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Looking for Alternative BPH treatments

Posted , 7 users are following.

chris1967us
chris1967us

I'm a 47 year old made who was diagnosed with BPH 3 years ago.  The side effects of prescription medication don't appeal to me, so I'm looking for natural remedies.  Thus far I've tried saw palmetto, pygeum, vitamin d3, selenium, stinging nettle and several "blends."

None seem to work well, so I'm looking for alternatives.  I don't have trouble initiating urination, and I don't experience frequent urination during the day.  My primary sympton is having to get up after about 4 hours of sleep to urinate.  This wouldn't be so bad but it sometimes takes me several hours to fall back asleep...and if I have something to do I'm often exhausted the next day.

Also, I don't know if it's related but I've had erectile dysfunction for about the same length of time.  For this I've tried viagra, cialis (both regular and daily), staxyn and levitra.  They all had minor effects but since I haven't been dating I don't know their "full" effect."  Again, it may be unrelated.

Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

0 likes, 81 replies

81 Replies

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  • Dudley71081
    Dudley71081 chris1967us

    Posted

    Hello Bob, 

    Thanks. Let us hope others may benefit.  Sorry to hear of your FIL's experience,  which in itself is a salutary tale.

    i forgot to mention to Chris that some years back I was told by an MD that in wakefulness the body will continue to produce urine;  but in deep sleep,  urine production slows right down / stops.

    (Thinking out loud, I guess that's why bears etal., get a good kip during hibernation).

    Anyway Chris, if you can use some med prep to facilitate deeper sleep once in a while,  it may at least give you some relief from a vicious cycle.  Also of proven benefit are warm/hot baths, avoidance of alcohol and a warm bottle placed between navel and pubic bone.

    Good luck with it all.

    Dudley

     

    • chris1967us
      chris1967us Dudley71081

      Posted

      Thanks for the further info, Dudley.  That's good to know about not prodcuing as much urine during sleep...I've wondered about that.

      Yes, I think I'll try melatonin before bed to see if it produces a deeper sleep.  At this juncture I'd say I naturally sleep for 7 or 8 hours once every few weeks...so it is possible.

      I don't drink any alcohol, or any caffeine.  Good to know about warm baths.  I have an indoor Jacuzzi and soak in it for at least 30 minutes while watching TV every night, about 3 hours before bedtime.  A warm bottle beneath the navel sounds good.  Thanks for your well wishes.

  • harry68403
    harry68403 chris1967us

    Posted

    I am a 49 year old. I have had BPH for a couple of years. It comes and goes, and until now I have not been able to figure out what causes it to get bad then good and bad again. Was it wine, or diet, or green tea, or sleep, etc. etc. 

    Now, after exhaustive deduction and elimination I think I have found it ... melatonin. Melatonin is a natural sleep aid that I took on and off, but for the past 2 months I have religiously taken 1 extra strength melatonin every night. And my daytime BPH prostate symptoms have almost disappeared. No slow urination, a good flow, not perfect but certainly not embarrassing like it was before. 

    I have no idea whether it's the actual melatonin (because I can find so little online about the link between BPH and melatonin) however there are plenty of places where the link between melatonin and prostate are discussed. So I may be onto something. Or it could be that a better night's sleep also helps during the day.

    Anyway, melatonin is the only think that's worked for me so far, and there are no side effects.

    Disclaimer: I am in no way connected to melatoni, I am just a sufferer! However you should always take medical advice and look into it yourself.

    • bob120
      bob120 harry68403

      Posted

      Harry,

      Glad you have found something that works and hope it continues to work for you. It would be helpful for me to know:

      What is the dose you are taking at night, how many mg. is the tablet?

      How long did it take nightly for the improvement to show?

      How long has the improvement lasted?

      What specific improvements are you seeing, eg. number of nightly trips before starting and after it took effect?

      Thanks for sharing. I hope you dodn't think these questions are too intrusive, but without specific info there's no way to judge if it might be of help to me, and what to expect in terms of improvement.

      Bob

       

    • harry68403
      harry68403 bob120

      Posted

      I take one full 5mg tablet each night. I live in Canada so the brand I use is Webber but any 5mg melatonin would be fine I assume.

      I only started to take 1 per night religiously 2 months ago and the results were almost immediate, it's just that I didn't put 2 and 2 together for a few weeks.

      I never had a night-time peeing problem anyway, so the improvement for me is far more urine flow during the day (it's now acceptable, whereas before there were times when it was way too slow and embarrassing).

      Hope that helps.

    • bob120
      bob120 harry68403

      Posted

      Harry,

      Thanks for the info. I bought a bottle of 3mg today. I could always double it, but will start with 3mg. Does it help you go to sleep / stay asleep?

      Bob

    • harry68403
      harry68403 bob120

      Posted

      Unlike sleeping pills, it's a natural enhanced sleep. I fall asleep within 15 mins but if I need to I can easily snap out of it and wake up. Also you can take a half tablet at (say) 3am and you won't feel groggy at 6am or 7am. Good luck
    • derek76
      derek76 harry68403

      Posted

      Melatonin is in many plants including Feverfew and St John's Wort.

      St Johns Wort is contra indicated in patient information leaflets  for many prescribed drugs.

  • richp21
    richp21 chris1967us

    Posted

    Don't know if anyone else has already suggested this. I'm up 2 to 3 times a night to pee. One thing that has absolutely helped me to fall back to sleep easily is keeping a plastic urinal next to the bed instaed of going over to the bathroom. Wake up, stand up, unscrew the cap, pee, screw the cap back on, and get back in bed and back to sleep. I don't think I can mention a specific brand of urinal here in a public post, but if you're interested, PM me and I can let you know which brand I've been using.

    • bob120
      bob120 richp21

      Posted

      I've been doing this for a few years. I get up 2 to 4 times a night. I used to stand in the dark by the bed to use it but now I just swing my legs over the side and sit on the edge of the bed in the dark to use it. I keep it hooked to the inside of a small plastic waste basket right in front of the night stand next to the top of the bed. I can unsnap the lid, use it, and get back to sleep in about 2 minutes I actually use two plastic 1 liter urinals. If one is heavy and close to full I use the other one.

    • richp21
      richp21 bob120

      Posted

      Not sure my flow would be as good sitting down. Maybe I'll give that a go. Do you have it arranged with the waste basket so that you don't have to hold the urinal while you're peeing? That sounds great.

    • derek76
      derek76 richp21

      Posted

      Back in the Good Old Days everyone had a chamber pot under the bed. Many called it a 'gazunder'

      I inherited one that the owner of a house we bought in 1967 left behind. A beautiful peice of pottery with a lovely rose pattern. 

    • bob120
      bob120 richp21

      Posted

      My urinals have a handle so I hang them on the inside of the waste basket. Keeping them on the floor is a risk in the dark.  I use disposable plastic one liter urinals which I buy by the case, at $33 for 48 urinals on amazon.I wash them out for a few days then toss them. Once every few months one gets a leak, which is another reason to keep them in a basket. I take one out of the basket by the handle, flip the lid open, drop my member in and pee in the dark, then flip the lid shut and replace the urinal in the basket.

       

    • richp21
      richp21 bob120

      Posted

      Ah, not no hands then. I've been using a more substantial one that never leaks for several years. I rinse every day, and wash with very diluted clorox once a week. Available on Amazon. Am I allowed to say the name here?

    • bob120
      bob120 richp21

      Posted

      I believe you can put a generic name and price, but I don't believe you can add a link. The general name and price should be easy to search for on amazon.

    • derek76
      derek76 richp21

      Posted

      German's with BPH for some reason believe that they pee better when sitting down.

    • richp21
      richp21 bob120

      Posted

      It's listed as a Portable Urinal on Amazon at $ 10.24. I always find it by sercahing on "Little John".

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