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Does alcohol aggravate your BPH symptoms?

Posted , 16 users are following.

lee56659
lee56659

I have read that alcohol and BPH don't mix.  I generally have a cocktail before dinner or a beer or a glass of wine with dinner.  I do find that if I have both, my voiding for the rest of the evening is not as good (more frequent and a weaker stream) as when I only have a single drink.  I don't really notice much difference between no drink or one but definitely notice a difference between 1 and 2.  I am on doxazosin which I take at bedtime.

0 likes, 17 replies

17 Replies

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  • jim81578
    jim81578 lee56659

    Posted

    I agree with your accessment. 1 or 2 not much defferent any thing more and it's down hill.

    Jim

  • oldbuzzard
    oldbuzzard lee56659

    Posted

    Alcohol will tend to make things worse - it seems to impact the bladder. Try drinking a glass of water with each drink - I found that made a world of difference.
    • lee56659
      lee56659 oldbuzzard

      Posted

      A local restaurant owner/sommelier once told us the way to prevent a hangover was to drink a glass of water for each drink.  Looks like there's another benefit too!

  • MK51151
    MK51151 lee56659

    Posted

    I do not have experience with alcoholic beverages but I can say, I had same problem after drinking 2 cans of Diet Coke. That was couple of years ago. I had a RP in 2016 for prostate Ca so now I do not have any problems with urination. It is fast and stream is strong.

    MK

     

  • Tim-B
    Tim-B lee56659

    Posted

    Lee - I have noticed the same. Alcohol is a diuretic, which explains the increased frequency as for the weaker stream, I'm not sure of the physiological effect, but many men I know have the same experience (including me).

     

  • tom6446
    tom6446 lee56659

    Posted

    Beer seems to give me more problems than wine and other spirits. I am experimenting with other alcoholic drinks to see if I can still be a social drinker and not have to run to the bathroom to self cath after every drink.
    • lee56659
      lee56659 tom6446

      Posted

      I remember many years ago when drinking beer we'd talk about "breaking the seal."  I might be able to go a couple hours and 2 or 3 beers before I'd go the first time.  After that, it was every 30 minutes.  Now it's every 30 minutes even after only 1 beer!

    • TKM
      TKM tom6446

      Posted

      That could be because there is alot of active yeast and bacteria still in the beer since the alcohol content of beer is not high enough to kill the yeast.  With wine, the alcohol content of about 12% is high enough to kill off the yeast and bacteria. With hard drinks the content is even higher which kills off all the yeast and bacteria.

      Thomas

  • nealpros
    nealpros lee56659

    Posted

    Dr. Bagla told me that both alcohol and caffeine irritate the prostate, and therefore, can cause BPH symptoms.

    Neal Pros

    • TKM
      TKM nealpros

      Posted

      Nealpros,

      For me, too many caffeinated drinks, cause diahrea, which causes my hemorrhoids to bleed.  That can allow bacteria, especially ecoli, to enter arteries that are shared with the prostate.  Most people over 50 have hemorrhoids. 

      Thomas

    • nealpros
      nealpros TKM

      Posted

      Hi Thomas,

      Yours is an interesting theory, and perhaps it is correct for you, but I don't have hemorrhoids.

      Neal Pros

  • Geordie_Dave
    Geordie_Dave lee56659

    Posted

    My GP advised me that Caffeine, alcohol and fizzy drinks would all aggravate my symptoms and experience over the past couple of years has confirmed this.

    all are OK in moderation so one cup of coffee in the morning is ok but two means frequent trips to pee.

    beer will obviously be worse than wine because you are consuming a larger volume.

    I find that I can cope with all of the above ok but need a couple of days without if symptoms flare up.

    also sitting and posture affect it too, sitting hunched over a desk or leaning over something can bring on an instant need to pee - fairly logical really as you are compressing your bladder - conversely being physically active can almost eliminate my symptoms.

    Not looking forward to 5 hours sitting in a plane tomorrow as I know that will result in a bad day but at least a bit of careful management of fluid intake can mitigate the effects.

     

    • lee56659
      lee56659 Geordie_Dave

      Posted

      I knew about caffeine and alcohol but not carbonated drinks.  I consume barely any of the former or the latter but I do enjoy my pre-dinner cocktail!  I always get an aisle seat on a plane these days and any flight longer than 2 hours results in a restroom trip.  It's good to get up and move around anyway so I don't mind.

    • Tim-B
      Tim-B lee56659

      Posted

      I believe it is the caffeine that tends to be in most carbonated drinks vs simply the carbonation as I can drink sparkling water without any deleterious effects. Fortunately, 'pop' has never been something I enjoyed. 

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