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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

1911 Replies

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  • Ozchilly
    Ozchilly charles40613

    Posted

    Hi Charles,

    It's been 2 months since your last report on your "recovery" after Urolift. 

    I'm sure I'm not the only one that would appreciate a further update...

    Thanks.

    • charles40613
      charles40613 Ozchilly

      Posted

      Yes I will do. I need to gather my thoughts. At the moment I would say progress is erratic ! That's the reason I didn't do a 3 month post because could be good, could be little change. Look out for post in next day or two.
    • charles40613
      charles40613 Ozchilly

      Posted

      4 months into Urolift now. I posted above thoughts after only 2 months. If you are involved in TURPS, BPH and Urolift issues you may have been asked to complete a questionnaire to give you your i-pss score. A series of 8 questions which you score 0 to 5 and in one case 6. Easily Googled. Roughly like this.

      On 5 of the issues/questions - Incomplete emptying of bladder? Intermittency, stopping and starting during urination? Urgency, how difficult to postpone urination? Do you have a weak stream? Straining do you have to push / strain to get started?

      I have no problems at all

      Frequency, do you ever have to urinate within two hours of the previous one?

      I would say some days absolutely no problem at all and I tend to want to say Urolift has done the trick until you go to bed when I am still urinating 3 times a night.

      Some days it is just plain erratic. You sense you need to urinate far too soon after the previous one and even again and wonder why your system wants you to, then you go the whole of the rest of the day with no problem at all.

      Nocturia, how often do you urinate at night ? 3 times. That is too many.

      Quality of life ? This will remain poor as long as Nocturia remains.

      In summary. The procedure is easy. I’m off the medication which is a relief. I can tell there is not a blockage and what were always lesser issues are better or gone.

      The problem at night remains and inconsistency during the day. There seems to be something wrong with the signaling that goes on between bladder , brain and all the muscles involved. I know signals are being sent when my bladder is capable of holding more. I read extensively re Ozchillys points and it seems something at night should shut down to stop nocturia. Another part of your system should stop producing urine at night and so on. Bladder control, over active bladder I’ve done all the reading. I sense things may still improve so I remain positive. Bigger questions are would TURPS, laser surgery been any better. I’m no expert but I feel not and with real side effects. After all these procedures you have to retrain your bladder it seems. I don’t know but I’ll stick with it and see where it goes!

  • amie30213
    amie30213 charles40613

    Posted

    Hi Charles, I'm still waiting for my schedule for Urolift procedure.Were you under anesthesia during the procedure?One other question is, Did you go back to work after a week?Thanks and I will appreciate if you give more info about the procedure since Im scared.
    • charles40613
      charles40613 amie30213

      Posted

      Local. It takes 15 minutes. Back to work following day but I took a day out. I was just tired. It's painless, the only pain is the thought of it and what's going on. If you can shut away from that no problem.
    • amie30213
      amie30213 charles40613

      Posted

      Charles, thanks for your feedback. Hopefully, My uro will schedule me soon. He said he needs at least 2 more patients so He can do 3 people in one day. I guess they have to rent the equipment and room.
  • peete
    peete charles40613

    Posted

    First of all, I would like to thank everyone who has posted here, as it has helped me quite a bit. I am five days post op for my urolift. I am 60 years old,and have been seeing urologists for ten years for LUTS due to BPH. I have had two TUMT microwave procedures which really did not do much for the condition. My situation is that my bladder grew overly large as a result of restriction of the prostate, which is not that big, but I guess the internal passage is rather tight. I should say I do try to keep fit, and do a lot of aerobic exercise, and watch my diet, so I look and feel a lot younger than what people in my Dad's era expected a 60 year old to look like. Here in the US, urolift is extremely rare. It was only just approved in the last two years. I found it by googling new procedures for bph. I was surprised on my last visit to the uro to learn that he does it, and we made the arrangements for the procedure only to learn that my health insurance would not cover it. I decided to go ahead and have the procedure anyway, even though Iwill probably get a bill for several thousand dollars. My biggest problem was retention. I would pee, and the urologist would take a sonogram of my lower belly and tell me I still had 400 ccs of urine inside my bladder. If you look at a bottle of wine, and see how big 750 ccs is, having half of that inside of me AFTER peeing is quite a lot. I was on proscar for a while, but I felt depresed and fat while taking it. Eventually I went on just flomax, which only helps slightly and has an annoying side effect of a constantly runny nose, and some faintness on standing after sitting a while. My uros (I have been through three through the years) were always after me to have either a green light or TURP procedure, but the thought of losing the ability to ejaculate was a turn off for me. Then I found the urolift. Five days post op, for which I underwent general anesthesia, I am still a bit sore in the pelvis, but seem to be urinating slightly better. very little bleeding, immediately post op. I had sex with my wife yesterday which seemed to help the pelvic soreness for a while. One thing I should say is that since I was a young lad, I have always been a big coffee drinker, and caffeine tolerance is quite high. However you pay a price with too much caffeine, since it increases the urge to pee while tightening the sphincter thereby making it harder to empty. I read that one of the big urology departments in New York City, Columbia Prespbyterian, has a program where they wean BPH patients off coffee. I have tried to cut back, but I work long hours in an office where I need to be alert, so must have some coffee during the day.  I'll continue to post here my progress as the post op healing goes on. 

    The reason my health insurance won't pay for the procedure is they say it is too new and the durability has not been proven despite the success overseas. I plan on appeaing their decision.

    • william65914
      william65914 peete

      Posted

      I am in the US.  My Medicare Advantage denied it and I appealed and won.  Logically, if durability is the issue, then they shouldn't pay for any procedure approved the the FDA  at the same time it approved Urolft. I am awaiting word from physician when the procedure will be scheduled.  
    • Ozchilly
      Ozchilly peete

      Posted

      Hi Peete,

      Any chance of an update, now that you are more than 3 weeks post-op?

    • peete
      peete Ozchilly

      Posted

      Ok, it has been nearly five weeks, and I have noticed some improvement. Te difference was as dramatic as I would have thought, instead it was much more gradual. However I would definitely say that I am probably getting my bladder much closer to empty than it used to. My first post-op visit to my uro was  last week. He was pleased with the results and said they will continue to improve. I seem to have a stronger stream, not dramatically different but noticeable. A little less dribbling, and less of a need to double urinate. so overall, I would say the procedure has been a success.
    • amie30213
      amie30213 peete

      Posted

      Nice peete. Did your insurance pay for the surgery? My insurance CIGNA declined my claim so I guess I have to pay it on my own. At least, you are giving us a positive feedback. I still dont have an schedule but the last time I spoke with my uro, he said sometime this month. Anyway, keep feeding us with good news. Thanks.
    • william65914
      william65914 amie30213

      Posted

      My insurance (Humana) originally denied but i appealed it.  I advise that every denial be appealed.  I would be happy to share my appeal letter if you are interested.  Ley me know and I will send it to you privately.. 
    • william65914
      william65914 amie30213

      Posted

      You will need to enable the Private message service  in your profile. 
    • peete
      peete amie30213

      Posted

      no, unfortunately, CIGNA has refused to pay, and I am now in the appeals process. 
    • peete
      peete Ozchilly

      Posted

      New update two months on. I am getting used to the idea that my improvements have maximized. I feel much more confident that when I urinate, I am getting much closer to empty than I did pre procedure. I still have moments when I seem to need to pee  a lot, and I would say that some of that is caffeine related. I still try not to drink too much caffeine, which is difficult because I am sort of an obsessive coffee drinker, but I now mix in quite a bit of decaf. My sex life has gotten back to normal, and I can still ejaculate, for which I am grateful. I still think most urologists don't realize the importance of that for most men. Of course since I had two microwave procedures to my prostate, the amount of semen for each climax is much less than it used to be. I am still taking flomax, but I feel as if I miss a day on it, it doesn't make all that much difference. I still don't have a robust stream like a teenager, but overall I would say the urolift procedure has been a success. 

      ON the insurance company fight, well it has been interesting. I filed two different appeals, an internal and an external, meaning one is to the state, and the other is to the insurance company. I've been getting back all sorts of ridiculous bureaucratic responses, so who knows what will happen. Oddly, my insurance company is now telling me that the clinic where the procedure took place should never have allowed me to have the procedure, so I will not be responsible. That is great news, but who knows if the clinic will agree to that? I have filed all the papers I could, and so has my doctor so I have to trust the system such as it is. Good luck to all of my mates here. 

    • brooke40780
      brooke40780 william65914

      Posted

      William, I would really appreciate your appeal letter.  After finding a very qualified doctor who qualified me for UroLift, I am about to schedule UroLift (at age 47, after 5 years of battling LUTS and multiple Uros suggesting TURP or GL).  I am anticipating push back from BCBS on the insurance side (but perhaps will be surprised).  I will see if I can figure out the private message function (I do have it enabled in my profile).  Many thanks!  Brooke
    • Sam1963
      Sam1963 william65914

      Posted

      Hey William, do you mind sharing your appeal letter as my procedure was denied as well by my insurance? Thanks.. Sam
    • kenneth1955
      kenneth1955 brooke40780

      Posted

      Brooke you should feel much better after it is done I live in Orlando and hasd it done in April.  It's up to the doctor if they put a catheter in for a few days.  I have a problem peeing on demand.  Don't care for it but it was the best thing I had done. Urine was clear within 24 hours and there is just some burning when it come out just rest the first week anddrink aslot of water.  No sex for at least 10 days  Good luck  Ken
    • bob75564
      bob75564 william65914

      Posted

      William, could you also share your appeal letter with me? I had the Urolift 7 days ago and was denied by my health insurance.  Thank you.  Bob
    • john44949
      john44949 william65914

      Posted

      William, my insurance carrier, group type, is an aggressive denier of coverage and based it’s past denials, i anticipate that whichever procedure I elect, it will refuse to cover. I would very much appreciate an opportunity to review yours in filing the anticipated appeal. Thank you in advance and with best regards, John
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