121]aybe there was a sum of several factors: BPH, stress, dehydration and compression and decompression in flight, long periods sitting..you know.

    Well, this is all for now. I am using DUTASTERIDE and TERASOZINA.[/color]

  • dagger54ar
    dagger54ar stephen54687

    Posted

    Hi Stephen,

    I just read your post today, a year after it was published.

    I agree with you about that you say the influence of some foods/drinks in the symptoms of BPH and I would like you to receive my experience.

    I've definitely found that constipation or gases, perform some kind of pressure on the bladder or prostate, increasing the desire to urinate.

    Although I have talked about this with my urologist, and others urologists, many, many times, they never seemed to give much importance to the issue.

    In my case, I tried to avoid specially the products derivated of milk.

    And also I avoid mixing some foods. For example if after lunch I eat fruits o sweet desserts, this combination produce gases and this has the effect I mentione it above.

    Of course spicy foods, beer, coffe, also bring consecuences.

    Other aspects that also are related are the stress situations.

    I had several episodes of urinary retention that had to be solved with catheter and probe. and in three of these episodes, the problem began on airline flights, so I think the pressurization of the aircraft also has some effect on some people with BPH. I think it sounds crazy but it can not be a casuality.

    Maybe there was a sum of several factors: BPH, stress, dehydration and compression and decompression in flight, long periods sitting...you know.

    Well, this is all for now. I am using DUTASTERIDE and TERASOZINA.

     

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