The Urolift procedure; patient views and questions

I had a Urolift procedure in May of 2018. It went well. I took out the catheter myself the next day and then took the train home from Toronto. It was a great procedure.

In Canada, it is not covered by our guv insurance so I had to fork out $17,000.

Sadly, by December of 2019 I was blocked again and have since had 2 TURP procedures Feb and May having given up on these new procedures and wanting a more permanent solution.

Happy to report after my second Turp I am finally peeing after 6 months of catheter hell. 5 days straight now, so I'm hoping all is well.

Did notice my erection now is bent downwards and I've lost an inch of length. Nobody mentioned that. Will discuss with my URO on followup visit.

ANd of course Retro Ejac is another free gift from the Turp procedure.

Hello guys. I had my Urolift in September 2018, so about 20 months ago. My PSA before the procedure was 17 (it can be that high with chronic prostatitis). A few months after the Urolift it dropped to 15 and today it has dropped to 12.

Does anyone have a theory that would explain a decrease like this? The last time my PSA was 12 was 10 years ago.

Thanks, David

I had a UroLift in 9/16 after meds alone weren't getting the job done anymore. I knew very little about BPH and the various procedures at the time and agreed to it based on my Uro's recommendation and his explanation that there is almost no risk of sexual side effects. I had 5 clips placed while under anesthesia. Never felt a thing, woke up with a catheter and bag coming out of me which was pulled out by my recovery nurse without much drama. They waited for me to show I could pee before they let me go which was not long thereafter. I think I was at the outpatient surgical center about 3 hours. Other than being startled by the bloody mess down there when I first saw it, the procedure was remarkably uneventful.

I think I had a couple of days of burning when I peed with a bunch of debris coming out which steadily cleared up over the next few days. I noticed the improved flow once the swelling went down and within 30 days noticed a big improvement. No sexual side effects, no incontinence.

Unfortunately my symptoms started reappearing around 18 months later and am just about ready to get an Aquablation in mid-September.

Overall I'd recommend the procedure as a first step but chances are you'll need more aggressive treatment down the road a few years. The biggest negative other than durability is I don't like having foreign objects in my prostate that can't be completely removed without abdominal surgery.

Charles - I had my urolift done 3 days ago. I am in the US, Georgia.

You are a better man than me, I chose to be put to sleep. My urologist uses a large catheter so it does not get obstructed from a blood clot.

When I woke up I felt I needed a bowel Movement and was in a great deal of pain.

They gave me a low dose of IV Fentanyl.

Post op pain had been a lot of burning when urinating.

I take pain meds for RA and I am glad to have them on hand.

This has been rougher than I anticipated. But I an only 3 days out.

The photos from the procedure show the opening in the Urethra went from 2 mm before to 1.5 to 2 cm after.

My doctor said some patients recover in 2 days. Others 2 weeks. He said I would have; urgency, frequency, burning, and possible bladder spasms from the cath. I have them all.

Hopefully it will be worth it long term

I had the procedure done a little over a year ago. First of all, fairly painless and, if I'd had good results, I'd feel it was worth it.

My wife seems to think it may have been beneficial. That's because she says that I don't have the urgency I did before if we're traveling and I don't get up quite as many times during the night.

But I had three tests to see if I were a candidate before the procedure that were very uncomfortable, both physically and mentally. I just didn't like the young female nurses treating my genitals like lab objects. Hey, that might just be me but it was very uncomfortable.

I still have to be aware of where the nearest restroom is when I'm out of the house. I still take forever to empty my bladder and will almost always have dripping left enough to dampen my underwear.

Would I go back and do it again. I have to say, "no".But, keep in mind, there are lots and lots of success stories. I hope this helps some of you to decide. Don't expect the miracle cure.

I am 56, about 6 years ago I started taking 0.4 mg of tamsulosin and it helped a lot but over the past few months its effectiveness has declined. My urologist upped the dosage to 0.8 mg and a week later I had an ultrasound, uroflowmetry, cystoscopy, and was told I am eligible for the urolift. The tests revealed a 32 cc prostate, thickening of the bladder wall and I think he said my flow was 12 mL/sec. I am scheduled for surgery next week. However, with the increased tamsulosin I’m once again only waking up once or twice a night. Both the urgency and testicular pressure/pain has declined (but I now have retrograde 4 out of the last 6 times with the other two being very weak ejaculations).

I’m considering pushing off the surgery and just staying at the higher dose. I’m worried that when my prostate continues to grow post urolift that I might need something more invasive later that has more side effects. I know that eventually I will need a procedure just not sure if it should be now or if this is post-surgery jitters. Thoughts?

I am considering asking to have a retreatment for a Urolift. Has anyone done this and do you think it was worth the effort? It's either that or TURP at this point. I was told I have a "long" prostate, I am thinking this is a euphemism for a large median lobe? MedLift might be the way to go?

• Dear Forum Members , i hope everyone is well. I am 58 yrs of age and for the past 13 yrs i have suffered with re-occuring Chronic Prostatitis . During my most recent and worst flare up which started in Oct 2020 and has only just got better, I visited my consultant whom i have used during all this time both on NHS and privately. on this last flare up he advised that i consider the Urolift but needed to carryout a Cysoscopy and flow test to check everything was ok. My results are as follows; An occlusive looking prostate in terms of lateral lobes, an open bladder neck, there was no significant middle lobe and no ball valve variant. The bladder was normal with some mild evidence of trabeculation. The flow rate test was; voiding at a maximum flow rate of 15mls but emptying bladder well. i am due the urolift procedure at end of may 2021 and was worried that as my results seem to be showing nothing significant , would i be benefiting from the procedure. Thanks for advice and sorry for long post.

hello Charles....

first off, thank you for your insight(s) on the urolift. I just completed the procedure last monday 5/10/21.

procedure took all of 15 minutes, awake the entire time. very uncomfortable procedure. did not have a catheter initially ...

could not urinate and bloated....came back to Dr's office and they inserted the catheter ....instant relief.

catheter stayed in for 2 days, removed...and could only dribble....re-inserted catheter again (oh joy) and will have it in for 4 days (over the weekend)...which has caused some good irritation/blood spats on the penis entrance. Monday, looking forward to its removal, fingers crossed. The nurse indicated it might take 3 times with the catheter.....swelling just needs to subside.

As far as the urolift literature....claiming an easy and fast recovery procedure....at this point i disagree. There is no way in hell your going to be walking around without a care in the world 3-5 days after this procedure.

Dr still has me on flow max....and says it will be about a month before I can rid of that RX..

Staying positive on the out come....i will report next week.