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

I completely agree with you. Although the protocol for Rezum seems to insist on inserting a foley catheter following the procedure I refused because it seemed to me that it's one more thing to complicate or slow down healing. I insisted on learning how to and self cathed prior to the procedure. I continued to take a sphincter relaxing drug Alfuzosin/Uroxatrol for two weeks after the procedure. I was exceptionally fortunate because my urine flow returned to normal in less than 24 hours without having to self cath. The only side effect I experienced for months was a low grade burning sensation. That stopped after several weeks taking Prostavol (supplement for prostate support which may have an anti-inflammatory ingredient in its blend). And I also started drinking Aloe Vera Juice. I'm offering this experimental suggestion because my next door neighbor had a second prostate biopsy was extremely miserable and had been bleeding for at least a month. He tried it and within two weeks the bleeding stopped! If someone reading this is having problems with healing it is something you can try on your own for very little cost.

On the rezum protocol, mostly left up to the urologist. richard levin who did clinical trials for rezum and now does 95 percent bph treatments with rezum teaches self cath. and 65 percent go home without foley. Many go on their own right away. Biggest concern is not being able to insert the catheter due to swelling and have to go to the emergency room. Average is foley for 3 days. with an xl prostate and 15 injections, I didnt fight the foley for 3.5 days. post foley was able to urinate on my own although very slow at first.

Going on three weeks after getting the procedure done this coming Monday. Procedure was painful even though they gave me a pain killer and a tranquilizer. Someone mentioned it being like something out of the Spanish Inquisition and I concur with that observation. Doctor gave me four shots of steam and number three hurt the most. Scale of one to ten I say the pain was about an eight. Had to wear a catheter for a few days and I found that a bit annoying. Was able to pee right away but still getting up numerous times at night, every hour to hour and a half on bad nights. I still see blood and clots occasionally when I pee, especially when a little under hydrated. Urgency is a bit higher than before and I still have the retrograde ejaculation problem. The nurse told me it will take three months for full results to become apparent .

Hi Chuck...I'm on week 7 and am doing so much better than week 3 . You should notice an improvement in a week or two. I had to wear a folley bag for 3 1/2 weeks then self cath a week or so. Now getting up just 1 or 2 ties a night instead of 5 so you're through the difficult part....hang in there it will get better.

Harry

Sadly, many have found that the wrong Urologist can make your life absolutely awful. I parted ways with my first Uro when I realized they didn't have any real experience with Rezum. Then I found one who did - over 250 of them. He personally had just over a 10% rate of retro ejaculation and he said that is because he is a little more aggressive in his treatment style. As for some of these horror stories, such as you Chuck, he doesn't seem to have had any. It is SO important who is chosen to perform the procedure. I am now eight weeks post Rezum. Stream is good, I can still feel that everything is not 100% but it's a constant rate of improvement. While the objective of prostate procedures is to help us pee better and protect our bladders from muscle damage, my personal opinion is that preserving our sexual abilities is extremely important - especially for us younger guys (I'm 57). I'm happily married with a healthy sex life and neither my wife nor I are ready to have a decrease (other than just the natural issues of aging) in those performance abilities (and I consider retrograde ejaculation a decrease of ability) brought about.

Please, if you are considering a procedure and are looking at Rezum, then be extremely cautious in your choice of Dr's. It may even be worth traveling out of state to get the right Dr. If anyone is interested in the best Dr. here in UT feel free to PM me and I'll get you his name.

I am 67 years old, and have had BPH for many years. It continued to get worse over time. I finally went to a urologist about 2 years ago and was prescribed tamsulosin. It helped for a about 6 months, then my symptoms started getting worse again. I did not like the fact that it caused retrograde ejaculation, but felt I had no choice. About a year ago, my urologist added finesteride to try shrink my prostate. It seemed to make very little difference to my BPH, but the fact that it really messes with your male hormones was a problem for me. I need ALL of my male hormones working for me!

So I started looking for how I was going to address this BPH more effectively. The relatively new Rezum procedure looked very good to me, mainly because it had almost zero long term side effects. I discussed this with my urologist, and he was just adding this technique to his practice. He tested me, and reported that my prostate was 56cc and I had a median lobe. I decided to have the procedure.

My procedure had 5 total steam injections, 2 on each side, and 1 in the median lobe. I had a catheter for 2 days. Urination burned for 1 more day. By day 4, no more discomfort.

The last few months before this procedure, I would wake up to urinate 4 to 6 times a night. It was totally unpredictable. These episodes would start very slowly and drag on with many start and stops. It was really impacting my life due to sleep disruption.

I am only in week 3 after this procedure, and should experience improvements for the next several months. In the last 7 nights, I have only gotten up to urinate 2 times each night, and they were quick and complete! I could live with this level, but may still experience further improvement. The other big change is that I stopped taking the finesteride the week before my procedure, and the tamsulosin the week after even though my urologist wanted me to continue on both of them for 4 months. In the last week, I feel that my male hormones are fully functioning again, and the retrograde ejaculation is gone. I could not be more pleased!

Based on what I know now, I would suggest men starting down the BPH road should consider addressing their problem right away, before their prostate gets too large or they damage their bladder. If you know you have a large prostate and it is only going to get worse, why not skip the BPH drugs and try a procedure that has so little long term risk? Reading other men's outcomes, it appears to me that getting this fixed BEFORE you damage yourself greatly increases your chances for a good outcome.