Retro Ejaculation (RE) what to blame ?
Posted , 15 users are following.
Hi all, I am 63 years old and have been suffering symptoms of BPH since 2010. I have been taking doxazosin which is an alpha blocker, (similar to flowmax, tamsulosin, etc. ) almost about the same time, starting with 2mg and ended with 4 mg in 2016. I also experienced retro ejaculation (RE). 6 months ago I discovered that I have urinary retention and the result was my kidney was backed up with urine, causing mild decline in kidney functions. Uro wanted to do TURP. I decided to self cath (CIC) instead, waiting for something better.
The issue here is every where I look, every thing is blamed for RE, including all procedures as well as all meds, without any explanations (mechanism) on how they should be blamed for. As far as I understand, the culprit here should be the prostate. It enlarges at the wrong place and squeezes the urethra and prevents the semen from reaching the penis during ejaculation. Having no place to go, the semen ended up going nowhere or going up to the bladder if there is less obstruction that way.
I did not have any procedures so I did not have any experience to share. However, all the meds try to is to relax the prostate. That should helps, not hurts the normal ejaculation. Right ? I feel that the meds have been falsely accused. Some people even stopped taking their meds and found out that RE did not go away. So they started saying things like "It may take months after stopping meds for RE to go away." Sure. This scares many men from taking drugs into suffering needlessly and/or having some procedures that outcomes are uncertain or could be worse.
My experience with doxazosin is whenever I increase its dosage, to 6mg or 8mg, RE is improved significantly, to the point of normal ejaculation. So I proved my point to myself. However, I keep wondering perhaps there is some better explanations or experiences out there that I am missing that any of you can share.
Another experience that I can share is that CIC also improves my RE. This makes sense since the catheter open up the obstruction and may keep it open for a while. During this time, especially very soon after the CIC, there is a path for the semen to reach its supposed destination. So for men out there who are doing the self cathing, reach out for the catheter before sex.
Hank
0 likes, 43 replies
kenneth1955 hank1953
Posted
hank1953 kenneth1955
Posted
lester90053 hank1953
Posted
The med you are taking is known to have some bothersome side effects but it does little for the prostate. Herbals are unregulated and does nothing. You can take it for years and your problem remains the same
jimjames lester90053
Posted
-----------------
Self cathing (CIC) is a viable long term option for some. It has worked well for me for over 3 years now and hopefully I will never need a procedure.
Jim
lester90053 jimjames
Posted
jimjames lester90053
Posted
Lester,
While I certainly understand CIC looks like that from the outside, for many who have chosen that path it is anything but an "inconvenient crutch". Given the imperfect results of all current procedures, one could argue that it has the least risks with the most rewards.
In my case, not only did CIC get me by the TURP hurdle and losing my ejaculate -- the newer procedures were not very available back then -- but it has rehabbed my bladder to the extent that today I only have to cath maybe once every month. As far as symptons go, my IPSS score of 7-8 (mild) is about as good as I could expect from any surgery or procedure. Prior to CIC it was in the 30's (severe).
Jim
stinger212 jimjames
Posted
Thanks for posting. At the beginning of CIC 3 years ago, how often were you doing this - every 4,5or 6 hours. Am self-cathing every 4-5 hours with a slow, thin stream in-between and not always. Approx 200-300 ml each time. Reason I asked is you mentioned that after 3 years all looks much better, no procedure needed to date w/CIC once a month. Just curious Brother. Thanks
jimjames stinger212
Posted
Hi Stinger,
I started with 6x/day as I had very small natural voids. After six months things slowly got better. After about a year I was able to sometimes go off the catheter for a few days. After two years, I had periods where I could go off the catheter for weeks. It's over three years now, and the last time I had to cath was over 3 months ago.
If you're not doing it already, you should do a void log for a week or so. Get a plastic measured beaker from the supermarket and write down the time and volume of each natural void and each catherized void.
A good rule of thumb is that your bladder should not be carrying more than 400ml of urine at any one time. So, let's say you do a natural void of 200ml and then void 300ml right after. This means your bladder was holding 500ml, so you should then increase the frequency of self catherization. The idea here is to keep the bladder from stretching so that it regains tone and signals you earlier to void.
CIC can help practically anyone avoid surgery if that is what they want. It protects both the bladder and kidneys while significantly reducing symptons.
As far as rehabilitating the bladder, it worked for me, but that doesn't mean it will work for everyone. All our conditions are different. I will say that all my urolgists said I would never be able to get off the catheter like I have. Well, they were wrong.
If you decide to do a void log, report back and I'll share whatever knowlege I have.
Jim
jimjames stinger212
Posted
Typo in my last post. Third paragraph should read in part...
So, let's say you do a natural void of 200ml and then self cath 300ml right after.
hank1953
Posted
"I feel that the meds have been falsely accused. "
was in my open statement 4 months ago. However, I recently stopped taking doxazosin. After only few days, my RE completely disappeared. So the doxazosin was not falsely accused after all.
Hank
jimjames hank1953
Posted
Jim
hank1953 jimjames
Posted