Prostatitis
Posted , 7 users are following.
Hi all, my problems started about 10 weeks ago when I had frequent urination during the day and irritation and pain in the perineum region which occasional rectal pain. Saw 2 separate GPs who told me I had a slightly enlarged prostate but offered no real help. I then went to see a consultant urologist who told me my prostate was fine and not enlarged (smooth and flat). He prescribed PAMVAX (Tamsulosin) for what he thinks is prostatitis (presumably nonbacterial?) which does seem to have made peeing a bit easier but still having to get up 3 or so times at night to go to the loo. After 2 or 3 times I just lie on my back and hope the feeling passes which it sometimes does. Have tried not drinking alcohol or any fluids a couple of hours before going to bed but it doesn't seem to make much difference and I'm sometimes mostly awake all night!
Anyone else had similar experience? Did you have further tests (I've been offered further investigations but dont want to risk infections, etc). Did you recover? After how long?
I assume the consultant is correct in his diagnosis. Just a bit confused as symptoms seem to point more to BPH?
Thanks Dave
1 like, 15 replies
Pepasan david80241
Posted
I have similar symptoms (and low grade prostate cancer though no treatment required) yet my Prostate isn't significantly enlarged. I have a tendency to retain urine even after voiding and this has led to some uti's. I think I have sensitised bladder neck. I also have been prescribed Tamsulosin on several occasions. However, my urologist's advice to give up tea and coffee has been the most helpful. It took several weeks to notice the difference, but frequency and urgency have both been less problematic since I stopped. I was urinating about 5 times each night, but now it's just once or twice.
david80241 Pepasan
Posted
Thanks for your prompt reply. Much appreciated. I dont drink much tea (and no coffee) but I will cut down. Will also try no beer for a while. How long did you take the Tamsulosin for on each occasion. I've been on it for two weeks but cant remember how long the consultant said to take it - idea he said 6 weeks but not sure. My perineum and rectal pain is OK at the moment (had this before about 3 years ago and it was put down to pudendal neuralgia but maybe that was another bout of prostatitis but I don't recall any urinary probs.)
craig84609 david80241
Posted
I had tried three different drugs. All of them had side effects that I couldn't live with. The worst being retro Ejaculation. So when one has an orgasm, nothing comes out instead it travels into your bladder. It was horrifying to me, so I stopped that one as well. None really helped me much, but for some reason Cranberry pills did help me. It is something you can try, but I would try to find out the cause of the issue first. It could be a lot of things.
Pepasan david80241
Posted
I've had Tamsulosin prescribed for me a couple of times with the belief that I would need it permanently. This, I think, was because I had emergency urine retention. It wasn't my own consultant urologist that put me on it but the emergency doctors who helped with the retention. Their assumption was that I had BPH. In fact I don't, and my consultant knows this, so he is happy for me to do without the Tamsulosin if I can. The retention on two occasions was triggered by general anesthetic, and at other times by UTIs I too had retro-ejaculation on Tamsulosin. I accepted this at the time as I thought it was protecting me from retention. It certainly made orgasms different when masturbating (dry and unsatisfying) but I didn't find them a problem when orgasming through intercourse with my wife. It would be an issue if we'd wanted to conceive a baby, of course. I've now learned self-cathaterization, so I will probably refuse Tamsulosin if it is offered again.
By the way, I don't think it is a direct treatment for prostatitis, but only to help the consequent symptoms of difficulty with urine flow. If you have prostatitis, I would expect this to be investigated, and if bacterial in cause, treated with antibiotics.
craig84609 david80241
Posted
I have a similar problem, but I have the bad urge to urinate after sex and it can last for hours. I did the Cipro for two months and it got a little better, but I also have active bowel disease in my rectum. Called Proctitis. I believe my issue isn't my prostate, rather it has something to do with the inflammation in my rectum. My PSA was tested and it was .22! What .22?! Yes and I have all these issues with my prostate, but there is no sign of PSA rise like one would see for BPH, PC or Prostatitis. So it must be the bowel disease in my case. In your case maybe it isn't your prostate either, but you should get the PSA test, that may help figure it out. I am 48 years old, so PC isn't out of the question, but with a PSA of .22 I highly doubt it. So, despite my doctors I think it is due to my IBD. If the urination and pain gets better with the meds you are on then you have to decide how much more testing are you willing to endure and is it worth it? If symptoms are getting worse, then you should probably have some more testing done. Hang in there, I know what you are going through and it isn't fun.
david80241 craig84609
Posted
Hi Craig, I had my PSA tested and it was 0.9, up from 0.75 about 3/4 years ago so consultant was happy with that (I'm 65). In my case some days are better than others. Can sometimes go all day with just one or two visits then spend all night up and down. Interestingly last night I had no tea or alcohol and nothing to drink before 8pm and only got up once. I will try a week with no beer (I was only having one pint as it was) and see if it improves matters.
david80241 craig84609
Posted
Hi Craig, saw my GP and he recommended staying on Tamsulosin for 3 months and see how it goes. I've started taking cranberry tablets but more in hope than anything else.
I'm currently only needing to pee 2 or 3 times during the day and maybe once in the evening but even though I only have a couple of drinks (juice, water) before 8pm and go to bed at 10pm I'm still waking regularly at 12.00, 2.00 & 4.00 & 6.00 for a pee (although there's not a lot to come out!). GP said it's likely to be something to do with the muscles/ gateway between the bladder and urethra (often cause unknown) but I don't know why it should be particularly troublesome overnight? I thought by cutting out alcohol it would help but it doesn't seem to have made any difference. Very annoying!
craig84609 david80241
Posted
It can't hurt taking cranberry, I hope it helps. Hopefully sticking to the plan will take care of it. Good luck to you.
waveydavey david80241
Posted
Just went thru a six day course of cipro for what I refer to as a uti. Urinalysis evidence showed infection. Can I determine whether it's a prostate infection,bladder or kidneys? Will the urinalysis turn up the source?
I too feel rectal issues could contribute. However it seems every time I have a cisto (often) a uti follows. Rubber band ligation for hemhoroids is also in my treatment regimen. Worried about immunity to antibiotics.
Jabberwock david80241
Posted
I've been dealing with this kind of stuff off and on for a couple of years. I am 55 and otherwise fairly healthy. I've tried various drugs and treatment and nothing really worked that well. What does work for me is lifting weights. The more time in the gym the less problems I have. But if you want a shortcut the one exercise that works amazingly well and gives me instantaneous relief is kind of a bend over exercise. In the gym we have a brace that let's you stand leaning forward at about a 45% angle. It supports you at your waist and your feet including the back of your heals so you don't fall over. Then you simply bend over and bring yourself back up. It's really meant be a lower back exercise (which it is) but for some reason it also give me amazing relief from my symptoms in less than a minute. For exercise equipment it's relatively small so if you find it works for you you could always buy one and just keep it in your home. I've talked to a few people about this stuff and it seems like there are a lot of different flavors of the prostatitis, so I don't know if this will work for you. But if it does, for exercise equipment it's relatively small so if you find it works for you, you could always buy one and just keep it in your home.
Jabberwock
Posted
zdzislaw Jabberwock
Posted
Guest david80241
Posted
I used to have a similar problem at night and during the day, my GP prescribed the anticholinergic Tolterodine (Detrol) to calm things down in the bladder. I'm
now down from 5-6 times per night to 1-2. I have an enlarged prostate 40cc+ but take no mess for it and have been able to stop the Tolterodine too. I also don't drink alcohol or tea/ coffee after 9pm.
david80241 Guest
Posted
Hiya, saw GP today. He said to stay on the Tamsulosin for 3 months. My symptoms seem to vary quite a bit. I find it very annoying having an irritation (mainly when sitting) which send you to the loo but when you go there's not an awful lot and it's an effort (poor stream) to get out. Hopefully the medication will improve matters although I think there's a natural tendency to be tense when trying t go which can't help
zdzislaw david80241
Posted