REZUM--HAVE YOU HAD THIS DONE???????

I can't speak to the size issues - that should be a conversation between you and your urologist. It can't do any harm really, its just steam sprayed on your prostate so unless there is some reason that larger prostates are at some kind of risk, I don't see the harm in trying it.

As for 10 days on a catheter, I did self cathing and that's a much better alternative. You can live a pretty normal life with the right ones without any pain (many conversatons here about the often recommended spedicath - you need a prescription from your doc...insist on it as the rubber ones they give you are harder to use and clunky) as there are small desposable ones you can keep in your pocket, so as along as you can find a stall no one has to know. No fun, but MUCH better than a foley for 10 days and if this solves your problem its worth it.

As for the pain, my prostate was much smaller than yours and it was very painful. Quick, but painful - so if they want to do a spinal or twilight kind of thing i would jump at it.

Results don't show up much utnil 6 weeks and you may have some urgency issues well beyond that (I still do so the jury is out on my outcome til that subsides). You will have some blood for the first month, but not excessive amounts. Rezum is non invasive with no sexual side effects and my doc said he has someone who hasn't been able to pee in 4 years going normally with it. Worth a try before anything more invasive IMO.

Thanks Buzz,

You sound much more positive now than in your early posts.  I think the issue on doing these proceedures on large prostates is much more to swell.  Plus there is much more to treat and often the prostate has grown into the bladder and it is tricky treating that part.

Are the self cath's painful?  If my prostate were swollen shut, wouldn't it be painful to force it through and with a large prostate that may not be a straight shot, do those caths bend around any curves or obstructions?

Thanks so much for taking the time to reply.  I might mention, the VP I spoke to at Rezum said her Dad had recently had the proceedure and he was p*ssed at her for not telling him how much of a pain the cath would be and how long he would have to wear it.  I was pretty impressed that I called the company out of the blue and this clinical person called me back within the hour and answered every question I had.

 

Hi ScottFree;  Just read your post to me. My prostate according to 2 different Urologists is between 45 and 50 grams.  I just had a "second Urolift".  I think their limit on a urolift is 80 grams.  Anyway, you are not going to like what I say but you really need a very good urologist and ask him "what would he recommend if he had a 163 gram sized prostate".  When I saw that number I thought to myself wow thats a big one.  You also won't like this but just possibly you may just want to do a "Turp". As you know thats considered the "Gold Standard" in the prostate world.  My second urolift has me now peeing like a "Russian Racehorse" as the old saying goes.  I still get up 3 times a night and now am scheduled for "Bladder Retraining" with a specialized physical therapist on June June 21st.  I think she said I will go in to see her 6 times over a 6 week period.  I didn't realize it but the brain has to be retrained to not wake me up 3 times a night and tell me "hey buddy you need to get up and pee"!!!!!   Don't really know why the Good Lord gave us such a nasty gland called the Prostate.  Millions of men suffer with this debilatating thing because they are getting up 3 to 4 times a night and it really screws up your deep sleep pattern and screws with your "short term memory" too.  Atleast it has with me.  Scott whatever you decide to do all I can say is "May the Good Lord Bless You".

Chuck, if I can ask  - how many total implants did they place in you? 

Did the 2nd procedure place them in a different location or had the first ones 'failed'?

I would respectfully disagree that Turp is the gold standard. I think that's off by one letter - it's the old standard. There is probably little harm in trying PAE or Rezum even with a large prostate if your urologist is OK with it. Size is an imperfect predictor anyway. My prostate is only 30 but is growing mostly in, so I was constricted as though it was much bigger. From the sound of things, your symptoms should be worse than they are given your prostate size.

TURP should be a last resort. Holep and Green light should be looked into IMO before considering TURP

T

Finally, someone else with a modest sized prostate with this type of issue! When some doctors are told my prostate is 26cc their first reaction is that I "can't" have bph/urinary issues.  Current uro fortunately isn't that type - his response was "It's not the size of the donut, but the size of the hole". Your comment about it growing in vs out is indicative of my situation as well.

I have been researching this for 5+ years, resisting the traditional treatments as for me, the potential side effects/complications are worse than the condition. - And I agree that TURP and most of the surgical options are dated and should be avoided if possible. 

Obviously, each of us is different, in my case, I do not have that big of a deal in peeing but have been on meds for a long time that worked for me but with side effects.  A very large prostate can cause other issues such as bleeding as it streaches the blood vessels in the area, particularly if you are active and sit the wrong way. Such as when I built a deck and was straddling the 2 x 8 joists. I caught myself sitting on one and the next pee was pretty bloody.  In addition it is sometimes painful due to its size and other issues.

 The thing that is turning me off most now about Rezum is the clinical VP of the company telling me it is almost mandatory for me to have a cath for 10 days due to the size of my P....not pee. Rezum apparently causes swelling more than most treatments, as they are actually boiling parts of it.  I found this site companing green light vs Holep and if you read the posts from patients, none of them I saw had to have a cath more than 2 days, most one and some out same day.  If you go to site and read, please come back here and post your thoughts.  This seems to me a must read site for anyone that has yet to decide on a treatment, one patient is a MD who had a Holep proceedure which is apparently only done by a small number of physicians compared to other treatments but the results seem remarkable.

http://www.steadyhealth.com/topics/prostate-surgery-holep-or-green-light-laser

Tim; The second procedure he put in "another 4 implants" for a total of 8.  One actually had moved a little and he said he would rather be safe than sorry.   Right now Iam peeing with "Brute Force" as I feel like Iam back at age 17 again!!!!!!    But remember I had the 2nd Urolift just back on May 19th which is only 2 weeks ago. 

Congrats - I hope you have continued success and relief!

Did you require a catheter? The UroLift website says most do not, but of the few people I have seen posts from, over half did have one. Not that it's an overriding issue for me, just gathering data.

Tim; I wore a catheter home for about 28 hours. Went back the next day and the Doc took it out.  I was very uncomfortable but manageable.  All is good now.  I still get up 3 times a night but am now scheduled for "Bladder Retraining" with a PT on June 21st.  We'll see how that goes.  My channel is wide open but my brain sends me a message that says "Hey buddy there's some pee in your bladder so you better get up and pee".  You are probably laughing about now but after getting up 4 times a night for 15 years the brain has taken control.  I now get up 3 times a night instead of the usual 4 but have to be retrained.  I think you would agree that the body is an "interesting thing" as how it all "works togethor". 

Actually no laughing at all, I'm familiar with bladder retraining - after having numerous recurrences of prostatitis, I would urinate every 90 minutes regardless of the amount in my bladder. Fortunately, the retraining for me was easy and fairly quick.

 

Please let us know how the retraining goes. What's it like, and was it successful?

Thanks,

Neal

My lidocaine injection was painless,and the urethal probe only a momentary discomfort. I said the whole Rezdum procedure was less painful than a flu shot. However my pain tolerance has always been good.  I wouldn't consider general anesthesia unless my life depended upon it. As for the post Rezdum Foley catheter, it is to prevent UTIs. If you are experienced with self-cath,you can probably have the Foley removed sooner. My Foley was prescribed for 5 days,but I removed it after three.The Foley makes it easier to detect blood in the urine,but you can do the same by self-cathing into a cup.

Scottfree, I don't know if your still reading this forum. I'm in the same boat as you. I don't know the size of my prostate but I have had 2 really bad bleeding episodes ( 7 days of heavy bleeding ). I was put on fernasteride which seems to have helped. The last 2 bleeding episode were short lived with minimal blood. I still have problems peeing at night mostly poor flow. Right not I am considering HOLEP surgery. I think this is going to be my best bet. My prostate has grown into my bladder.

Hi David,

I was scheduled for the rezum procedure today.  I con't tolerate the pain in the anus.  The doctor tried three times.  It hurt so bad once he put the probe in there and started the treatment to the prostate.  I am very up set over the entire outcome.  I feel there should have been some pain medicance given before the procedure??  The doctor said he would do it in a hospital with me knocked out.  Do you think I should have it done that way?? Why was  there such pain in the prostate?? It felt like I was being torched in my back side.  What did you feel?? Did it hurt when they put the long tube down your penis?? Thanks so much. I am such a baby and don't like pain........ 

All I know is compared to the symptoms I was having on a daily basis there was nearly no pain.  Does it feel good to have a shot in your prostate through your anus.  Absolutlely not.  But if you thought that was bad have a biopsy done I was ready to cry by the time they took three biopsy of my prostate years ago.But if you are having problems you do what you have to do.  I would only rate the pain for the shot in the prostate as a 3 on a scale of 1-10.  (almost) No one enjoys having a catheter in or a scope put up their penis but do you enjoy being in pain every time you urinate.  Aren't you willing to suffer a little discomfort so that your long term discomfort goes away.  Again I would rate the scope a 3 on a scale of 1-10.

Our country is too dependent on pain medications.  I would be more affraid of pain medication than the actual pain any day.  

 

2-7-18  Has anyone had the Rezum procedure a year or two ago and how s it working?  

Success or failure?

How is the UroLift working?

Guy

@Tim-B

I have (had) a small prostate too, 25cc. What did you end up doing?

Dec 2016

At first I had sooo many problems after the procedure it was taking me for ever to heal and after about 8 months I finally was healed,But i was dis liking my doctor for the moment thinking he ad done something wrong. It was me, Im that one percent that took a while to heal verses some who heal right away.

Im pleased now that I made the decision to have it done.

I wake alot of the time with a sunrise like im 17 so something workFile size is too biged.