New here, so anxious

Russ81064

At the age of 57, I was diagnosed with significant urine retention as well as a significantly distended bladder in Oct 2021 and learned that the likely cause of it was BPH, including a moderate sized median lobe. In Aug 2022, I began to self-cath 5 times per day to empty my bladder. I learned of the patient.info website about that time and it helped me better understand the cath'ing process. In the beginning, I thought I could self-cath indefinitely, but somehow it got more difficult in time. I experienced multiple UTIs, felt strictures forming, and dealt with mental anguish each cath because I never knew what to expect. You have a variety of pharmaceutical and surgical therapies available to you. TURP is one option. You can find available therapies through a web search. Then make a decision on what to do, if anything.

In Dec 2022, I decided on GreenLight Laser Therapy and had surgery at one of the top hospitals in the U.S. I'm still recovering, but early indications is that surgery was a success. The past year has been challenging and the worst is behind. I have hope for a better tomorrow.

Best of luck in your journey. It's not always easy and being scared is natural. Know that your future will be brighter.

Steve

Please keep in mind that CIC is empowering and gives you a sense of freedom until a more permanent solution is scheduled for you. As we all know, being unable to drain your bladder feels terrible and could damage the bladder if it isn't emptied in time. (Not to mention bladder spasms and cramps that occur if the bladder gets too full.) With a box of disposable catheters, you can "use the bathroom" almost normally if you have a few travel catheters with you. This, whilst the doctors try to decide what's best for you.

Note also that CIC is not scary. Go to your care provider and have them teach you the right way to do it. It's not painful and becomes almost natural. The feeling of relief when your bladder is emptied is so nice vs having to run to the emergency hospital for a Foley. (As I had to do)

I am 56, had Rezum 5 weeks ago and am happy. TURP will most likely cause Retrograde Ejaculation, which is not nice, especially at your relatively young age. I too had a median lobe. Am happy with my results so far. While recovery from Rezum is slower than TURP, it preserves sexual function. Zero ED risk and circa 10% RE risk. TURP carries ED risk, and I think around 80% RE risk. Good luck. If you want to check out my detailed Rezum blog, it is here

https://patient.info/forums/discuss/rezum-prostate-surgery-my-experience-793516

I'm 55 and have had problems with frequency for years, since my early 30's. I was diagnosed with high riding bladder neck years ago. Medicines worked well for the first 6-8 years. I don't have a large prostate, only 28cc, but still tried a PAE back in 2017 and actually got pretty good results, but only temporary. Still, my symptoms stabilized quite a bit after that procedure.

A recent cystoscopy showed the problem of obstructive tissue acting as sort of a median lobe. So even with a smaller prostate, you can have obstructive tissue.

Of all the procedures, there are none that I have seen where you bounce back within a few days. Since the real key to fixing the issue long term is actually removing the tissue - and not just pushing it out of the way, the procedures are either turp, laser, rezum, or aquablation.

My urologist in Alexandria does Aquablation so after reading about it quite a bit, I asked him if that would work in my case and he agreed that it would. It seems to be the procedure of choice, as it is computer controlled, only uses room temperature water rather than heat, and the surgeon only has to map out the plan on the computer, and the robot takes over from there.

I have to admit - even after dealing with these symptoms for so many years, and being ready to be back to "normal" again - I'm still quite nervous and anxious about having it done. But I figure it's worth the short term discomfort of the first few weeks - the burning/pain/bleeding - if I can get really good long term results.

To answer your question - yes, you can definitely have urinary issues, bph, obstructive issues, etc well before you are in your 60's or 70's.

I had significant BPH symptoms for YEARS. When I finally went to the doctor I was so miserable I would have tried anything. I was 58 at the time. On Cystoscope I CLEARLY had the obstructing median lobe protruding into my bladder and causing blockage.

I had Rezum on 11-14-2022 so 7 weeks out today. No more hesitancy, but my flow is not really improved beyond what it was before at this point. Seemed a little better at first but not now. I hope and pray that by week 12 (that is when they say you reach peak recovery) it will be better. I hope you do very well with whatever treatment you choose.

There is a good, 140 page thread hear about the Rezum procedure called "Rezum, Have you had this done?" you can find it with a search engine.

I have been using CIC for over a year and can report that it is far, far better then a foley and keeps me OUT of the ER with serious urine retention problems. It takes about as long as brushing my teeth and I use a self lubricating cath 2x a day. During the rest of the day I am able to pass urine naturally but have little or no feeling of urgency and never know if my bladder is empty. As a result, I use the cath. As a bonus, I have had no infections which used to be a chronic problem. My life is 100% normal with the CIC's.

I just curious for those guys who are in their early 50s and having significant retention issues, what is your PSA? My last PSA was 4.25. I just saw a new urologist and he wants me to check in again as it has been about a year. I have had an MRI and select MDX "liquid bioposy" and both did not show any risk of cancer. He said I am much too young to be having retention issues.