Tamsulosin and Finasteride

The operation went well and I'm happy with the results. It does effect the line pressure during ejaculation but I can still splash out on my partner, if desired well enough.

It has fixed the flow issues although I still get up a lot to go to the toilet at times but bladder behaviour is more than flow, it is a complex subject. The doctor did prescribe some tablets but I can't be bothered taking more tablets.

Overall happy enough with the results and would recommend the TURP operation to others based on my experience.

Having read your post I can empathise with how you are feeling because I am experiencing similar symptoms. I was diagnosed with BPH about three years ago now and was prescribed Tamsulosin to help improve my flowrate. It worked okay for about 18 months but then seemed to lose its efficacy so I returned to the doctor who then added Finasteride to the mix. I have been on both drugs now for about 18 months. During that time I still had episodes of finding it very difficult to urinate, especially if I delayed it too long such as not being able to get to a toilet when I needed to. Since I have been on Finasteride I have noticed a gradual decline in my libido to the point now where it is non-existent with dry orgasms if achieved.

Over the past six months or so I have noticed an increase in 'discomfort' which takes the form of a burning/stinging AFTER urination which can last anything from a few minutes to, more often, until I next need to go. The burning/stinging sensation can be in my penis only or the full length of it right back into the perenium so that the burning sensation almost feels as though it is coming from the 'back passage'. These sensations vary in intensity from barely noticable to being totally distracting when I don't know 'where to put myself'.

I have been back to the doctor on three occassions and taken a urine sample and they all come back as negative for infection, re-assuring yet not making my problem go away. The Doctor agreed to refer me to the urology department at the hospital and I had my first appointment last Monday (11th April).

Before I went I visited the hospital website and the urology page where I found a frequency/volume chart which I filled in for three days. I had to note at what time I went for a pee and also measure the amount on each occassion also noting when and how much fluid I drank. As luck would have it, during the first 24 hours my discomfort was more pronounced and I was visiting the loo about every 90 minutes or less and the volumes were a maximum of 150ml but normally only about 50ml so not very much considering that the normal urge to urinate, or so I understand, would be triggered at around 300ml

At my appointment I had a flowrate test, an ultrasound scan to measure post void residue and yet another DRE. My flow, he said was 'rather slow', my post void residual was 30ml so okay and my DRE revealed that my prostate was not 'overly large' (his words) so the Finasteride 'must be doing its trick'. I was a little surprised by this as I have read that symptom severity is not directly related to the size of the prostate in that someone with a very large one may have no symptoms whereas someone with a smaller one, yet still enlarged, could experience severe symptoms.

Before he did the DRE he said that perhaps I would need an operation but after he examined me he he said that perhaps an operation may make things worse as he thought my problem was an overactive bladder. He prescribed Vesicare for a month and said he would contact my GP to tell him of alternatives should the side effects of these be too pronounced and he would see me again in a 'couple of months'.

I took my first tablet on the Monday evening.  Tuesday I seemed to need to go far less frequently and, apart from the 'dry mouth' he had warned me about, I was pleased so I took another tablet Tuesday evening. Wednesday I had to go less frequently again but did notice my flow seemed weaker than normal so I thought 'At last, some relief'. I took my third tablet Wednesday evening and went to bed to awake at around 2:00AM dying to urinate but, when I got to the bathroom, I was unable to do so. It took me about ten minutes to get a few drops out despite pushing and heaving or trying to relax. I had to return to bed and lay there until the urge to go came again about 15 minutes later when again I had great difficulty in passing just a little more. It took me 4 attempts, and about an hour, to get any sort of relief. This happened again last night and I can only put it down to the Vesicare.

I relate this story to you to highlight that your symptoms may not be the result of an infection but to something else such as OAB but, as anyone who is suffereing from urinary symptoms will no doubt agree, the causes of our discomforts are not always immediately determined and it can take quite a while to get to the root cause of one's symptoms.

I shall have to talk to my doctor about trying a different drug for this but think eventually I will have to 'bite the bullet' and have some sort of procedure to sort it out once and for all.

I hope you can find the true cause of your discomfort and get the relief we all seek from these issues.

Best wishes.