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The Urolift procedure; patient views and questions

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charles40613
charles40613

Would it be possible to keep this thread purely about Urolift and a means of sharing experiences from those who have undergone the process and invite debate from those considering it.

The Urolift process plus pros and cons are accurately described at many a website. Other very long threads discuss in detail BPH and other treatments such as TURPS, laser tend to overshadow people looking for advice on Urolift.

So for me, tired of getting up in the night. Tired of the medication and its side effects, tiredness and ED. Quality of life getting me down. I am 60 and reckon to be pretty fit and active.

I underwent this treatment (as an alternative to TURPS) 2 weeks ago at one of the 5 or 6 clinics/hospitals that appear to offer this treatment in the UK. It really was as simple as described on the web.

I had a 30 minute consultation with the consultant whereby he explained the procedure.

The treatment was booked for 10 am., it took about 15 minutes. I had it done under a local anaesthetic. To be frank if you are used to having your prostate and other bits probed there is no pain. It is just the thought of it you have to come to terms with. After the treatment you have to drink a lot of water to flush your system but I was allowed to drive home by dinner time.

First warning here. I did have to stop probably every 15 minutes with a sudden need to urinate. Fortunately I took a urine bottle from the clinic !

I could write for ages but will see what response I get to this post. I know on the day I was there, 4 other blokes were having the procedure and I sensed there was a regular flow of patients.

I’m now going through the period whereby I’m asking myself is there any improvement? It’s only 2 weeks in. I’m not sure is the answer at the moment. We are all different and recovery and improvement I am told does take time anything from 2/3 weeks to 2/3 months maybe longer. Your system needs time to readjust, I understand that, I don’t know how much time but I’m due for a follow up next week. I'm remaining positive.Would welcome comments from others.

18 likes, 1911 replies

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  • hal1941
    hal1941 charles40613

    Posted

    I had the UROLIFT procedure done 3 weeks ago, (4 implants/staples), with local anesthesia. Premedicated with oral Valium. Minor discomfort as the sutures pass thru the prostate. Went home with catheter for self cath, in case it was needed. I did use it that night and it was not needed after. Feeling much better and have had a few nights of not getting up "to go"; usual is still 1-2 x per night! But overall much better, and am expecting continual gradual improvement.  If I have to have it again in a year or two, I would do it unless there us something better. And Turp, is not on my list! (considered a passé procedure by most urologists that I have researched).  After the first day of post op, I only needed Advil as an analgesic. Overall was not as bad as I had anticipated.
    • ChuckP
      ChuckP hal1941

      Posted

      Hello again to "Everyone".  Iam having my "Urolift Part 2" tomorrow on thursday.  It seems that one of the implants has moved according to my Urologist.  So after tomorrow I will go from 4 implants to 6 implants.  I hope and pray that I don't have to make a trip to the Emergency Room like I did when I had the "original" urolift back in June of 2015.  I'll let you guys know how it goes.  Possibly not till friday or saturday depending upon how I feel. 
    • kenneth1955
      kenneth1955 ChuckP

      Posted

      Good luck Chuck Have them but a catheter in....ken
    • ChuckP
      ChuckP kenneth1955

      Posted

      UPDATE:  I had the Urolift Part Deux on thursday the 19th.  The Urologist had to put in 4 more implants for a "Total of 8 Implants" in my body.  The airport will love me-Ha.  I wore a catheter home for 24 hours and went back on friday to have it removed. They flushed me out really well and Iam feeling lots better.  It now flows like I was back at age 17 again.  Still got up last night 4 times however.  Iam beginning to think Iam going to have to "retrain my brain".  The brain tells me that the bladder has pee in it and to get my ass out of bed and go to the bathroom.  Kinda frustrating to be honest.  I don't want to start on "sleeping pills" as I read they have all kinds of bad side effects.  One good thing has happened.  I use to stand there and pee for 4 minutes and now I pee in 30 seconds and am empty.  So its not all bad.  If you have any questions feel free to ask away.  Its saturday and Iam feeling a whole lot better after getting that nasty catheter taken out.  Still peeing a little blood but no big deal.  He said it takes 2 weeks to get fully healed back up.  The Urolift Rep came in to monitor my procedure which I thought was nice. 
    • bob120
      bob120 ChuckP

      Posted

      Chuck,

      I think I may have suggested this a while back, maybe in another thread. To make a long story short after 2 GL lasers and a turp in 4 years, I have not had any retention issues or had to slf cath in a couple of years. But I never had much success in reducing the times I got up at night. A couple of months ago I was actually down to one or two times a night, but other health issues put me on diuretics, so back up to 5 or 6 times a night. However in all this time I never lost sleep because I use a bedside urinal. I keep it in a basket on the floor right next to the bed in front of the nightstand. When nature calls, I sit up in the dark with my eyes closed, reach for the urinal with my left had and flip up the snap lid, stand, use my right hand to put my member into the urinal opening, pee, sit down, snap the lid shut, hold the urinal up in front of the blue lcd clock  ont the cable box across the room to see how much is in it  and check the time, put the urinal back in the basket, lie down and go back to sleep. During this time I don't allow myself to think of anything, just what I'm doing and maybe how good my pillow felt when I woke up. I believe this all happens in less than a minute, and I don't even wake up my wife. I can get up 5 or 6 times a night and not lose sleep. People talk about broken sleep and not getting back to sleep, and having to walk to the bathroom, aim, walk back will do that. Another urinal user / poster said it works for him like it does for me.

      I drink whatever I want until bed time, even have a bottle of water on the night stand for when I'm thirsty. Getting up to pee at night is basically a non issue for me.

    • ChuckP
      ChuckP bob120

      Posted

      Thank You Bob.  I will give it a try.  As the old saying goes "it can't hurt".  God Bless You. 
  • richard0256
    richard0256 charles40613

    Posted

    Hello all, I’m Richard, a 60 yr old from the San Francisco bay area, east Contra Costa area. I’ve had BPH for quite some time now, so my urologist suggested I’d be the perfect candidate for Urolift (by the way, he’s one of only 5 urologist’s in the bay area – Dr. Jonathan Chin- that perform this procedure – he stated my Aetna insurance is also one of the few that accepts it). Had the procedure done Wed. May 18th in the afternoon. Starting the day before, he had me on Cipro 3x’s day. Then 15 minutes before, he had me take Norco, Xanax, & Toradol. It was performed in his office. It was quite a painful experience, snapping in those sutures, then tightening them. I had 6 placed in me. Afterwards, I had a catheter placed, then was on a regiment of Cipro,Norco,& Pyridium. The first few hours following, I had almost no control on my bladder, of course was bloody. Later that night near midnite, nothing was coming out of the catheter even though I felt I had to go badly. I ended up having to drive myself to the hospital ER. They removed the cath, checked for any infection – fortunately I didn’t have- then replaced it with a larger one. The next morning (Thur) I went in to have the cath taken out. Still painful when I went, but I was able to go fairly well. The flow got progressively weaker to the point I had to really strain to get barely a bit out. On Fri. morning, I called stating I have a blockage, so they had me come down immediately. They had me urinate in a measuring machine, then did a scan of my bladder. They didn’t see any residual urine in the bladder, as luck would have it. The Dr. then gave me a sample pack of Myrbetriq, but told me not to take them until I spoke to him via his answering service if the flow slows again. Well, here it is Sat. morning & the flow is still very weak, only getting about 8-9 oz. total since yesterday, will be calling him soon. Looking back, I now wouldn’t wish this kind of thing on my worst enemy, don’t know where it’s going to go from here. Through the night, got up about every hour to hour & ½ to go, stand there straining almost throwing my back out straining with every muscle fiber I have. Oh yes, by the way, I haven’t had a bowel movement since Wed. morning (3 days ago).
    • bob75564
      bob75564 richard0256

      Posted

      Richard, sorry to hear about your experience with urolift. It's clear, from reading this forum, that the results can differ severely between candidates. I am close to your age and was also told I would be a good candidate for urolift. I also, like you, found the proceedure to be painful. But, I was fortunate to not have any bad post-proceedure experience. It's been close to 6 months now and my result is pretty good, and 180 degrees to what I was experiencing before urolift. I wonder if the different post-proceedure experiences are more due to the doctors ability, or the patients bph severity, or all of the above? I hope they can figure out what is best for you. Again, sorry for what you are going through. Bob
  • Solly747
    Solly747 charles40613

    Posted

    It's now been just over 3 weeks since I had my urolift done. It took a full 3 weeks to get back to 80%. No more severe urges to urinate and burning feeling has gone. Still feel a bit sore in prostate area but I'm sure that will go away in a few weeks. The main thing is that the urolift has fixed my flow and hesitation to start. The only problem I am still having is bowel movements haven't returned to normal. Could this have anything to do with the prostate? It's been a longer recovery than first thought. 
    • ChuckP
      ChuckP Solly747

      Posted

      Get a stool softner as I had the same exact problem for about 3 to 4 days after I had my 2nd Urolift back on May 19th.  Also drinks lots of water too. Us "Urolift Guys" have got to hang togethor!!!!!
    • mcgillvn
      mcgillvn ChuckP

      Posted

      A doctor friend noted that Cipro, the antibiotic often prescribed as prophylaxis, is hard on gut flora.  She recommended using probiotics after completing the 5-day regimen, in order to rebalance.  Get the stuff that's sold in a refrigerated display.   Also, after a bout with diverticulosis some years back, I've found that a tablespoon of psyllium fiber with water or a smoothie keeps everything moving along.

          My procedure is scheduled for Wed. June 8th.  I'll post a report on how it goes.  My urologist's practice informed me that they hold patients for a few hours after the procedure, to see if they can pee.  If not, they use a catheter.  I can't help wondering whether the swelling might not increase and block the flow later, but I guess I'll see what happens.

    • kenneth1955
      kenneth1955 mcgillvn

      Posted

      Hey there. I had mine done a year ago. I talked with my doctor and had a catheter put in after he did it, It was the best thing I ever did. I would reather have it put in while I'm out. Ask Chuck on his first one they never put one in He ended back at the hospital Ken
    • mcgillvn
      mcgillvn kenneth1955

      Posted

      I was able to void after the procedure, so went home with no catheter, and this morning hardly any blood in the urine and flowing fine.  I'm hoping it can only improve a bit, so far, so good!  The experience of the procedure really felt and sounded like stapler action, a pinching sensation.  Weird, but apparently effective.

       

  • kenneth1955
    kenneth1955 charles40613

    Posted

    I guess you picked the procedure you felt was best for you. I am glad you can deal with retro. That is up to you. That is why I picked to have a uro-lift. At 60 I was not giving up my ORGASMS which are very intense for nothing. Had retro from a few diffrent pills that my doctor put me on. I did not enjoy sex at all then something was missing and I did not feel I was complete. I had my uro-lift done a year ago and had 4 implant. Don't feel them at all and I pee fine. I did have a problem a few months ago. My prostate got smaller and had to have them tighten It was only 3 days with a catheter and all is well. Take care Ken
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