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Efficacy and thoughts about Flomax

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rolf61809
rolf61809

Well I made an appointment to see the doctor who did my Fusion biopsy. He actually listened to what I had to say and when I mentioned that I had a cystoscopy done by another urologist in his practice he actually looked up the results. The urologist who did this is House cookie as noted that the walls of my uretha were 'kissing' where they went through the prostate meaning that that explained why I was having so much trouble with urination. And possibly explained all the pelvic pain I was having which I suspect might have been due to urine back up into my prostate and seminal vesicles. This has been dismissed as an old wives tale by my urologist at the Cleveland Clinic. But after I started Flomax I noticed that my urination was a lot stronger and quicker with much less dripping at the end and no pain upon initiation. However the first ejaculation I had after that was a dry one meaning that no semen came out of my penis. And it hurt afterwards. I have since right about some of the negative side effects of Flomax and similar drugs. I also take 5mg a day of Cialis. I have read that Flomax actually just weakens the bladder sphincter and doesn't actually shrink the prostate at all. And the side pain I was having which I was attributed to the seminal vesicles or lymph nodes has also gone way down due to the Flomax. I'm gladly take the short term effects of Flomax but I wonder what the long-term prognosis is. It seems like a better solution barring any complications would be an operation to remove some of the prostate tissue around the urethra, but I'm scared as hell of any operations. Has anybody else out there been in the same or similar situation?

0 likes, 4 replies

4 Replies

  • textnician
    textnician rolf61809

    Posted

    Hi Rolf,

    I had to have something done, because constricted urethra was causing back-up to kidneys and would result in longer term damage if not fixed. Drugs weren't mentioned as an option. It had to be a TURP, whereby long thin instruments are inserted up the urethra and the necessary amounts of tissue cut away, because of prostate cancer pressing in.

    In my 70+ years, I've never been an in-patient and never had any other sort of op. I agreed on the basis that I had a general rather than an epidural, as I didn't want to be at all aware of whatever they were fiddling about with down there. All I knew about it was nodding off under anaesthetic and being woken half a second later by some idiot of a nurse who thought I'd much rather wake up and have some tea & toast than continue with the best sleep I'd had in ages ;-)

    Thereafter, a couple of nights in hospital, with catheter in (not pleasant but bearable), then being allowed out after producing a couple of samples of urine.  Bit groggy for a week or two after but nothing worse than, say, having had a bad cold.

    Wonderful now to have good flow, only up once during the night and not having to plan outings around access to a toilet.

  • james01944
    james01944 rolf61809

    Posted

    I had GreenLight™ Laser PVP (Photoselective Vaporization of the Prostate) to remove part of my prostate just 6 weeks ago. Due to the large size of my prostate it was pushing against my bladder and blocking the flow of urine through the urethra. I was put under for about 40 minutes and after waking up went home about an hour later. When I was sent home I took Vicodin for 3 days to help with any pain. Just for a few days later there was some burning sensation in the prostate but nothing really bad. Now I feel completely normal and can urinate normally.

    Best of luck to you.

    • rolf61809
      rolf61809 james01944

      Posted

      That tell me my prostate is about 60 cc which is about twice normal size. I did have a fusion prostate biopsy several months ago and nothing turned up, despite the fact that their radiologist read my 3T MRI as having pi-rads scores of four and five. Aside from the ability to urinate normally did you have any accompanying pain? I was having rather nasty pain in the prostate / rectal area as well as on either side which I am guessing may have been caused by urine back up into the prostate and semimal vesicles. But that theory of mine would only be valid if the prostate was blocking the urethra below the point where the prostate duct enters the uretha.

      Since starting the Flomax a couple weeks ago that pain is beginning to subside substantially. And I need to do now have a good strong urine stream with no burning and only the slightest amount of dribbling at the end. In your case how did they determine where the prostate tissue should be removed? Thank you for your reply. It does give me another option to consider.

  • rich22
    rich22 rolf61809

    Posted

    i don't get cut, stabbed, sliced and diced anymore - would rather just die. i'll do drugs, get irradiated (maybe), whatever non-invasive crud they wanna do, but no more surgeries... ya, SURGERIES. not procedures. amazing use of neurolinguistic programming! call it something else and no one will know the difference.

    had a targeted biopsy April, 13 punctures in all. came home, peeing was very uncomfortable, bloody at at times, got put on FLOMAX and finasteride. within hours, was in heaven! haven't urinated that easily in years. long term use of ALL drugs presents problems. they're all poisons. useful poisons short term but poisons nonetheless.

    good luck, buddy.

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