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Turp experience and questions

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pty10
pty10

Hi there,

JUst wanted to share my experience with my turp surgery. I'm 45yrs old, too young some say for me to having prostate issues but I put it down to my father side of the family (my father and uncles all currently suffer from enlarge prostates) 

For the last couple of years been suffering from weak urine stream, having a full night sleep and waking up in the morning with the urge to go wee just to wee a small trickle. I also suffered from time to time having blood in the urine.

Went to see the Urologist, he did some testing, test on the strengh on my urine flow (very weak the doc said) he put a camera up my penis to see inside and we could see clearly that my prostate was enlarge and was putting pressure on my bladder which probably explained why sometimes I could see blood on my urine. I have a benign enlarged prostate, no cancer worries which is good.

While I decided if I wanted to have surgery, doctor put me on Avodart. It did help but I wasn't sure if I wanted to take antibiotics for the rest of my life. Avodart temporary reduces the size of the prostate but if you stop taking it, you will still have the same problem again and it will only get worse.

Dedided to have the surgery, I had it three weeks ago. spinal block, stayed in hospital one full day with a catheter inserted. Catheter was removed the following day in the morning, had to urine a few times into a container, followed by a scan machine pressed to my belly to see how much urine was left in the bladder. Passed the test and  was allowed to go home that day at midday.

I can see the immediate benefit of the surgery where my urine stream is very strong. When I get up in the morning with a full bladder, no more urine trickle, just a strong urine flow. On the other side, I'm still suffering from post surgery effects, for example, frequent urges to go to the toilet and pee ( I probably go every 40 to 60 minutes) blood on the urine and pain (burning/stinging) everytime I have to take a piss. The doctor says is normal for this symptoms to happen and it will take weeks before everything is back to normal. how long?  it depends on the individual. I can get an erection, it feels a bit different and I will suffer from retro ejaculation ( I was warned about this)

Anyone that had Turp done, how long it took until you where pain free? (no blood and pain)  Did you take any medicine to stop the pain or the bledding?

Thanks for reading,

Henry

6 likes, 509 replies

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  • bart99957
    bart99957 pty10

    Posted

    I wonder what % of people, if they could go back, would decide NOT to have one of these procedures??? I, for one, would have probably just continued onward with the symptoms and passed on the TURP. That's after 8 weeks, we'll see if I change mind in another 8 (16 total).........
    • pty10
      pty10 bart99957

      Posted

      Yeah I know what you mean.. You look at some of the posts across the net  and makes it you wonder since some people experience very little symptoms after surgey.
    • bob120
      bob120 pty10

      Posted

      I have wondered that too. Most of the complications I have read of, where people mentioned their prostate size, were large prostates. I think once you get larger than an 80g. prostate (mine was over 120g.) you are looking at much more tissue and veins being vaporized and cauterized by the procedure, and more potential complications, and less optimal recuperation and final outcomes.

      I often wondered if the people with smaller prostates were the ones who fared better.

      There's also the issue of what level of symptoms you start with and to what extent your bladder has been damaged by compensating for a blocked urinary path.

      My feeling is I'm glad I had these procedures, but I really had no choice. Once my  LUTS (lower urinary tract symptoms - used to be called prostatis) included urinary retention that flomax couldn't help, that was untenable. As long as I was just experiencing frequency and urgency I was willing to live with going 20 times a day and knowing where every restroom was located wherever I went. Once I couldn't pass urine, a prostate procedure like the GL, or round the clock self cathing were the only choices left. Once I had hematuria, surgery was the only possible option.

    • pty10
      pty10 bob120

      Posted

      Interesting what you said about the size of the prostate. I got my first post surgery follow up appointment in a couple of weeks and I will be asking that question. Because of my age I wasnt sure if I wanted to take meds for that long, hoping the turp will solve the problem. By the way, as your time between pee trips to the toilet improved? 
    • bob120
      bob120 pty10

      Posted

      Hi pty120,

      Justr saw your question. The way the forum arranges posts by sub-threads instead of by date makes it easy to not see stuff.

      On your question, My trips to the toilet at night are about 4x. I generally go to bed about 1:30 AM, and I have to get up around 2:30AM, 3:45AM, 6:45AM and 8:15AM when my wife gets up. I usually sleep to about 9:30AM or 10AM. When I first get up I need to go a few times in the first hour or so. During the rest of the day it's every 2 or 3 hours. If I'm sitting at the computer for several hours I generally need to go when I stand up. Same with the TV. In my case I got the GL because of retention (nightly about 2:30 in the morning) which was untenable. I got the bladder resection and stonees removal because of the hematuria. What has improved is the urgency. For the first several months after the GL I had about a 5 to 10 second window to get to the toilet. Before the GL I was going every 45 minutes or so during the day and every hour or so at night. So there has been a big improvement. The difference between 45 minutes and 2 hours between voiding is monumental. It lets me shop, go for dinner, etc. without having to find a bathroom.

    • pty10
      pty10 bob120

      Posted

      Yeah that's great and is what I'm hoping to achieve as well in terms of the retention. I only go once at night on a 7hr sleep but during the day I go every 90 minutes. I Had the surgery 8 weeks ago, thought my retention will be a better by now. Maybe is too soon and I should be more patience. The odd thing is that when I'm getting close to the 90 minutes I can feel the urge coming and the minute and I step in to a  toilet the urge becomes uncontrollable.
  • RonTexan
    RonTexan pty10

    Posted

    This will be the strangest BPH post you will read for a long time. I'll start with my BPH history and bring it up to date. I cannot believe this, myself. I'm almost 76 years old (July 4th) and have had bph for many years, 30 at least. Just gradually getting more urgent and more frequent pee trips, up to five times at night. I didn't seek medical help until I hit 65, 11 years ago as I had no health insurance and have been under the care   of my current uro for about 8 years or so. He put me on Flomax, and switched to another med and finally about Jan 13 to Jalyn which is a combo of two common bph meds that each address the symptoms in different ways. I began retrograde ejaculation years ago and ed began as well These damn meds do a number on your sex life in several ways. Just be prepared.

    I also began in 1-13 twice monthly testosterone injections,  (1 ml)  which I administer myself in my upper thigh. Tiny needle is not painful at all. 

    I began to use Viagra as soon as it was availabe then switched to Cialis later.  I then decided to try the $2 pills advertized everywhere, every five minutes on Fox News for example for Cialis generics. This stuff comes from India, I believe, and works just like the American made. I would just take it a couple of times a week or so and it made things work fairly well. It costs a small fraction of the American version. This is not a commercial, I promise.

    The last time I ordered it, I got confused by the generic names and ordered the Viagra generic instead of Cialis generic. Ok, I know how stupid that is.  I even got blue pills instead of brown ones and still didn't realize I had ordered wrong. Ok, Ok, I'm stupid.

    All right, I'll get to the amazing part. I knew the Jalyn was destroying my manhood so I tried a couple of times to get off of it but after a few days the urges were actually painful and right now urgent. I had to get back on the Jalyn and take the consequences or wear diapers or stay home or something. 

    A couple of months ago I heard about the urolift procedure, researched it exhaustively and became a believer in it's minimally invasive usefulness. I sought out a urp who does the procedure, went to his clinic, had the scoping up the urethra and the ultrasound up the rectum routines  and determined that my prostate is 114g with a third lobe so no urolift for me, only TURP is an option.    

    Returned home very depressd about my prospects of a normal life. 

    The amazing part is going to be told, really!

    About this time I heard about "Cialis for daily use" as a treatment not only for ED but also for BPH. Remember, now I thought my Indian generics were Cialis but were actually Viagra. Yeah, I know how stupid that is. Anyway, I started cutting my Viagra generic in half and taking one half everyday. My urgency and frequency problems improved so much that I tried again to get off Jalyn and I am actually free of any bph meds for at least a month!!!!!! 

    I'm taking only the generic (50 mg) and I visit the bathroom  every couple of hours although I can actually wait a few minutes if I want. I'm up regularly one time in the night about 4:00 or so and then again when I arise around 7:00. There is another technique I use, maybe unwisely, I take two ibuprofen pm's when I go to bed. This makes me sleep so sound that I don't feel the little fake urges that I need to go, I sleep right through them. Of course, I am thouroughly dependent upon the Ibuprofen PM to sleep. Without it I won't sleep a wink. I don't know what this is doing to me, it's not supposed to be addictive but that is BS.   

    I'm now dealing with bph better than I have in years, I actually think I could take the generic every two days instead of daily and I am going to try it. Maybe this will help me get off the Ibuprofen PM.  

    None of this has done anything for my sex life. I think the damn meds have ruined that part of my life for good. I'm still doing the testosterone but i think it's marginally effective. It builds muscle though.

    I should also say that I'm trim and muscular, take no other meds, do hard labor whenever I want to, walk five miles three times a week, etc. My uro and my regular doc say I'm a poster boy for old age.

    So, that's my amazing story. 

         

    • RonTexan
      RonTexan bart99957

      Posted

      Thanks, I harbor no illusions that this is a long-term solution. I have a very large prostate and a third lobe, I retain a lot of urine in my bladder, there is some evidence of diverticulosis in the bladder and I'm taking a habit-forming sleep aid. Not a good prognosis at all.

      However, I'm currently engaged in remodeling the upstairs of an old office building built in 1908. Stone walls, longleaf pine floors, pressed tin ceilings, no bath, no heating or air-conditioning, a staircase with 25 steps straight up, etc.  It will take several months, I'll be doing some of the labor myself and TURP will have to wait. Maybe I can get through this project before BPH prevents me from doing anything physical. I have to lease eight offices at the top of those 25 steps when the project is done. Am I courting disaster? We'll see.

       

    • bob120
      bob120 RonTexan

      Posted

      Hi Ron,

      At our age it's a challenge to find the right coping mechanisms. It sounds like you are doing well. It's a simple matter to get your PVR checked with an ultrasound. Your urologist probably has a portable unit attached to a laptop like mine does. A PVR of less than 200 ml poses no real threat. If your PVR is in the 300 to 400ml range or more, then the divcerticulum can/will expand to store the urine. 

    • pty10
      pty10 RonTexan

      Posted

      THanks for sharing Ron. So you decided not to go with TURP and you managing your condition by using Cialis? I would had probably go down the path of just meds and no TURP if I was older.
    • RonTexan
      RonTexan pty10

      Posted

      Well, remember I thought it was a Cialis generic but it was actually Viagra. I got close to full retention a few days ago but one Jalyn opened me up again. That's the only bph med I have taken in close to thirty days. I didn't get up to go at all last night but a five mile hike sweating like a horse (central Texas) until 8;30 PM contributed to that I'm sure. I wonder if the long hard walks are contributing to my improvement in symptoms? The combination of testosterone shots, no bph meds, with the viagra and hard, long walks my sex life has regenerated very nicely as well. At my age stamina is a lot more important than when you're young, if you know what I mean. At any rate, life is really good right now and I'm going to self-medicate, build my body and stamina and enjoy good times as long as I can. With a 114 mg prostate and a third lobe i know Turp will be a disaster, maybe catastrophic at my age. I've got to finish my remodeling project up a  25-step stairway before TURP sidelines me for six months.  I'll keep you posted.. 
  • RonTexan
    RonTexan pty10

    Posted

    My symptoms are still improving, not up at all at night for two nights in a row. My sex life continues to improve. I haven't been this symptom-free in five or six years at least. I'm taking no BPH meds I've taken one Jalyn in about six weeks, that's all. I am taking a half of a generic Viagra every night.

    I heard about a new therapy which someone should try and report to this thread. 

    The new method used in the study to treat dogs with BPH was pulsed electromagnetic field therapy (PEMF). PEMF is a noninvasive method that generates both an electrical and magnetic field and is used in orthopedics, neurology, and urology. It has been reported to have an anti-inflammatory effect and increases healing and blood circulation. The idea of using this method for BPH is to improve prostate blood flow and reduce the size of the prostate gland.

    Ron

    • pty10
      pty10 RonTexan

      Posted

      That's great new Ron, you must be pleased with your progress. Will be worth keeping and eye and see how PEMF develops. I'm thinking about asking the Doc for meds when I see him Wednesday. WIll be ten weeks since the OP and progress has been really slow.
    • bart99957
      bart99957 pty10

      Posted

      PTY10...........I'm just past my 11th week and still somewhat miserable. I now have started having some days that are better than others, and the spasms have eased off maybe to a 6/7 out of 10. Peeing though, can still be painful at times, especially when my blatter is full and the stream is strong. Up less at night and peeing right away are the major benefits so far.. starting to see the light now (I hope).
    • RonTexan
      RonTexan bart99957

      Posted

      My sympathy for your struggle to live a normal life. You know, I suppose evolution of our bodies over millions of years has not prepared us to live so long. Most bph sufferers, with exceptions of course, are of an age when we are all supposed to be dead and gone. We'll show the evolution gods won't we? Hang in there, I'm sure you've seen the worst of it!
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