Anyone been treated for BPH here?

There some rule of American society that makes us men skittish when speaking about problems with our butt or penis. For some reason most men think that it somehow makes them less of man where there is a problem with these areas. That’s why people are all hush hush about it. Personally, I think it’s idiotic.

Anyway, I wish I could share some insight but really all I have to say is good luck.

Well, the idea of having somebody stick a death ray up there does make me worry about being less of a man, I suppose. I don’t want to take pills that’re gonna make my voice change or grow breasts, either, so I’m asking around.

There are plenty of medicines that won’t give you man-boobs, so I definitely suggest starting there first. Also, the TURP procedure is very common, and generally, well tolerated, although it is being replaced by laser based procedures that are even easier to go through.

Tamsulosin (flomax) hasn’t been linked with any changes to secondary sexual characteristics however it can cause retrograde ejaculation (probably as much fun as it sounds mind you a lot of the surgical options will list that as a possible complication).

Then there’s Finasteride (its the only other drug I can think of for BPH) which can reverse male patten baldness so you could get two birds with one stone (if your bald).

Personally I would start with drugs and see if they help. You may need surgery in the future but there are always risks involved (insert standard legal boiler plate here). If you can get relief from the symptoms without surgery I would have thought that preferable.

Also I have heard that in mild cases symptoms can clear up without any intervention. (I’m aware that if you’re considering surgery it may not be mild)

Well, it is not going to go away on its own. I’m not getting bald, so I will probably try Flomax first, if my doctor agrees. But I just want something that will work. I am so tired of getting up in the middle of the damn night, every night, sometimes two or three times.

Anyone with personal experience? I am still looking for direct advice.

Ich, I can’t speak from my own personal experience, obviously. My father was taking flomax for a while then ended up having some procedure that he equated with having his prostate microwaved. All was successful with minimal side effects and no negative impact. There was some inconvenience of a couple of weeks but then he was on the go again.

I know that’s not particularly detailed, but like most men, he didn’t feel inclined to discuss it much weird considering he had no problem discussing viagra at a cocktail party

okay, what I do wrong to whisper? Didn’t mean to strike through

Arsenio Hall would’ve made the most feared proctoligist, don’t ya think?

stratman37??? Benz, is that you?

Nope

Actually, Andre the Giant would have been the proctologist from hell. And to answer the question, not yet.

None of this is helping, and I gotta go pee again…

@Knotmyday: Oh yeah, I forgot about him. Reader’s digest did an article on him once and said that his wedding ring was so big, you could pass a silver dollar thru it!

On the off chance that anyone stumbles on this thread again, I’ll give you all an update.

My PCP referred me to a urologist in December. It’s good that she did, because he ran some tests on me and determined that the severity of my BPH was causing me to retain over half a liter of pee. This, in turn, was a threat to both my bladder and my kidneys. I started on Flomax immediately. I didn’t like it. It made me tired, but it did give me a little relief. Not enough.

Two weeks ago, I had a laser PVP surgery on my prostate. I was bedridden with a catheter for a week, as I had much more bleeding than is usual with this surgery. However, now that some of the swelling is down, I’m peeing better than I have in years, and my retention has gone from 650ml to 197ml. They want it less than 100, but it’s a hell of a lot better than it was, and I won’t have to take the Flomax any more after another two weeks.

It was hell to go through, but in the long run, I think it will be worth it.